CHICAGO — Ernest Jones IV cherishes these moments.
Rather than punt the ball on fourth-and-5 while trailing by three points from their own 34 with less than three minutes remaining, the Chicago Bears trotted their offense back on to the field, meaning Jones and the Seattle Seahawks’ defense had to do the same. Jones sprinted to the middle of the field, bouncing up and down, excitedly pumping his right fist. The game and the season were basically on the line, and it was on Seattle’s defense to bring it home.
Jones couldn’t wait.
“That’s what I live for,” the Seahawks’ middle linebacker said, “for the defense being out there to have that opportunity to close the game.”
Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams kept the drive alive with a combination of elusiveness and arm talent, managing to convert that fourth down and a few more chain-moving completions, setting up fourth-and-10 from the 40 with 20 seconds left. His final attempt at delivering fourth-quarter magic fell short, though, as Riq Woolen picked off a 50-50 ball to secure a season-saving victory by a final score of 6-3 Thursday night at rainy Soldier Field.
Seattle’s defense steps up in 6-3 win vs. Bears: Takeaways
PICKED! The Riq Woolen comes down the interception for the @Seahawks to seal it. pic.twitter.com/i01rH3XeDd
— NFL (@NFL) December 27, 2024
“That’s what elite defenses are for,” said safety Coby Bryant, who was also excited for the chance to punctuate a dominant day by Seattle’s defense with one more stop. “Don’t bend or break.”
Seattle’s defense recorded a season-high seven sacks and allowed a season-low 179 yards, delivering its best performance when it was needed most. By improving to 9-7, the Seahawks remain alive for the NFC West title, which is their only path to the postseason. They will now root for the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) to win or tie on the road Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams (9-6), which would automatically set up a win-and-in game between Seattle and Los Angeles in L.A. in Week 18.
With a win on Saturday, the Rams wouldn’t clinch the division, but they would take a stranglehold on it, as Seattle would have to root for a series of specific outcomes from other games around the league to avoid losing the strength-of-victory tiebreaker.
It was all possible because of Seattle’s defense.
“Those guys won us the game today,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “They played their guts out. They dominated. Without them, shoot, we’d be sad as hell right now. But they came through for us.”
The Bears (4-12) have lost 10 straight and entered this game ranked 26th in points per drive. Seattle has a top-10 scoring defense, so it’s not much of a surprise that coach Mike Macdonald’s unit was able to overwhelm Williams and the Bears. But the Seahawks’ offense increased the degree of difficulty for their defense by putting up six points on nine possessions and going scoreless in the second half. Seattle reached Chicago territory three times and kicked two field goals in the first half, then turned the ball over on the third visit across midfield when tight end Pharaoh Brown lost a fumble. This was the first time all season the Seahawks didn’t score an offensive touchdown.
Running backs Zach Charbonnet (57 yards) and Kenny McIntosh (46 yards) combined for 103 yards on 22 attempts, and quarterback Geno Smith had only six incompletions, but third down was a struggle for Seattle, which converted just 5 of 13 tries.
“We didn’t finish drives,” center Olu Oluwatimi said. “We ran the ball pretty good, but we’ve gotta have a killer mindset when we start getting first downs, to keep drives going.”
The Seahawks led 6-3 through two quarters after scoring on the first and last drives of the opening half. They went 71 yards and reached the Chicago 9-yard line on the opening drive, stalling when Smith was nearly intercepted on third-and-3 on a short throw over the middle to Tyler Lockett. Seattle punted on its next three possessions, then reached the Chicago 32-yard line before a Smith pass was batted at the line on third-and-10, leading to a 50-yard field goal going into the break.
Seattle threatened to score only once in the second half. Smith converted on third-and-7 with a 19-yard pass to Smith-Njigba into Chicago territory. Brown caught a screen pass a few plays later and fumbled while being gang-tackled at the 38. Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon forced and recovered the fumble, then ran 62 yards for what was initially ruled a touchdown. However, it was called back after replay review revealed that Brown’s leg was touching Gordon as he was on the ground.
“I thought I was down, but when you’re in those piles, it’s hard to see what’s going on,” Brown said. “I thought I had two hands on the ball, but sometimes stuff like that happens.”
That led to another moment in which Seattle’s defense looked forward to the opportunity to make it right.
“We were so excited because we knew they weren’t going to get anything after that,” safety Julian Love said. “That was the mindset today. We were just having fun. I don’t know if it was the rain, the temperature, all that stuff. We were just playing backyard football. Everyone was connecting, we were communicating well, and we were just running and hitting. When we have that vibe going, we’re at our best.”
Chicago gained 1 yard on six plays before punting it back to Seattle. The key to the defensive stand was a sack by Uchenna Nwosu on a simulated pressure that gave the outside linebacker a clear path to the quarterback. It was the first sack of the year for Nwosu, who was one of six players to sack Chicago’s rookie signal caller. The other five were defensive tackle Leonard Williams (twice), outside linebacker Derick Hall, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, defensive back Devon Witherspoon and defensive tackle Jarran Reed.
Chen 🔟 takes him down. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SAqksefcbb
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 27, 2024
“They’re elite,” Oluwatimi said of Seattle’s defense. “We have the deepest and best D-line in the league. It’s hard for teams to move the ball against our D-line.”
Seattle’s offense could reach only its 46-yard line before punting after Charbonnet couldn’t reach the line to gain on a third-down swing pass. The punt set up Chicago’s final drive, which began at its 11 with 5:12 remaining. The Bears initially lined up to punt on fourth-and-5 following a false start by former Seattle lineman Jake Curhan. When they changed their mind, Williams scrambled and whipped a pass to receiver D.J. Moore for 14 yards. Three plays later, Williams bought time and rifled a ball to receiver Rome Odunze for 15 yards into Seattle territory.
After three straight incompletions, Macdonald did what he’s been known to do when the defense is on the field in gotta-have-it situations: send pressure. He called Cover-0 blitzes on multiple snaps that series, including the final snap, believing that the cornerbacks could survive on an island if the rush didn’t get home. That same approach led to Aaron Rodgers throwing incomplete on fourth-and-15 in Week 13 to seal a win over the New York Jets. Macdonald went with the same call from that situation when it was time to put the Bears away.
“I like it because we are great players, and we know how great we are,” said Woolen, who came off his man to intercept the jump ball Williams threw in Keenan Allen’s direction while being pressured by Bryant and Witherspoon. “It’s nothing new to us. It boosts our confidence because he trusts us. That’s major coming from a head coach.”
Although Seattle’s defense enjoyed playing lights out on the national stage to snap a two-game losing streak, the offense was dissatisfied, feeling it didn’t play to its standard. Six points is very rarely enough to win a game, and players on that side of the ball were thankful the defense carried them to victory. That said, because the Seahawks don’t control their own playoff fate, they’ll take any win they can get.
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“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” said Smith, who was 17-for-23 for 160 yards with two scrambles for 20 yards. “Gutting out a 6-3 win feels just as good as winning the game 44-41. It’s all good getting wins.”
Seattle’s whole team will be watching the Cardinals on Saturday night hoping Arizona can get a win, too.
“I’m excited to see what’s going to happen,” Woolen said with a smile. “And go Cardinals.”
(Photo of Riq Woolen, 27, and teammates: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
