Seahawks’ defense saves season in Chicago: ‘They played their guts’

CHICAGO – Ernest Jones IV cherishes those moments.

Instead of punting the ball on fourth-and-5 while trailing by three points from their own 34 with less than three minutes remaining, the Chicago Bears trotted their offense back down the field, leaving Jones and the Seattle Seahawks’ defense to cope themselves. the same. Jones sprinted to the center of the field, jumping up and down while excitedly pumping his right fist. The game and the season were essentially on the line, and it was up to Seattle’s defense to bring it home.

Jones couldn’t wait.

“That’s what I live for,” the Seahawks middle linebacker said, “for the defense to be out there to have that opportunity to close the game.”

Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams kept the drive alive with a combination of elusiveness and arm talent, managing to convert the fourth down and a couple more chain moves that set up fourth-and-10 from the 40 with 20 seconds left. His final attempt at magic in the fourth quarter fell short, however, when Riq Woolen scooped up a 50-50 ball to secure a season-saving victory by a final score of 6-3 Thursday night at rainy Soldier Field.

SELECTED! Riq Woolen comes down the interception for @Seahawks to seal it. pic.twitter.com/i01rH3XeDd

— NFL (@NFL) 27 December 2024

“That’s what elite defenses are for,” said safety Coby Bryant, who was also excited for the chance to cap a dominant day by Seattle’s defense with one more stop. “Don’t bend or break.”

Seattle’s defense recorded a season-high seven sacks and allowed a season-low 179 yards, turning in its best performance when it was needed most. By improving to 9-7, the Seahawks stay alive for the NFC West title, which is their only path to the postseason. They will now beat the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) to win or tie on the road Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams (9-6), which would automatically set up a win-and-in game between Seattle and Los Angeles in LA this week 18.

With a win on Saturday, the Rams wouldn’t win the division, but they would take a stranglehold on it, as Seattle would have to root for a number of specific results from other games around the league to avoid losing the power-of-win tiebreaker.

It was all possible because of Seattle’s defense.

“Those guys won us the game today,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “They played their guts out. They dominated. Without them, shoot, we’d be upset right now. But they came through for us.”

The Bears (4-12) have lost 10 straight and entered this game ranked 26th in points per game. Seattle has a top-10 scoring defense, so it’s not much of a surprise that coach Mike Macdonald’s unit was able to overwhelm Williams and the Bears. But the Seahawks’ offense added to the difficulty of their defense by scoring six points on nine possessions and going scoreless in the second half. Seattle reached Chicago territory three times and kicked two first-half field goals, then turned the ball over on the third visit across midfield when tight end Pharaoh Brown lost a fumble. This was the first time all season that the Seahawks did not score an offensive touchdown.

Running backs Zach Charbonnet (57 yards) and Kenny McIntosh (46 yards) combined for 103 yards on 22 attempts, and quarterback Geno Smith had just six incompletions, but third down was a struggle for Seattle, which converted just 5 of 13 attempts.

“We didn’t finish drives,” center Olu Oluwatimi said. “We ran the ball pretty well, but we’ve got to have a killer mindset when we start getting first downs to keep drives going.”

The Seahawks led 6-3 through two quarters after scoring on the first and last drives of the opening half. They went 71 yards and reached Chicago’s 9-yard line on the opening drive, stalling when Smith was nearly intercepted on third-and-3 on a short throw over the middle to Tyler Lockett. Seattle punted on its next three possessions and then reached Chicago’s 32-yard line before a Smith pass was batted at the line on third-and-10, leading to a 50-yard field goal going into halftime.

Seattle only threatened to score once in the second half. Smith converted on third-and-7 with a 19-yard pass to Smith-Njigba into Chicago territory. Brown caught a screen pass a few plays later and fumbled while gang-tackled at the 38. Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon forced and recovered the fumble, then ran 62 yards for what was originally ruled a touchdown. However, it was called back after replay review revealed that Brown’s leg touched Gordon when he was on the ground.

“I thought I was down, but when you’re in those piles, it’s hard to see what’s going on,” Brown said. “I thought I had two hands on the ball, but sometimes things like that happen.”

That led to another moment where Seattle’s defense looked forward to the opportunity to make it right.

“We were so excited because we knew they weren’t going to get anything after that,” safety Julian Love said. “That was the mindset today. We just had a good time. I don’t know if it was the rain, the temperature, all that. We just played backyard soccer. Everyone connected, we communicated well and we just ran and hit. When we have that atmosphere going, we are at our best.”

Chicago gained 1 yard on six plays before giving it back to Seattle. The key to the defensive stand was a sack by Uchenna Nwosu on a simulated pressure that gave the outside linebacker a clear path to the quarterback. It was the first sack of the year for Nwosu, who was one of six players to sack Chicago’s rookie signal caller. The other five were defensive tackle Leonard Williams (twice), outside linebacker Derick Hall, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, defensive back Devon Witherspoon and defensive tackle Jarran Reed.

Chen takes him down. pic.twitter.com/SAqksefcbb

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) 27 December 2024

“They’re elite,” Oluwatimi said of Seattle’s defense. “We have the deepest and best D-line in the league. It’s hard for teams to move the ball against our D-line.”

Seattle’s offense could only reach its 46-yard line before punting after Charbonnet failed to reach the line for a gain on a third-down swing pass. The punt set up Chicago’s final drive, which began at its 11 with 5:12 left. The Bears initially lined up to punt on fourth-and-5 after a false start by former Seattle lineman Jake Curhan. When they changed their minds, Williams scrambled and hit a pass to receiver DJ Moore for 14 yards. Three plays later, Williams bought time and lofted a ball to receiver Rome Odunze 15 yards into Seattle territory.

After three straight incompletions, Macdonald did what he’s known for doing when the defense is on the field in must-have situations: send pressure. He called Cover-0 blitzes on several snaps in that series, including the final snap, believing cornerbacks could survive on an island if the rush didn’t come home. That same approach led to Aaron Rodgers throwing incomplete on fourth-and-15 in Week 13 to seal a win over the New York Jets. Macdonald went with the same call from that situation when it was time to put the Bears away.

“I like it because we’re great players and we know how good we are,” said Woolen, who came off his man to intercept the jump ball that Williams threw in Keenan Allen’s direction while being pressured by Bryant and Witherspoon. “It’s nothing new for us. It strengthens our confidence because he trusts us. That’s important from a head coach.”

Although Seattle’s defense enjoyed playing lights out on the national stage to snap a two-game losing streak, the offense was unhappy as it felt it wasn’t playing up to its standard. Six points is very rarely enough to win a game, and players on that side of the ball were grateful that the defense carried them to victory. That said, because the Seahawks don’t control their own playoff destiny, they will take any win they can get.

“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” said Smith, who was 17-for-23 for 160 yards with two scrambles for 20 yards. “Getting a 6-3 win feels just as good as winning the game 44-41. It’s all good to win.”

Seattle’s entire team will watch the Cardinals on Saturday night, hoping Arizona can win as well.

“I’m excited to see what’s going to happen,” Woolen said with a smile. “And go cardinals.”

(Photo of Riq Woollen, 27, and teammates: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)