Bears vs Seahawks Postgame Recap: Defense and Discipline Fuel Chicago’s Win

The Chicago Bears (2-0) traveled to Lumen Field Thursday night to take on the Seattle Seahawks (0-2) in week two of the preseason. Between a strangling defensive game and Seattle repeatedly hurting themselves with penalties and slip-ups, the Bears cruised to a 27-11 win, staying perfect on the preseason.

Inside the Box Score

• Trevor Siemian was the lone Bears’ QB to throw a TD, which he did on a two-yard strike to TE Jake Tonges in the second quarter. Siemian finished his day 8/15 for 48 yds, and a rating of 82.1.
• The Bears ran away with the penalty matchup, only committing three to the tune of 38 yards. Meanwhile, Seattle found themselves flagged 13 times, amassing 92 penalty yards.
• Defense was the dominating factor for Chicago, as the team forced eight three-and-outs from Seattle. Three Bears walked away with sacks: Al-Quadin Muhammad, Trevon Coley, and Sam Kamara.

The game started with Velus Jones Jr. getting his first taste of NFL action, returning the opening kickoff for 28 yards. The Bears' first drive couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, as Justin Fields’ first throw of the game was a 12-yard completion to Cole Kmet for the first down.

Things slowed down considerably after that. Seattle’s defense was able to put pressure on Fields all drive, eventually forcing a 4th and 2 situation. Standing at the Seattle 49, the Bears’ coaching staff decided to go for it, a call which worked out in their favor as a neutral zone infraction gave the Bears a free five yards and a fresh set of downs. A 19-yard completion to Kmet plus a 6-yarder to Darnell Mooney brought the Bears into the red zone, but the Seattle defense locked things down, making the Bears settle for a 35-yard field goal from Cairo Santos to give the team a 3-0 lead.

With Drew Lock coming down with Covid-19, Geno Smith earned the starting nod for Seattle. Down by three, a false start on Seattle offensive tackle Charles Cross didn’t make the job any easier for Smith and co. The Seahawks were able to turn the 1st and 15 into a 3rd and 5, but an overthrow to receiver Freddie Swain brought out the punting unit.

Trevor Siemian took over for the Bears on their second drive but saw little action as rookie Trestan Ebner got five carries, which stalled out at the Bears’ own 48.

It wasn’t long until the Bears got the ball back, and the defense forced their second straight three-and-out, thanks in part to a bat-down of a Smith pass from Angelo Blackson at the line-of-scrimmage on third down. Things got even better for Chicago when Jones made his first big play in the navy and orange, returning the ensuing punt for 48 yards all the way to the Seattle 33. The Bears capitalized on the return, slowly but steadily making their way towards Seattle’s endzone, eventually getting to Seattle’s two-yard line before the first quarter came to an end. The drive was finished off on the first play of the second quarter, a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Tonges.

Seattle would finally get their first big play of the day thanks to a 33-yard run from Travis Homer. The Bears’ defense quickly went back to their dominating play, forcing a 4th and 2 on their 34-yard line. The Seahawks converted the 4th down on a 12-yard pass to Cade Johnson, but the ball was brought all the way back to the Bears’ 44 because of a Shamarious Gilmore illegal use of hands penalty, once again forcing a Seattle punt.

The Seahawks got their second big play on their next drive on a 41-yard throw to Penny Hart, taking Seattle all the way to the Bears’ 27-yard line. Another big-time pass was almost completed to Dareke Young, who wasn’t able to reel in the ball. Settling for a field goal, luck still didn’t go the Seahawks’ way as Jason Myers’ 47-yard attempt curved wide right of the uprights.

Four straight punts led to the Bears getting the ball with 54 seconds left to go in the half. Seattle’s first sack of the game (courtesy of Myles Adams) looked like the end of the drive, but the Bears caught a lucky break when Cade Johnson muffed the ensuing punt and Elijah Hicks recovered the ball in the endzone for another Bears’ TD, whose lead now stood at 17-0. That score stood going into the break, as Seattle couldn’t do anything in the last 20 seconds of the half.

Receiving the second-half kickoff, Seattle’s penalty woes continued as Lakiem Williams was tagged with a holding penalty. Then, on their own 13-yard line with Jacob Eason now in as quarterback, Abe Lucas committed his own holding offense, setting the Seahawks back to the seven-yard line. The drive ended as a three-and-out.

Nathan Peterman, the new Bears’ QB, made short and efficient work of his team’s first drive in the half. A 14-yard pass, a 23-yard pass (plus a five-yard unnecessary roughness call), and a four-yard pass from the six-year veteran brought the Bears one yard away from the endzone, before Darrynton Evans punched in the TD. Bears up 24-0.

The defenses then took over (or the offenses really started to lose it), as four straight three-and-outs commenced. Finally, Jacob Eason started to find his groove on Seattle’s last drive of the third quarter. His first three throws resulted in 47 yards, getting the Seahawks back to Chicago’s red zone for the first time since the first half. A 16-yard Darwin Thompson run (featuring a hurdle) brought his squad all the way to the Bears’ three-yard line, but a negative run and a false start from Charles Cross moved Seattle back to Chicago’s nine. Jason Myers would score the Seahawks’ first three points of the game on his 27-yard field goal after an Eason incompletion brought up 4th and goal.

Now leading 24-3 with 0:29 left in the third quarter, the Bears responded quickly. Nsimba Webster returned the kickoff 58 yards, setting up the Bears nicely for the ensuing drive. Now in the fourth quarter, Peterman was able to pick up 13 yards on a throw to Kevin Shaa, before throwing three straight incompletions. Cairo Santos was brought in on fourth down and knocked down the 47-yard field goal, jacking the lead back up to 27-3.

The ball found itself with the Bears soon again after a 1:35, three-and-out drive from the Seahawks. Following the punt, Chicago’s coaching staff started to utilize the run game, with De’Montre Tuggle getting the bulk of the work. His effort wasn’t rewarded, as the Bears couldn’t punch the ball in on three straight tries from Seattle’s one-yard line, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Things would then get interesting, as Seattle would hold onto the ball for the next 3:36 of the game, finally finding the endzone on a Darwin Thompson, eight-yard TD run. A successful two-point conversion brought the score to 27-11 in Chicago’s favor with 2:08 left to go in the game. The Bears thought they had the ball at the 4:18 mark, but a muffed punt from Dazz Newsome gave the Seahawks a second chance with the ball, which eventually turned into Thompson’s touchdown.

The dramatics continued on the ensuing kickoff, when Seattle’s Joey Blount was able to recover Jason Myers’ onside kickoff. Eason would launch a throw downfield on the first play of the drive, where Aaron Fuller was able to draw pass interference on the Bears’ BoPete Keyes. Keyes redeemed himself on the next snap, helping disrupt what would be a touchdown pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. A couple plays later, Fuller was ruled to have a touchdown catch with 1:37 left to go in regulation, but it was overturned due to the ball hitting the ground.

Eason and company couldn’t regain the magic, turning the ball over on downs at the Chicago four-yard line. Peterman and co. would come out one more time to run through Seattle’s three remaining timeouts with 33 seconds left before having to punt it off. The Seahawks would get off one final rush before the clock struck zero, sealing the Bears’ 27-11 victory.

The Bears will now get over a week off before heading to Cleveland for a final preseason game against the Browns (1-0) on Saturday the 27th. Kickoff is slated for a 6:00 pm CDT. Coverage for that game as well as all things Chicago Bears can be found right here at https://www.windycitygridiron.com.