Seattle’s defense steps up vs. Bears, keeps Seahawks in the playoff hunt: Key takeaways

by Michael-Shawn Dugar, Kevin Fishbain, Adam Jahns and Amos Morale III

The Seattle Seahawks kept themselves in the postseason hunt thanks to a strong defensive effort in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Bears on “Thursday Night Football.”

The Seahawks, in all likelihood, will need the Arizona Cardinals to defeat the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday to set up a Week 18 matchup with the Rams for the NFC West crown. If the Rams beat the Cardinals, they could clinch the division via tiebreaker, depending on the results of other games, as early as Sunday.

Seattle’s defense held the Bears to 179 yards, totaled seven sacks and snapped Chicago rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ streak of 354 passes without an interception.

The Seahawks seemed determined to set a tone from the opening kick, as they ran the ball a first-half season-high 15 times for 91 yards while pressuring Williams often.

Williams finished 16 of 28 for 122 yards and an interception but made several impressive throws. The Bears, however, made several unforced errors that set their offense back.

The Bears’ final drive of the game, which ended with the interception, saw a false start penalty on fourth-and-inches and Chicago needing to burn a timeout on second-and-10 with the game clock already stopped.

Seahawks need help

The Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive with this win. Now they’ll turn their attention to Cardinals-Rams on Saturday night. If Arizona wins, Seattle automatically stays in the running for the division title, which would come down to the team’s Week 18 road trip to Los Angeles.

If the Rams beat the Cardinals, the Seahawks’ only chances of avoiding elimination come down to whether Los Angeles can get enough wins from other teams this weekend to secure the strength-of-victory tiebreaker of Seattle. This was perhaps the ugliest offensive performance of the season for Seattle, but considering what was on the line, the team will take a victory any way it can get one. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer

Seattle’s defense steps up

The Seahawks recorded a season-high seven sacks on Thursday night, and defensive tackle Leonard Williams was the only person to get Caleb Williams on the ground twice. The Bears’ 179 yards of offense is the lowest total Seattle has allowed this season. After allowing 57 points across two games in Weeks 15 and 16, this was a nice bounce-back performance for Mike Macdonald’s defense, which picked off Williams on the final series to ice the game. — Dugar

Bears unfortunately tie a record

As Williams’ streak of consecutive games without an interception ended, the Bears’ losing streak continued. They somehow found a new way to lose their 10th consecutive game, which ties a franchise record — set only two years ago.

The clock mismanagement at the end was a disaster, and that’s saying something given how this team has handled close games all season. The defense played well, but the offense remains a mess. Williams has to be better in those late-game situations, as he and the offense seemed ill-prepared to handle Seattle’s Cover-0 blitzes. There were no answers. The solace for this Bears team is there’s only one game left. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer

Next coach will be important for Williams

The Bears played like a team that deserved to lose 10 games in a row. And they still have to play the Green Bay Packers to close out the season at Lambeau Field. The Bears’ search for their next head coach is pivotal because Williams is in desperate need of help. He continues to look overwhelmed in the game’s most important moments and has been sacked 67 times this season, which is the most in the NFL.

He’s the most appealing thing about the Bears’ future. His development can’t be derailed by this season. A shortlist of coaching candidates must start with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson but also include former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. — Adam Jahns, Bears beat writer

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)