Seattle’s defense dominated, leading the Seahawks to a slim 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears to secure a winning season
Apologies to everyone whose fantasy championships were invested in this game, because this was an old-fashioned defensive showdown. And for as tough as it was to watch from a “let’s see some points” perspective, there was something beautiful in the ugliness of this game.
Even in an NFL that strives for points, sometimes you just need to win ugly and while I’m sure neither coaching staff wanted or expected this type of game, it created a scenario where both defenses needed to be perfect, with the slightest slip potentially costing the game.
The crazy thing is, neither defense slipped— like, at all. Seattle looked like they were on their way to a feisty offensive performance when they drove the length of the field on their first possession. The interior O-line looked excellent as they trap-blocked their way to first down after first down on the legs of Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh. Geno Smith sprinkled in a few short completions and it looked like the ‘Hawks were in for a big day despite the unexpectedly rainy conditions.
But when Smith was nearly picked off on 3rd & 3 inside Chicago’s 10, forcing Seattle to settle for a field goal, none of us thought that was as good as it would get. But as the precipitation continued to accumulate, neither offense was able to sustain a drive of any significance. I don’t know about you, but I kept waiting for the dam to break. After all, even the worse conditions see almost every team score at least double-digits.
But that break never came, as the two teams traded sacks and punts, Seattle gaining a little more than Chicago on the whole but neither team making an impact with the ball int heir hands. Every once in a while one of the teams would kick a field goal to break up the monotony but there was a definite “first touchdown wins” feeling to this one; except it simply never happened.
The closest anyone came after the opening drive was a fumble return for a score by the Bears that was easily overturned by replay. Other than that, not even a sniff. Sometimes games have scores like this because both offenses look completely inept but I honestly didn’t feel that way tonight. Were they great, or even good? No, not especially, but what we watched tonight were two hungry defenses getting after it like wolves circling a wounded caribou.
The game saw 10 total sacks, with the Seahawks recording a season-high seven of them. And while neither QB was especially sharp, both dealt with their talented receivers getting absolutely blanketed by the opposing secondaries, with relentless pressure making it nearly impossible to work through their progressions. That’s where the guile and experience of Geno Smith made a difference, even during what was statistically one of the least impressive games of his Seattle tenure.
Again, I’m not here to laud either offense or pretend something that wasn’t here was, but I am committed to giving my honest assessment of things and considering how infinitesimally small the windows both he and Caleb Williams had to throw into tonight, I think Smith was clearly the better of the two.
Chicago actually had a decent chance to tie or even win the game with their final drive but it never actually felt like a threat. Maybe it’s because the Seahawks defense was so unrelenting or maybe it’s because the Bears are, well, the Bears. Either way, the Seahawks’ prowess on the D-line combined with Chicago’s typically hilarious late-game clock management put the home team in a precarious spot as time wound down and Riq Woolen’s game-ending interception on a Williams prayer felt almost inevitable.
By the time these teams shuffled off the muddy midway field, Seattle had secured a 6-3 win and kept their playoff hopes very much alive. It wasn’t pretty but it didn’t need to be. Like I said at the top, sometimes you gotta win ugly. The cool thing about ugly wins is that they spend the same as the pretty ones.
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SMOKE RINGS
~Normally I start this section talking about the QB play but any discussion about the Seahawks performance tonight needs to begin with one of the best defensive performances we’ve seen from them in a very long time. Seattle held the Bears to just 179 total yards, including a paltry 76 net passing yards. Say what you want about the Bears’ struggles this year, no one has done that to them.
I already mentioned that Seattle had seven sacks tonight but it wasn’t just because they dominated up front— though they did that as well. A lot of the pressure— both the type that got home and the type that didn’t— were a result of the most cohesive performance we’ve seen from the secondary all year. The Bears managed 103 yards on the ground but when you take away Caleb Williams’ scrambles, Seattle held Chicago to just 66 yards on 18 designed runs. All in all, just 3.7 yards per play on the night— an exceptional performance regardless of conditions or opponent. And while the team was excellent collectively, it was made up of a number of standout individual performances.
Devon Witherspoon was ubiquitous tonight, taking 15 yards off Chicago’s total with two sensational tackles for loss in the first quarter. he played with the wanton abandon borne of elite instincts and undeniable confidence. there is simply no hesitation in Witherspoon’s game and that was on full display tonight. Devon tied for the team lead with six tackles while adding a sack and was sticky in coverage despite a slippery field. He is already justifying his lofty draft slot from two years ago and appears poised to be a major difference-maker on this defense for years to come.
~Other defensive standouts included Ernest Jones, who also racked up six tackles and made an indelible impression on Chicago’s backfield as a blitzer. Leonard Williams, who despite constant double-teams, once again made his living behind the opposing line of scrimmage with five takedowns including two sacks and three tackles for loss. Absolutely outrageopus production for an interior D-lineman this season and if we’re being honest, he’s been the best player on a defense full of good ones this season.
Derick Hall provided relentless pressure, snagging a sack along the way, as did Uchenna Nwosu, while Boye Mafe’s consistent wins at the point of attack notched him four tackles as well. Jarran Reed got in on the fun too, as he picked up a drive-killing sack on 3rd down in the second half.
~On the back end, Riq Woolen appears to have received the message sent to him when he was benched for the opening possession against the Vikings last week. He was Seattle’s best cover guy tonight and even sealed the deal with an interception on the game’s final play. This version of Woolen is the type you extend. The question remains whether it’s the version you can count on getting week after week. The Seahawks ran a lot of three-safety looks which meant Rayshawn Jenkins was back on the field and he was stupendous. Not only did he get a sack, he stuck his nose in everywhere and along with Julian Love and Coby Bryant, kept a firm lid on the tope of the defense.
~What we saw tonight was exactly why the Seahawks tabbed Mike Macdonald as Pete Carroll’s replacement. They were so sharp and so disciplined, with the defense consistently winning at every level. They had to be perfect tonight and they were. I’m going to assume the offense will be noticeably better next week in LA— if the defense stays anywhere close to what we saw from them tonight, the Seahawks may just win this division after all.
~Geno Smith was shaky today, narrowly avoiding an early interception and failing to stuff the stat sheet the way we’ve grown accustomed to from the 3rd leading passer in the league. He did eclipse 4,000 passing yards on the season tonight but it wasn’t pretty. Rain and pressure made an aerial assault difficult, not to mention a very talented Bears defense. But what Smith did in spite of all of that was enough, as he still completed 74% of his passes while evading pressure and scrambling for 19 yards. he probably should’ve been sacked more than just the three times given the amount of harassment he faced but he displayed good pocket presence and was fortunate that a teammate pounced on the ball when he was stripped from the blindside while throwing. It was an uneven performance to be sure.
~Ken Walker was put on IR this week, effectively ending his season. Fortunately, Zach Charbonnet has been very good in his stead this year and that continued today. Charbonnet racked up 76 yards on 18 touches on a night where yards were at a premium and while that may seem a relatively modest total, it was more scrimmage yards than any other player had for either team. Simply put, he’s a chain-mover and that is an extremely valuable asset to have— especially in games like this. We even got a little pop from kenny McIntosh, who picked up 46 yards on just seven rushes. Kid has some juice!
~DK Metcalf got flagged for a personal foul late In the 2nd quarter, which elicited the predictable volley of texts and tweets. I’m not gonna re-litigate why I believe his positives dramatically outweigh his drawbacks but like virtually everything else these days, lines have been drawn with DK and that’s fine. When it comes to his penalty yards, I’ve always said “just take it off the top” because if you did that for every WR, his production would absolutely still stack up.
But if you’re going to accrue the penalties, you have to make up for it with contributions and in tonight it was basically a wash. Metcalf led all Seahawks wide receivers with 42 yards on three catches (including a fantastic shoetop grab) but it’s only 27 net once you take the flag into account. Honestly, he’s lucky he didn’t get kicked out of this one.
~Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his first dud in a long time but when there are only 160 receiveing yards to go around, it’s tough to put up big numbers. Three for 32 for JSN today. It’s fine. he’s fine.
~Got a little Tyler Lockett in this one, highlighting how long it’s been since he put up a meaningful stat line. Not that three for 20 is meaningful, but Seattle made a point of targeting him tonight which can only help in terms of opening things up elsewhere.
~Noah Fant actually ended up as the leading receiver for the Seahawks in this one, picking up 43 yards on four catches and looking spry with the ball in his hands. For as fun as AJ Barner has been, Fant is still the most talented TE on this roster and I’d like to see him continue to dominate targets at that position. If I never see Paharoah Brown (one catch, four yards, lost fumble) touch the ball again, that would be fine as well.
~The O-line had some hits and some misses tonight. They were awesome on the opening drive, opening up holes with wham and trap blocks but they regressed to their mean after that. Stiull, they weren’t disastrous and unfortunately, that’s the standard we’re reduced to hoping they clear each week.
~One the harshest, and most under-discussed themes in the modern NFL is the constant state of flux among coordinators. In today’s league, you’re either promoted or fired, and it happens quickly. To wit, Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions is the only offensive coordinator who has held that position with the same team for more than two years. Read that again. And honestly, it’s only because he removed himself from consideration from the Commanders head coaching job.
That’s the world Ryan Grubb entered this year and for as bullish as I was on him coming in, and for as many built-in excuses as a terrible offensive line provides, there’s rumblings about whether he’ll still be calling plays in Seattle next season. I’d like to see him back, but I also understand that within the context of current coordinator fluidity, he’s not granted anything. To put it succinctly, he needed to make a statement in these final two games.
And on the opening drive, he did! The runs and quick-game passing moved the Seahawks all the way inside the Bears’ 10, most notably behind a series of chunk runs from Charbonnet and McIntosh. But when faced with a 3rd & 3 at the end of the possession, he opted for an empty-backfield shotgun look that led to an incomplete pass. I don’t mind you passing there, but removing even the threat of a run with just a trio of yards to gain? IDK, man… I hated that.
And it didn’t get any better from there. In fact, it got a lot worse. I mean, scheme one guy open, bro. Where are the 2-3 layups to Metcalf each game for the easy 5-12 yards we’ve seen even Seattle’s bad OCs understand? After a hot start, the Seahawks offense has been pretty underwhelming over the last two months and while we all know the OL stinks, part of the job is figuring out contingencies for that. I guess it just doesn’t feel like there’s much of an identity to this offense, which is a tough thing to type when you’re 16 games in.
There have been some rumblings from some folks close to the team that Grubb is coaching for his job and tonight certainly didn’t help his cause.
~Anytime you have a 6-3 final score, you gotta look at the special teams contributions and thank God they came through. Jason Myers made both of his kicks including a muddy 50-yarder that proved to be the game-winner. Michael Dickson blasted his way to a 48-yard average on his punts, combining distance with hang-time that reduced return yardage and accuracy that pinned three of his six kicks inside the 10. Seattle’s kick and punt coverage was awesome too.
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Since the end of the 2021 season, the Seahawks have moved on from a franchise quarterback and a Hall of Fame head coach. All they’ve done during that time is put up three consecutive winning seasons, a streak that continues with Seattle getting their ninth victory of the year tonight. It hasn’t always looked or felt as good as we’d like, but it’s hard not to call this a successful season given the context of the roster and the near-total inexperience of the coaching staff.
They’ve stumbled and bumbled this season, but they’ve also rumbled— with winning streaks of three and four games respectively. As a result, they may very well have a chance to win the NFC West next week in Mike Macdonald’s debut season as head coach. That, to me, is a big win. And even if they don’t winning seasons are a good thing and they provide proof of concept that the message can work.
I’d love to see this team out there whipping ass every week but that’s not how it works in the NFL and it’s certainly not how it works with a first-time HC and a defective offensive line. But like I always say, wins are wins and the Seahawks have garnered enough of them to make Week 18 really count for something— and that counts for something.
We’ll have a much clearer sense of the stakes after the Rams-Cardinals game this weekend but we can all go to bed tonight knowing the Seahawks did their part. I can’t wait to see what this article looks like next week but in the meantime, onward and upward my friends.
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***Keeping this here for the rest of the season — just want y’all to know how much I appreciate y’all over all these years***
Guys, I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed writing this column over the last 13(!) years. It is with equal parts gratitude and sorrow that I announce this will be my final season writing Cigar Thoughts.
Few things have given me greater joy than recapping Seahawks games for y’all over the years and I am eternally grateful for the incredible support y’all have shown this column over the years. I am proud, appreciative, and satisfied.
The podcast will continue.
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