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Game Recap
Thirty Straight Games Without a Blowout. Chicago Ended It in One Night.
The Bears beat Seattle 34-17 on Monday night at Lumen Field, and they took a streak with them on the way out. The Seahawks had gone 30 straight games without losing by more than four points, per Seattle Sports. ESPN called it their worst loss since December 2024. For two years the worst thing this team did was lose close. Monday it just lost.
Sam Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and Seattle went 1 for 11 on third down. The split that tells the story comes from ESPN: Darnold completed less than half his passes with Jeffery Simmons on the field and was 5-of-5 with a touchdown when he wasn’t. NFL.com had billed this one as Nelson versus Simmons. Simmons had six tackles, two for loss and a sack in his Bears debut. I’m scoring that one for Chicago.
1-for-11
Seattle’s third-down conversions Monday, eight days after going 11 of 16 against Kansas City.
The defense, which hadn’t allowed more than 301 yards in any of its first seven games, gave up season highs of 34 points and 363 yards. It still dragged this thing back to 20-17 when DeMarcus Lawrence ripped the ball from Colston Loveland and Cooper Kupp caught the touchdown that followed. Then Chicago threw a backward pass to Kalif Raymond on third-and-9, he went 39 yards, and the building started emptying.
Mike Macdonald didn’t dress it up. “Tip of the cap to the Bears, they won the game, they won it fair and square, and they won it in all three phases,” he said, via Seahawks.com. He added, “The sense of urgency for us to improve right now is high.” Good. Seattle is 4-4 and has lost three of its last four. Arizona comes to town Sunday, and nobody gets to call that one a trap game anymore. It’s just the next game we need.
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For two years the worst thing this team did was lose close. Monday it just lost.
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Special Teams
Special Teams Spotted Chicago Four Points and a Coverage Blunder
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The missed extra point left Seattle stuck on nine points, and the blocked kick was a chip shot with the Seahawks down 20-9, per NBC Sports Philadelphia. That’s four points left on the turf in a game Seattle later dragged back within three. The two-point conversion Darnold threw to Tory Horton was only necessary because of the earlier miss. Think of it as paying off the late fee.
Three weeks ago Macdonald said “our special teams took a jump.” That compliment had a shorter shelf life than the bagged salad in my fridge. The Spokesman’s verdict is that these problems have been around since the opener and eight weeks is long enough to call it a concern. I’d call it a concern with a kicking tee.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Pro Football Focus gave Quenton Nelson a 92.6 run-blocking grade, his best of the season, on a night Seattle ran for 81 yards. One pressure allowed, zero sacks. The guard was great. The running game didn’t get the memo. Yahoo Sports
Leonard Williams left late in the third with a stinger and watched the rest from the sideline, and Connor O’Toole came out with a foot injury. Add Nwosu’s ankle and the defensive front is running short on healthy bodies with Arizona five days out. Seahawks.com
Austin Booker batted Darnold’s pass at the line and defensive tackle James Lynch caught it: Darnold’s ninth interception, second only to Justin Herbert’s 10, per Fox Sports. Getting picked by a defensive tackle is a special kind of Monday. Fox Sports
Both running backs came back and the run game didn’t: Jadarian Price had 29 yards on 10 carries, Zach Charbonnet 23 on six, and Seattle’s 81 rushing yards were its second-lowest of the season. Getting healthy was supposed to be the easy part. NFL.com
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams beat the Chargers on Sunday and spent Monday reading the medical chart. Sean McVay said running back Dean Connors “ended up breaking his hand, and he’ll have surgery today,” and special teamer Grant Stuard hurt his hamstring during “pregame warm-ups.” Before kickoff. Against the Chargers. Some teams lose players to the opponent. The Rams lost one to the stretching line.
NINERS
San Francisco sits at 6-1, first in the NFC West, with Deebo Samuel’s hamstring still a question for the Raiders game. The newest receiver in the building: KhaDarel Hodge, signed to the practice squad, per NBC’s Jennifer Lee Chan. For the division leader, that’s a deadline splash about the size of a puddle. Nov. 10 is still out there, John.
CARDINALS
Mike LaFleur made it official Monday: Gardner Minshew starts against Seattle and is the starter “moving forward,” rookie Carson Beck is the backup, and Jacoby Brissett is now the emergency third quarterback. Last week Brissett was the guy. Now he’s the guy behind the guy behind the guy. Minshew, the old WSU Cougar, opens the new era at Lumen against a team that has beaten Arizona ten straight times. Welcome back to Washington, Gardner.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Seattle took this USC linebacker 242nd overall in the seventh round of the 2011 draft, and three seasons later he was named MVP of Super Bowl XLVIII. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Malcolm Smith. He returned an interception for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and made nine tackles, becoming the first defensive Super Bowl MVP since Tampa Bay’s Dexter Jackson.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2019
November 3, 2019
Wilson to Hollister in Overtime, 40-34
Seattle beat Tampa Bay 40-34 at home when Russell Wilson hit Jacob Hollister for a 10-yard touchdown in overtime, pushing the Seahawks to 7-2. Jason Myers missed an extra point that afternoon too, then kicked two fourth-quarter field goals to help force the extra period. Some traditions we could retire.
THE GOLDEN EGG
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For one drive Monday night, Seattle looked like the team that won the Super Bowl, and it was because of a 34-year-old in his final season. Down 20-9, Lawrence forced Colston Loveland to fumble and recovered it himself at the Chicago 25. Darnold hit Cooper Kupp for the touchdown, Tory Horton caught the two-point conversion, and Lumen got loud again.
It didn’t last. But on a night when the offense needed a map to find the end zone, D-Law handed it the ball 25 yards away. If this is the farewell tour, he’s still the one playing the hits.
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Forced Fumble
1
Fumble Recovery
8
Points Off the Turnover
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Four and four. Plenty of season left, and none of it to waste. — The Rooster