Bears beat Seahawks 34-17 on Monday Night Football as Jeffery Simmons dominates in his debut (Nov. 3)
Quick Read
The Chicago Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday Night Football at Lumen Field, improving to 6-2 and dropping Seattle to 4-4.
D'Andre Swift ran for three short touchdowns, and Caleb Williams completed 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards with no turnovers.
Newly acquired defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had a sack in his Bears debut, and Chicago held Seattle to 252 yards and 1 of 11 on third down.
Seattle cut it to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, but a James Lynch interception set up Swift's final score with 4:41 left.
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SEATTLE - Jeffery Simmons waited about a week to play for the Chicago Bears. Seattle waited all night for a run game. The Bears won the line of scrimmage and beat the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night, handing Seattle its third loss in four games.
The loss also ended a 30-game streak, regular season and playoffs, in which Seattle had not lost by more than four points, according to the AP. The AP said that was the fourth-longest such streak for any team in the Super Bowl era.
How it happened
Chicago opened with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 8:32, and Williams finished it with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden III. Jason Myers answered with a 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and Cairo Santos added field goals of 44 and 38 yards for a 13-3 lead.
Seattle finally broke through with 30 seconds left in the half when Sam Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 43-yard touchdown. Myers missed the extra point wide left, so the Bears led 13-9 at halftime.
Swift's 1-yard run capped a 10-play, 69-yard drive in the third quarter for a 20-9 lead. Seattle answered with an 11-play drive, but Austin Booker blocked Myers' 33-yard field goal try in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, per the ESPN play-by-play.
The Seahawks got life on the next series. DeMarcus Lawrence forced and recovered a fumble by tight end Colston Loveland at the Chicago 25, and three plays later Darnold found Cooper Kupp for a 7-yard touchdown. Darnold's 2-point pass to Tory Horton made it 20-17 with 11:46 to play.
Chicago answered right away. Swift scored from 5 yards out to finish a 56-yard drive with 8:28 left. On Seattle's next possession, Lynch intercepted a Darnold pass intended for AJ Barner and returned it 16 yards to the Seattle 6, and Swift scored again from the 5 with 4:41 remaining.
"We got beat. No other way to sugar coat it," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said, per the AP. Bears coach Ben Johnson called Simmons' impact "profound" and said Monday's game plan was "one of the more elaborate" the team has asked Williams to run.
Standouts and stats
Jeffery Simmons, CHI: six tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed in his first game since Chicago acquired him from Tennessee in a trade that included two first-round picks, according to the AP.
Caleb Williams, CHI: 24 of 34, 247 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, sacked once, 101.0 rating.
D'Andre Swift, CHI: 27 carries, 69 yards, 3 TD.
Rome Odunze, CHI: 4 catches, 87 yards. Colston Loveland: 7 catches, 65 yards. Luther Burden III: 7 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD.
Chicago defense: three sacks (Simmons, Montez Sweat and Devin Bush) and Lynch's interception. Santos made both field goals and all four extra points.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SEA: 6 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD on 11 targets.
Sam Darnold, SEA: 17 of 34, 188 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, sacked three times. Ernest Jones IV led Seattle with 13 tackles.
Team totals: Bears 363 yards (126 rushing) and 35:03 time of possession; Seahawks 252 yards (81 rushing). Chicago went 4 for 4 in the red zone, Seattle 1 for 4.
Injuries
Bears defensive linemen Grady Jarrett (groin) and Kenatvius Street (knee) left the game with injuries, the AP reported. Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams left in the second half with a stinger and did not return.
What it means
Chicago is 6-2 and 3-1 on the road, and its defense now has the kind of difference-maker the AP said it had been missing. The Bears host Tampa Bay on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 8. Fans can find Bears gear on Amazon.
Seattle falls to 4-4 and, as the AP put it, can ill afford many more slip-ups in the NFC playoff race. The run game remains the problem even after the trade for guard Quenton Nelson and the returns of running backs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price: Seattle ran for 81 yards. "We've got to improve very quickly in the run game," guard Grey Zabel said, per the AP. The Seahawks host Arizona on Sunday, Nov. 8. For the home side, there's Seahawks gear on Amazon.
How our picks did
Our Monday Night Line preview went 2-1 this week:
Spread, Bears +3: Win. Chicago won by 17.
Total, Under 46.5: Loss. The teams combined for 51 points.
Prop, Jaxon Smith-Njigba over 97.5 receiving yards: Win. He finished with 118 yards and a touchdown.
The Monday Night Line is now 5-7-0 this season, and our combined Night Line record (Monday and Thursday) is 9-12-0.
Sources: ESPN/AP recap, ESPN box score, ESPN play-by-play
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