SEATTLE – For three quarters the Seahawks looked like a team that had met a defense it could not solve, and for a few minutes in the fourth they looked like one that might escape. Then Chicago’s line put the game away. Austin Booker tipped a Sam Darnold pass, defensive tackle James Lynch caught it for the first interception of his career, and D’Andre Swift ran in his third touchdown.
The Bears beat the defending Super Bowl champions 34-17 on Monday night, improving to 6-2. Seattle fell to 4-4. The new face on the Chicago defense, All-Pro tackle Jeffery Simmons, led the team with six tackles in his debut, adding a sack, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed.
Chicago’s pass rush did most of the damage. Seattle gained only 252 yards, converted one of 11 third downs and ran for just 81 yards. Darnold was sacked three times and hit six, and Montez Sweat finished with a sack and three quarterback hits of his own.
Simmons arrived last week from Tennessee in a trade that cost Chicago two first-round picks. The Eastern Herald reported the deal when it was agreed, a day after Simmons had said he expected to stay with the Titans. Monday was the first public measure of what Chicago paid for.
He needed little time to supply it. Simmons had a sack on the opening drive, according to KIRO 7’s game report. The Seahawks finished with five three-and-outs and five punts, according to NBC Sports.
Chicago’s offense gave the defense a lead to protect. Caleb Williams guided the Bears on a 17-play, 80-yard drive to open the game, finishing it with a one-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden III. The Bears never trailed, and Williams finished 24 of 34 for 247 yards with one touchdown, no turnovers and one sack.
Seattle’s best moment of the first half came late. Jaxon Smith-Njigba used a double move on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson Sr. and caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Darnold with about 30 seconds left, trimming Chicago’s lead to 13-9 at halftime. Smith-Njigba finished with six catches for 118 yards.
The Bears answered after the break. A 10-play, 69-yard drive ended with Swift’s one-yard run, and the lead grew to 20-9. Seattle defensive tackle Leonard Williams had left the field with an injury moments earlier, and the Bears used his absence on the score. He did not return.
The game turned briefly in the fourth quarter. Jason Myers had a 33-yard field goal blocked in the opening minute, but on Chicago’s next possession DeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble by tight end Colston Loveland. Darnold hit Cooper Kupp from seven yards out, and the Seahawks converted a two-point try to make it 20-17.
Chicago did not blink. Williams and the offense drove back, helped by a 39-yard third-down gain from Kalif Raymond, and Swift scored his second touchdown to restore a double-digit margin. Chicago led 27-17 at that point, according to NBC Sports.
Lynch’s interception ended Seattle’s last real chance. He returned it 16 yards to the Seattle 6, and Swift scored from five yards out to make it 34-17 with 4:41 remaining. Swift finished with three short touchdown runs in the second half, from one, five and five yards.
The sources differ on how many yards he gained. The Chicago Tribune had Swift at 61 yards on 27 carries, while NBC Sports listed 69. Both agreed on the carries and the three scores. The Bears gained 363 yards in all, against a defense NBC Sports called vaunted.
For Seattle, the loss carried more weight than a single defeat. It ended a 30-game streak across the regular season and playoffs without losing by more than four points, the fourth-longest in the Super Bowl era. The Seahawks have now lost three of their last four, even after adding guard Quenton Nelson in a trade last week.
Seattle also gave away points in smaller ways. NBC Sports counted three unnecessary roughness penalties in the second half, two of them on special teams, and a missed extra point by Myers along with the blocked field goal.
The result also fits the Bears’ recent pattern. The Tribune wrote that Ben Johnson’s offense has been among the league’s best since he became Chicago’s coach, and that Simmons’ arrival seemed to open a new chapter for coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense. One game does not show whether the defense will hold that standard, and the reports reviewed offered no injury update on Simmons after the game.
Chicago returns to prime time Sunday night, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Soldier Field. Seattle hosts Arizona the same day.
