Chicago Bears @ Seattle Seahawks – Week 8 Game Preview: Overview, Keys to Game, Insights
The Bears (5-2) outlasted the Patriots on Thursday night football last week for a second consecutive win with Caleb Williams under center. They then made a big splash this week with a trade to acquire All-Pro defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons from the Titans. They will definitely need his help as they travel west for a Monday night matchup with the defending champion Seahawks.
Seattle (4-3) has had a bumpy start to their title defense, hanging around .500 for most of the season. They did just shut down the high-powered Chiefs offense at home in a victory Sunday night in their most complete effort of the year.
The Hawks’ strong suit is definitely the defense, which is the best in the NFL in total yards allowed with just 232.2 per game. The front line is particularly strong with Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence wreaking havoc on the edges. The secondary is no slouch either with eight interceptions, the second most in football.
Seattle is a bit more shaky on the offensive side of the football with quarterback Sam Darnold throwing eight interceptions of his own in six games. Almost everything flows through dominating wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has 867 receiving yards through seven weeks. Those 867 yards account for 50% of his team’s total receiving yards.
The Seahawks have had a very tough time replacing Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III. Emanuel Wilson has been the leading rusher so far and Zach Charbonnet could possibly make his season debut after tearing his ACL in the playoffs last year.
This is going to be a very difficult test for the Bears, facing an elite defense at a very loud opposing stadium. The Vikings nasty defense gave them all kinds of trouble earlier in the season, if they have similar issues they aren’t going to win this game. This is an opportunity to see just how good this team is.
Where to Watch/Listen
- Monday, November 2 at 7:15pm CT on ABC/ESPN, WBBM Radio (English), and WRTO Radio (Spanish).
Keys to Victory
Here are my keys to Monday’s game. If these things happen, the Bears should have a shot to win.
- Try to force Darnold into mistakes. The Seahawks quarterback is going to make bad decisions during the game and Chicago needs to take advantage of those. Points may be hard to come by so turnovers may be decisive.
- Capitalize in the red zone. Red zone opportunities probably aren’t going to be frequent in this one so getting touchdowns out of them is going to be huge.
- At least slow down Smith-Njigba. JSN is virtually impossible to stop but the Bears have to at least keep him from absolutely destroying them. It’s going to be a difficult task with a secondary that is pretty dinged up.
- Williams creating a couple of off schedule plays. Chicago’s dynamic quarterback may have to make some things happen on some plays the defense blows up. Long sustained drives probably aren’t going to be common, so pulling a rabbit or two out of the hat might be needed.
Don’t Tell Me the Odds
The Seahawks are favored by three points at home against the Bears Monday. The over/under is set at 46.5, about average for an NFL game.
It’s Football Weather
The forecast for Lumen Field Monday night is calm with clear skies and a temperature of 51.
My Prediction
This is going to be a low-scoring game dominated by the defenses. The Bears are going to struggle a bit on offense and the Seahawks will survive 17-14 with their home-field advantage.
Official NFL Preview
Here is the official preview of the Bears-Seahawks game from the NFL.
