The Seahawks may have won ugly, but they won and that's all that matters when the team is fighting for their shot at the postseason. You can't win a tough game like this without a lot of winners. Nor do you see a 6-3 game without some losers.
Let's be real, 12s. This game was hard to watch in a lot of ways. But which would you prefer - an ugly three-point win, or a valiant three-point loss, as we saw against the Vikings? I'd gladly substitute another 6-3 semi-snoozer, and so would you. I can't say the game was a complete snoozefest, as we were treated to a lot of exciting plays.
The excitement was almost exclusively on one side of the ball, though. That's a real problem for a team that's making a desperate push for the playoffs. And when I say desperate - well, let's just say that Mike Macdonald's odds of making the playoffs as a rookie head coach are pretty slim. Even a win over the Rams in the season finale only gives the Hawks a 15 percent chance of winning the division at this point, unless the Cardinals pull off the upset on Saturday. So, go Arizona. Ugh, that hurt.
The Seattle Seahawks were stacked with winners - on defense
The Hawk turned in an impressive defensive performance last night. Holding any team to 179 total yards is something to be proud of. Yes, even if that team had already fired its head coach and offensive coordinator. Yes, even if that was only the Bears fourth-worst offensive game of the year. Geez, mom, give me something to hold onto!
Yes, Chicago's offense is often a joke. They certainly didn't help themselves by eating 1:23 of the clock with time winding down in the fourth quarter. Soon-to-be-former head coach Thomas Brown - the guy who stepped in after Chicago fired those other guys - said there was no confusion. Uh huh. Well, I for one am grateful that you deliberately put your rookie quarterback into desperation mode with 37 seconds left in the game. Great work, sir! Okay, on to the Hawks.
Winner: Devon Witherspoon
As I mentioned to one of my cohorts in crime on 12thManRising during the game last night, if Spoon weighed 186 instead of 185, he'd have added a safety to his stat line last night. Holy cow, what can't this guy do? I was about to say, take on a 330-pound tackle, but he probably ragdolls Jason Peters in practice just for fun. Witherspoon was everywhere last night, as Bob Condotta noted in his grades. Three tackles for a loss and a sack seem to be all in a night's work for the Seahawks superstar.
Loser: Ryan Grubb
As great as the defense was at times, man oh man, did the offense stink. Yes, the Hawks actually had a rushing attack in the first half. Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh ran well and gained 53 yards on the very first series. The pair ran for 34 in the rest of the first half, then just 16 yards on nine carries in the entire second half. Someone didn't make the right adjustments.
It's been a while since I got mathy. In the first half, Seattle picked up 87 yards on 13 runs, an average of 6.7 yards. That average fell like the stock market in the subprime crisis. Google it, or just watch "The Big Short". Anyway, the Seahawks rushing average crashed to an average of 1.8 yards in the second half. The passing game faired no better. And who was in charge of this trainwreck? That would be offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who may not be ready for prime time after all.
Winner: Leonard Williams
If the Big Cat isn't named an All-Pro after this, they need to just stop handing out the awards. No, he didn't have the longest pick-six by an NFL lineman in history again. All Williams did in this match up was post two of the Hawks seven sacks and put Caleb Williams on the turf another four times. Add five tackles, three of those for a loss, and you're beginning to see how much of a wrecking ball Wiliams was last night. One of his sacks even came when he was double-teamed. Just give him his hardware now, okay?
Loser: Geno Smith
I'll give Smith credit: he didn't throw another red zone. I mean, he almost did. But luckily, the Seahawks were playing football, but horseshoes. 17-23 for 160 isn't awful, considering the game conditions. Or considering that he was sacked three times. Except that two of those were on Smith. He took far too long to get rid of the ball.
Once again, he and his receivers weren't on the same page. I know, DK Metcalf doesn't run the crispest routes. But Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba do, and Geno missed both of them far too often. There seems to be one common factor here. Geno Smith has to start playing consistent ball. If he doesn't play better next week - or next year, for that matter - the Hawks have a pretty low ceiling.
Winner: Aden Durde
We all think of Mike Macdonald as the architect of the Seahawks defense. There's a really good reason for that, of course. He does call the defensive plays, after all. And he created one nasty defense over in Baltimore over the past couple of seasons. Seattle's defense hasn't been the most consistent this season, but they sure were good last night.
Defensive coordinator Aden Durde has to get some of the credit for that. Yeah, the Bears entered the Thursday night game with 60 sacks in their debit column. But seven sacks is still one heck of a showing by the Seahawks pass rush. Six players recorded those sacks, the most the Hawks have racked up since that crazy total of 11 against the Giants last season. Take a bow, Coach Durde.