The Seahawks play in primetime looking to stay alive in playoff hunt.
If you’ve come to this article still believing in the playoffs, congratulations, you have a lot of faith. According to ESPN Analytics, the Seattle Seahawks have an 18.6% chance of winning the NFC West. In fact, there’s a better chance of the Seahawks being eliminated one round early than qualifying for the playoffs in week 18.
I won’t get into the discussion of possibilities, but in summary we have:
- The Seahawks can only make the playoffs by winning the NFC West, there’s no chance of making it via the Wild Card;
- If the Seahawks lose to the Bears + Los Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals, they’re eliminated;
- If they beat the Bears and the Rams beat the Cardinals (which is very likely since the Arizona team is eliminated and has several absences in the OL), the Seahawks would have to beat the Rams in the last round and count on a combination of results to win the strength of schedule tiebreaker.
- If the Rams lose both games and the Seahawks win both games, Seattle will be champions;
As seen above, the chances are very slim. The Seahawks put themselves in this situation, a win against the Giants early in the season and the scenario would have been different. But, we are fans, our role is to believe until the end and we will do that!
What are the main keys to the game?
Familiar Faces
The game will be primarily against the “ChiHawks”. The Chicago team has many familiar faces to the Seahawks. They fired Shane Waldron but the coaching staff has many former Seahawks:
- Andre Curtis, Secondary/Safeties;
- Kerry Joseph, Quarterbacks;
- Chad Morton, Running Backs;
- Robbie Picazo, Offensive Assistant
In the Front Office, they still have DJ Hord as Director of Pro Scouting.
On the roster we have Jacob Martin, Darrell Taylor, Jake Curhan, Travis Homer (who’s out injured), Gerald Everett who have also been in Seattle. Some of these players should see a lot of playing time on TNF.
Big opportunity for the Seahawks’ defensive line
The Bears just lost their LT and LG. Because of this, Jake Curhan has a chance to start at guard, while Larry Borom should be the LT.
Seattle has been getting a lot of pressure, but has struggled to convert it into sacks. Matt Pryor, Borom, and Coleman Shelton have all been ranked among the top sack-allowing linemen at their positions.
Leonard Williams has been the Seahawks’ best defender. This is his opportunity to continue producing at a high level. Speaking of opportunities, this is another chance for Byron Murphy to have his breakout game. His play at the end of the game against the Vikings was the difference between victory and defeat. That’s in the past, this is his chance to turn things around.
Caleb Williams holds the ball too much. By doing so, he gets great plays, but he also exposes himself to a lot of sacks, since he gives the DL a chance to get to him.
Caleb Williams goes from 0 to 100 very quickly
It’s normal for a rookie to fluctuate during his first season, especially when changing levels. Williams is fantastic at improvising and buying himself time. However, that has been his blessing and curse thus far.
On this play, he manages to escape what could have been a sack and gets a big conversion.
Williams traps the ball and catches a pass on the move in the final thousandth. The reaction here is basically: “throw the ball away, throw the ball away, throw the… WOW”
This play is a clear adaptation problem. At USC he could hold the ball on this play. In the NFL it’s a different speed, you don’t have the chance to hold it for that long.
All his targets are marked, the OL gives him time to get rid of the ball, since it’s not a third down. Williams decides to hold the ball and buy time, but ends up being sacked.
Bears’ defense watch
Don’t let the numbers fool you, the Bears’ defense is better than it has been shown to be. Montez Sweat is an excellent edge, Gervon Dexter has been having an incredible season. They have good pieces to complement the DL, including Darrell Taylor who is a good player when it comes to getting after the QB, but a disappointment defending the run. Since Seattle doesn’t run the ball…
The secondary took the hard hit of losing Jaquan Brisker, but it’s the strongest sector of the defense. Kyler Gordon is a very good nickel in coverage and against the run game, being extremely aggressive. Jaylon Johnson is a magnet for interceptions, and with Geno throwing his in the last few games this could be a terrible matchup.
Just like CW, the secondary, despite being extremely talented, has been giving up many explosive plays. In an offense completely focused on passing, this could be a good matchup. Ryan Grubb should also tend to pass the ball more due to the fact that he doesn’t have Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet has been banged up.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to say the Seahawks are the winners of this game, since the Bears are on a NINE-game losing streak. I always dread these trap games. Take the last time these teams met in the regular season, exactly three years ago. Even against backup QB Nick Foles, Seattle was defeated on a 2-point conversion by Jimmy Graham.
This year the team kept the score close longer than necessary against the Dolphins and managed to win against the Jets on the last drive and the Patriots in overtime. Keep in mind that it’s a short week, the Seahawks are traveling and we still had Christmas break in the middle of the week.
Go Hawks!