Carrying the defense back, but the offense is not at a loss for the Seahawks

The Chicago Bears continued to lose, dropping their tenth straight game in a 6-3 rout with Seattle Seahawks Thursday night football.

The loss dropped them to 4-12 for the 2024 regular season, closing their stretch of home games at Soldier Field on a sour note. They will look to snap their losing streak and win their first (and only) NFC North game when they travel to Green Bay to take on the game. Packers next sunday.

Here are some of the key takeaways from another Chicago loss.

Makeshift OL works as expected

That expectation was actually bad play. The injuries up front hurt the Bears’ offensive line as Caleb Williams faced constant duress throughout the evening. Without a clean pocket to work with, a lack of receiver separation and occasionally holding onto the ball too long, it was difficult for Chicago’s offense to get much going in the passing game.

That translates to the running game as well. D’Andre Swift hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire this season, but part of that can certainly be attributed to a lack of consistent movement up front by the offensive line, which was the case again Thursday.

Kyler Gordon a bright spot in the Bears’ defense

The Bears had arguably their best defensive performance of the season against the Seahawks. Counting three sacks and limiting a talented Seattle offense is something to be recognized.

The run defense picked up a bit down the stretch, and the “bend, don’t break” approach the Bears used under Matt Eberflus emerged with defensive coordinator Eric Washington. Kudos especially go to Kyler Gordon, who broke up a pass and forced a fumble that Chicago recovered. It wasn’t the sexiest defensive performance — or the sexiest game in general, for that matter — but any time you can hold a team to single-digit points in the NFL, you should be proud.

It’s clear what the Bears need to do now

The Bears have the second-cheapest offensive line in the NFL, and they’re getting results that reflect that investment. While no team’s offensive line backups are truly great, this is an issue regardless of who starts. Trenches must be top priority and that includes the defensive line as well.

Jeff Berckes and Lester Wiltfong will soon be talking about the game in a special postgame edition of Bear & Balanced right here, or you can hang out with us at 2nd City Gridiron and join in the fun while we take your questions.

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