The Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears meet tonight on Monday Night Football, and there’s no shortage of intrigue around a matchup that looks very different from the last time these teams saw each other near the end of the 2024 season. Back then, neither side made the postseason. Now the Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl LX champions trying to repeat, while the Bears are pushing their case as a legitimate contender.
To get a read on Chicago, Seahawks Wire spoke with Brendan Sugrue of Bears Wire, who laid out the biggest reasons this Bears team has become such a tough out.
Caleb Williams is at the center of it all, and Sugrue believes the second-year quarterback has taken a clear step forward under Ben Johnson. Last season, the focus was on cutting down sacks and showing more command of the offense. This year, Chicago wanted him to become more efficient and take the easy completions, and that’s happening too.
Williams’ hamstring injury may have even helped in a strange way. Since returning, he has been sharp from the pocket in two games, showing better accuracy and a willingness to take what defenses give him. Sugrue said the big-time throws were never the question, but now the routine ones are coming too, calling Williams “a top-five quarterback before our eyes.”
Chicago’s offense is built to wear teams down. The Bears lead the league in time of possession and plays per game, leaning on long drives that drain the clock and keep the ball away from opponents.
When they’re rolling, the run game drives the whole operation. Before Sunday, Chicago was first in the league with 154.3 rushing yards per game, and that’s without Kyle Monangai, who will miss his fourth straight game because of a toe injury.
With Monangai and D’Andre Swift both healthy, Sugrue said the ground attack becomes extremely difficult to stop.
The Bears’ secondary has had a different kind of story. Chicago signed Coby Bryant with the idea that he could stabilize the back end, but his injury has kept that from happening. Sugrue said he was excited about the move because of what Bryant had shown after moving to safety with the Seahawks, and he’s still waiting to see that impact in Chicago.
Without Bryant, the secondary has been average at best. Rookie Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad, who is questionable with a toe injury, have been the bright spots, and Kyler Gordon has helped with his blitzing from the nickel spot. But Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson have struggled in coverage, and Sugrue said the Bears are vulnerable to explosive plays without a veteran safety helping to clean things up.
One area where Chicago does have an edge is against the run. The Bears are top five in rushing yards allowed per game at 87.6 and haven’t given up 100 yards on the ground in four straight games. Sugrue credited Dennis Allen’s scheme and the way Chicago uses Gordon, Thieneman, and Muhammad near the line of scrimmage, while also pointing to the Bears’ ability to control possession and force opponents away from the run.
That said, the matchup that worries him most is Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He singled out Smith-Njigba as the kind of receiver who can take over a game, and said this Bears secondary won’t be able to keep pace with him. Chicago will need to limit his impact to avoid letting him dictate the night.
Sugrue also changed his outlook after Chicago landed Jeffery Simmons. He said he had originally viewed this as a Bears loss, but Simmons changes the defense and lifts the play of everyone around him. Even when Simmons isn’t on the field, Sugrue expects the Bears to play with more energy.
And when it came time to pick a winner, he went with Chicago. Sugrue said Ben Johnson has the blueprint for beating a Mike Macdonald defense, and predicted a narrow Bears win, 24-21, in what he called a possible preview of a playoff matchup.
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