Win over Bears, Amid Playoff Uncertainty, Seahawks Show ‘Playing for Each Other’

Despite the fact that the Seahawks have had more success than the Bears this season, there were plenty of reasons why Thursday’s game could have proved difficult for Seattle beyond the usual clichés of any given Sunday, or in this cases Thursday.

For starters, the Seahawks had just lost two in a row and had to bounce back on a short week that included a long flight east on Christmas. And the Seahawks also had to process the fact that, thanks to last weekend’s loss to the Vikings, combined with another Rams win, they were no longer in control of their playoff destiny. Yes, the Seahawks can still win the NFC West, but they need help to do so, which means they entered Thursday night’s game not knowing whether or not it had any playoff significance.

But despite everything the Seahawks had working against them, they were still able to pull out a 6-3 win thanks to a dominating performance from the defense that at least kept them in the mix heading into the weekend, uncertain on whether they get the help they need to stay in the conflict.

“The boys are put in a tough situation,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Monday. “You’re not guaranteed—you don’t hold your own destiny, so what are you going to play for? How are you going to go in a short week, go cross-country, go the right way, fight adversity through the whole game, stick together, and fight your way through, how are you going to do all that when the playoffs aren’t necessarily on the line they’re playing for each other, I think that’s pretty amazing.”

The significance of Thursday’s win from a playoff perspective remains to be seen, but it clinched a winning season for the Seahawks in their first year under Mike Macdonald, while allowing Macdonald to tie Mike Holmgren and Chuck Knox for the most wins with a head coach in his first season with the Seahawks.