Seahawks defense dominates in 6-3 win over Bears

There are no ugly wins in the NFL, especially not for a team that traveled zones twice on Christmas for a Thursday night game, so the Seahawks will gladly take the 6-3 victory over the Bears that they earned on Thursday, and fly home happy knowing they improved to 9-7 to keep their NFC West chances alive.

Here are five quick reactions to Thursday’s win:

1. The Seahawks defense, and especially the pass rush, made life miserable for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

The Bears entered Week 17 having allowed 60 sacks, second most in the NFL, and on Thursday the Seahawks were more than happy to add to that total.

Thanks to a mix of pressure called by Mike Macdonald as well as players who just won their matchups in the four-man rush, the Seahawks were able to sack Williams seven times, with six different players entering the game. Leonard Williams added two sacks, giving him nine this season, while Derick Hall had one to stay one behind Williams for the team lead. Jarran Reed had a sack for the second straight game and three players, Rayshawn Jenkins, Uchenna Nwosu and Devon Witherspoon, each had their first sacks of the season.

For the game-clinching play, the Seahawks didn’t end it with a sack, but once again the pass rush was a big factor, forcing Williams to lift a desperation throw on fourth down that was intercepted by Riq Woolen. The takeaway ended a streak of nine straight games without a rookie QB pick.