When the Bears made a blockbuster trade for DT Jeffery Simmons, it felt like Chicago GM Ryan Poles was pushing all his chips to the middle of the table. Two first-round picks along with a few other riders, Poles felt like Simmons could be the difference from another late playoff exit and the Bears hoisting the Lombardi for the first time since 1986. The Bears and their fanbase were expecting Simmons to change the dynamic of their defense, but none imagined it would happen as quickly as his first game with the team.
Simmons first game with Chicago saw multiple tackles for loss, a sack and a whole heap of double-teams from the Seahawks restructured offensive line. The vision for Simmons was just that, a lot of attention from opposing offensive lines which would, in turn, free up some of the other pass rushers for Chicago. They got a lot of that and more from Simmons in his Bears debut.
He had a sack on the opening drive, added another tackle for loss and finished with six tackles, three pressures and a pass defensed with coach Ben Johnson describing his impact as “profound.” Chicago held Seattle to 252 yards and one third-down conversion on 11 tries.
“He has me up off of the bench,” receiver Rome Odunze said. “Watching them third downs, watching the defense in general to see what he’s going to do next. He brings the energy to them. Obviously, his play-making ability ignites the defense, ignites the offense, ignites the team as a whole.”
Caleb Williams was extremely efficient for the Bears (6-2) against one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses, committing no turnovers, taking just one sack and throwing for 247 yards while completing 71% of his passes.
Williams’ play helped set up three short touchdown runs by D’Andre Swift and that proved to be more than enough against Sam Darnold and the Seahawks (4-4), thanks to the impact Simmons had on the defense.
“We knew it was going to be challenging and this was one of the more elaborate game plans in terms of what we were asking (Williams) to do as well,” Johnson said. “He stayed calm and collected throughout. I think that there are some times where it can get a little bit chaotic and yet he didn’t allow that to happen.”
The defending champion Seahawks lost for the third time in four games and are now looking up at the NFC playoff standings and can ill afford many more slip-ups. The loss ended a 30-game streak for Seattle in the regular season and playoffs — the fourth longest for any team in the Super Bowl era — of not losing by more than four points.
“We got beat. No other way to sugar coat it,” coach Mike Macdonald said. “When you look at the things that it takes to win in our league, we didn’t do those things and they did.”
Sam Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 yards and two touchdowns for Seattle, but his interception in the fourth quarter set up Swift’s third TD that made it 34-17 with 4:41 to play.
Injuries
Bears: DL Grady Jarrett (groin) and DL Kenatvius Street (knee) left the game with injuries.
Seahawks: DL Leonard Williams left in the second half with a stinger and didn’t return.
Up next
Bears: Host Tampa Bay on Sunday night.
Seahawks: Host Arizona on Sunday.
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