The Chicago Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night at Lumen Field in Seattle. Caleb Williams threw for 247 yards and one touchdown, D'Andre Swift ran for three touchdowns in the second half, and Jeffery Simmons made a strong debut on defense for Chicago. The win moved the Bears to 6-2 and gave them a third straight win. Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champion, fell to 4-4.
Williams completed 24 of 34 passes, with no interceptions, and took one sack. The Bears gained 363 yards against a Seattle defense that had been one of the stingiest in the league. Simmons, acquired from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, led Chicago with six tackles, with one sack, one pass defensed and two tackles for loss. Seattle was held to 252 yards.
How the Bears took control early
The Bears opened the game with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 8 minutes 32 seconds off the clock. Williams finished it with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden III. The drive set the tone for a night when the Bears controlled the ball and kept Seattle's offense off the field for long stretches.
Seattle stayed in the game in the first half through wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who finished with six catches for 118 yards and one touchdown. Smith-Njigba scored in the second quarter, and Seattle trailed 13-9 at halftime.
Swift scored from 1 yard in the third quarter to put Chicago ahead 20-9. Seattle cut the lead to three points later in the half, but Chicago answered again. A 39-yard play from Williams to Kalif Raymond on third down moved Chicago to the Seattle 5-yard line, and Swift scored from 5 yards on the next play to restore a 27-17 lead with 8:28 left in the game. Swift added another 5-yard touchdown with 4:41 left, after a Seattle interception, to close the scoring at 34-17.
Why the Bears defense set the game apart
Simmons changed the game for Chicago on defense. Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold completed 17 of 34 passes for 188 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, but he was sacked three times and hit six times. Montez Sweat had one sack and three quarterback hits. Seattle went 1 for 11 on third down, had five three-and-outs and punted five times against a defense coordinated by Dennis Allen.
One sequence summed up Seattle's night. Darnold threw a pass that was tipped by Austin Booker and intercepted by James Lynch, who returned it 16 yards to the Seattle 6-yard line. The turnover set up Swift's third touchdown and put the game out of reach. Seattle also hurt itself with three unnecessary roughness penalties in the second half, including two on special teams. Kicker Jason Myers missed an extra point and had a 33-yard field goal blocked.
Williams spoke to reporters after the game about facing the defending champions on the road. "When we come in, we're also a force to be reckoned with," Williams said on Nov. 2. "They just won a Super Bowl last year. They got a bunch of guys back. That's a worthy opponent on all sides of the ball: offense, defense, special teams." Williams finished with a passer rating of 101.0, and Chicago committed no turnovers in the game.
What the Bears win means in the NFC North
Swift finished with 27 carries for 69 yards and three touchdowns, plus two catches for 10 yards. His yardage total was modest, at 2.6 yards per carry, but all three scores came on short runs near the goal line, and each one answered a Seattle push. Williams ran twice for 1 yard.
The result keeps the Bears half a game behind the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. Minnesota is 6-1, after losing its first game of the season to Detroit. The Bears have now won three games in a row.
Seattle has now lost two games in a row after a win over Kansas City in Week 7. The Seahawks will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 8. Chicago will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, Nov. 8. Simmons will play his first home game for Chicago in that game, after a debut in Seattle that gave Chicago pressure up front, tackles behind the line, and a defense that made Seattle work for every yard.
The Bears left Seattle at 6-2, with a road win over the defending champions, a new defensive lineman already making plays, and a quarterback who completed 71 percent of his passes without an interception. Seattle left at 4-4 before Arizona visits on Sunday.