Seahawks vs. Bears: Position by position breakdown

Special teams and coaching

Punter

The Seahawks will always have the advantage at punter as long as Michael Dickson is healthy. Dickson is special, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. In his first NFL game, Dickson averaged 59 yards on six punts. That isn’t human.

I am sure Bears punter Pat O’Donnell is a fine human. But he is not the punter Dickson is.

Advantage: Seahawks

Kicker

Seattle kicker Sebastian Janikowski has been a fine kicker his entire career. But he missed an important field goal in week one. Actually, he missed two back-to-back but one did not count due to a Denver penalty. Had he made either kick, the game may have had a different outcome.

Bears kicker Cody Parkey has been on four different teams in four years. He is accurate from short range but doesn’t have a very strong leg.

Advantage: Seahawks

Return game

Chicago has Tarik Cohen returning punts and he is pretty good. He returned one for a touchdown in 2017 and in week one had a 42 yard return. Benny Cunningham returns kicks and he is decent but not outstanding.

Tyler Lockett returns kicks and punts for Seattle and is very good. But he had an underwhelming week one with returns. Still, he is good enough to make a difference on Monday night.

Advantage: Seahawks

Coaching

Pete Carroll has a track record far greater than Bears coach Matt Nagy. Nagy is coaching in just his second game as an NFL head coach. But Brian Schottenheimer did not call a good game as offensive coordinator for Seattle against the Broncos so he might keep Seattle from winning this week.

Advantage: Seahawks (based on Carroll’s experience)