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SEATTLE - For the first time in nearly two years, the Seattle Seahawks clearly looked worse than the team across the field from them.
D'Andre Swift rushed for three touchdowns, and Luther Burden III caught another as Caleb Williams threw for 247 yards in an ugly 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night. It was the first loss by more than four points for Seattle since a 30-13 defeat to the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 15, 2024.
A putrid offensive performance – outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba – wasn't enough to keep up with a well-rounded effort from the Bears. Sam Darnold completed just 17-of-34 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price were held to 52 yards on 16 carries in their return to action from injuries.
Smith-Njigba caught six more passes for 118 yards and a touchdown as he almost reached the 1,000-yard mark for the season. The league's leading receiver, Smith-Njigba has 985 yards and nine touchdowns through eight games.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 02: Montez Sweat #98 of the Chicago Bears tackles Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter of the game at Lumen Field on November 02, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
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Seattle's defense wasn't awful, they just didn't get nearly enough support from their offensive counterparts. The Seahawks were just 1-of-11 on third down, and had eight of 11 drives lasting five plays or less. Darnold was sacked three times and harassed most of the night by Montez Sweat, and newly acquired defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
The Bears marched slowly, but methodically down the field against the Seahawks' defense to strike first. A 17-play, 80-yard drive by Chicago was capped by a 1-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Burden to give the Bears an early 7-0 lead. Chicago converted three third down chances and a fourth down on the drive.
They'd go 0-for-6 on third down for the rest of the half.
Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba was the only positive for Seattle on offense.
Smith-Njigba had four catches for 92 yards at the break. The rest of the offense had 28 yards on 11 touches. Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price combined for 20 yards on seven carries in their return to action.
Smith-Njigba caught two quick screen passes that picked up 37 yards to move Seattle into the Bears' red zone. However, Simmons blew up a screen to Zach Charbonnet for a 6-yard loss that blew up the drive. Jason Myers' 27-yard field goal got Seattle on the board and cut the lead to 7-3.
Seattle's defense held twice at the edge of the red zone to force a pair of field goals from Cairo Santos, who converted kicks of 44 and 39 yards to extend the Bears' lead to 13-3.
With the Bears set to get the ball to open the second half, the Seahawks needed a big drive to end the half and Smith-Njigba delivered yet again. After a 12-yard comeback that turned a defender completely around, Smith-Njigba burned Tyrique Stevenson for a 43-yard touchdown. Stevenson bit hard on Smith-Njigba's slant action before running by him for a wide open score. Myers yanked the extra point try wide left as the lead was cut to 13-9 at the break.
Following matching three-and-outs to begin the third quarter, Williams connected with former University of Washington receiver Rome Odunze twice for 55 yards that fueled against scoring drive. D'Andre Swift's 1-yard touchdown run gave Chicago a 20-9 lead.
A defensive holding call against Kyler Gordon bailed the Seahawks out on their next drive, otherwise they would have had another three-and-out. However, an offensive pass interference call against Smith-Njigba wiped out a completion down to the 1-yard line and led to a Seattle field goal try. However, the drive came up empty as Austin Booker cut through Seattle's line to block Myers' 33-yard attempt to preserve the 11-point lead.
DeMarcus Lawrence gave the offense a gift on the ensuing Bears drive, stripping Colston Loveland of the ball for a fumble and recovering to give the offense another chance to cut into the lead with good field position. After a Darnold interception was wiped out due to a defensive holding call against Clark Phillips III, Darnold connected with Cooper Kupp on a 7-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game. Tory Horton's successful two-point conversion catch allowed Seattle to cut the lead to three, 20-17, with 11:46 left to play.
The Seahawks appeared to stop the Bears on a third-and-4 at their own 39, only to have the play wiped out on a late delay of game call. Chicago capitalized on the chance as a screen to Kalif Raymond sprung free for 39 yards through Seattle's defense down to the 5-yard line. Swift scored on the next play to extend the lead to 27-17.
The crushing blow then followed for Seattle. Darnold's third down pass for A.J. Barner was swatted down by Booker at the line of scrimmage, falling into the arms of James Lynch for an interception. Lynch returned the pick to the Seattle 6-yard line, and Swift scored four plays later from five yards out to take a 34-17 lead with 4:41 left to play.
A fourth down heave for Kupp fell incomplete to seal the defeat for Seattle.
The Source: Information in this story comes from original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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