The Seahawks defense saves the season in Chicago: “They played hard”

CHICAGO — Ernest Jones IV cherishes these moments.

Rather than throwing the ball on fourth-and-5 while trailing by three points at their own 34 with less than three minutes remaining, the Chicago Bears took their offense back to the field, meaning the defense of Jones and the Seattle Seahawks had to do it. the same. Jones sprinted to midcourt, bouncing up and down, enthusiastically pumping his right fist. The game and the season were basically on the line, and it was up to Seattle’s defense to bring the score home.

Jones couldn’t wait.

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

Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams kept the momentum going with a combination of elusiveness and arm talent, successfully converting that fourth down and a few other string completions, setting up fourth-and-10 from the 40 with 20 seconds left. to play. His final attempt at fourth-quarter magic failed, however, as Riq Woolen recovered a 50-50 ball to secure a game-saving victory by a final score of 6-3 Thursday night at rainy Soldier Field.

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

– NFL (@NFL) December 27, 2024

“That’s what elite defenses are for,” said safety Coby Bryant, who was also thrilled to have the chance to punctuate a dominant day by Seattle’s defense with an extra stop. “Don’t bend or break.”

Seattle’s defense recorded a season-high seven sacks and allowed a season-low 179 yards, delivering its best performance when it needed it most. Improving to 9-7, the Seahawks remain alive for the NFC West title, which is their only path to the playoffs. They will now cheer on 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 winner-take-all matchup between Seattle and Los Angeles in LA during week 18.

With a win on Saturday, the Rams wouldn’t win the division, but they would take control, as Seattle would have to rely on a specific set of results from other league games to avoid losing the strength of… bris equality of victory.

This was all possible thanks to Seattle’s defense.

“These guys won the game for us today,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “They played with their guts. They dominated. Without them, shoot, we’d be sad as hell right now. But they came to our aid. »

The Bears (4-12) have lost 10 straight and entered this game ranked 26th in points per drive. Seattle has a top-10 defense, so it’s not really surprising that coach Mike Macdonald’s unit was able to defeat Williams and the Bears. But the Seahawks’ offense made their defense more difficult by scoring six points on nine possessions and going scoreless in the second half. Seattle reached Chicago territory three times and made two field goals in the first half, then turned the ball over on the third visit to midfield when tight end Pharaoh Brown lost a fumble. It 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 only six failures, but third down was a struggle for Seattle, which only converted 5 of 13 tries.

“We didn’t finish practice,” center Olu Oluwatimi said. “We ran the ball pretty well, but we have 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 final drives of the first half. They drove 71 yards and reached the Chicago 9-yard line on the first 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, then reached the Chicago 32-yard line before a Smith pass was hit at the line on third-and-10, leading to a 50-yard field goal before the break.

Seattle threatened to score just once in the second half. Smith converted on third-and-7 with a 19-yard pass to Smith-Njigba in Chicago territory. Brown caught a screen pass a few plays later and fumbled while being gang-tackled at the 38. Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon forced and recovered the fumble, then ran 62 yards for what was initially considered a touchdown. However, he was called back after replay review revealed that Brown’s leg touched Gordon while 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 both hands on the ball, but sometimes things like that happen.”

That led to another moment in which Seattle’s defense eagerly awaited the opportunity to turn things around.

“We were so excited because we knew they weren’t going to get anything after that,” safety Julian Love said. “That was the state of mind today. We were just having fun. I don’t know if it was the rain, the temperature, all that. We were just playing soccer in the yard. Everyone was connected, we were communicating well and we were running and hitting. When we have that vibe, we are at our best.

Chicago gained 1 yard on six plays before punting it back to Seattle. The key defensive stand was a sack by Uchenna Nwosu on a fake 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 knocks him down. pic.twitter.com/SAqksefcbb

– Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 27, 2024

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

Seattle’s offense was only able to reach its 46-yard line before punting after Charbonnet was unable to reach the line for the win 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 five following a false start by former Seattle lineman Jake Curhan. When they changed their minds, Williams rushed and threw a pass to receiver DJ Moore for 14 yards. Three plays later, Williams bought time and threw a ball to wide receiver Rome Odunze 15 yards into Seattle territory.

After three straight misses, Macdonald did what he is known to do when the defense is on the field in tough situations: apply pressure. He called Cover-0 blitzes on several snaps in this series, including the final snap, believing the cornerbacks could survive on an island if the rush didn’t go home. That same approach led to Aaron Rodgers throwing an incomplete throw on fourth-and-15 in Week 13 to seal a win against the New York Jets. Macdonald got the same call from this situation when it was time to put the Bears away.

“I like it because we are great players, and we know how great we are,” said Woolen, who broke away from his man to intercept the jump ball that Williams threw towards Keenan Allen under pressure from Bryant and Witherspoon. “This is nothing new for us. This builds our confidence because he trusts us. This is major coming from a head coach.

Even though Seattle’s defense enjoyed turning off the national spotlight to end a two-game losing streak, the offense was dissatisfied, feeling it hadn’t played up to its level. Six points are very rarely enough to win a game, and the players on that side of the ball were grateful that the defense carried them to victory. That said, since the Seahawks don’t control their own playoff fortunes, they’ll take every win they can.

“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” said Smith, who went 17-for-23 for 160 yards with two scrimmage runs for 20 yards. “Whipping out a 6-3 win feels as good as winning the game 44-41. It’s very good to win.

The entire Seattle team will be watching the Cardinals on Saturday night hoping that Arizona can pull out a win as well.

“I can’t wait to see what happens,” Woolen said with a smile. “And go cardinals.”

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