The good part for the Seattle Seahawks heading into Monday Night Football in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears was that the future would likely be brighter, and that would be the case, win or lose against quarterback Caleb Williams and his mates.
After all, Seattle had revamped its offensive line by acquiring likely future Pro Football Hall of Famer Quenton Nelson, but O-lines need time to gel. Expecting perfection in the first game out might have been expecting too much. Plus, Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price were returning, too.
Unfortunately, the offensive line looked nowhere near cohesive enough to be good. It was dominated by the Bears' defensive line, which recently added elite Jeffery Simmons, in a fairly brutal fashion.
Winners and losers for the Seattle Seahawks in lopsided loss to the Chicago Bears
Winner: Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Not his best game ever, but still another solid performance in a game with subpar performances by the Seahawks. He finished with 118 yards on six catches, nearly 100 more yards than any other receiver. That can't continue for Seattle to be successful, but the team might not have any other choice.
Winner: Defensive tackle Jarran Reed
Reed didn't have any quarterback hits, but he was a beast against the run at times. He had two tackles for loss and proved he is worthy of keeping past 2027.
Loser: Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury
One thing that might have helped keep the Bears' defensive line more honest is if Seattle tried to run the ball more. Maybe Chicago would have continued to stuff that too, but with Charbonnet and Price returning, they needed to be used.
If nothing else, it would have slowed the train that was the Bears' dominant time of possession. By the time it was 20-9 midway through the third quarter, Chicago had 15 minutes on Seattle, but the Seahawks were almost two-to-one in pass-run ratio.
Loser: Right guard Grey Zabel
Zabel will have better days, and the team couldn't replace him during the game once Anthony Bradford was benched before the game, but that might have been the best move. Zabel looked lost at times, and struggled mightily.
That goes for runb-blocking as well as pass protection. When Seattle slowly started running the ball a bit more late in the third quarter, it was to the left side and behind Quenton Nelson.
Loser: Kicker Jason Myers
Myers had a terrible preseason, but has mostly been back to his consistently good self in the regular season. Not in Week 8, though. He badly missed an extra point in the first half for no apparent reason. This likely meant Seattle would eventually have to go for two if it got within striking distance of tying the game.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Myers had a makeable field goal blocked, and the score remained 20-9, but it felt more like 35-10.
Loser: Head coach Mike Macdonald
This is a rare one, of course, but in the matchup between the best young defensive head coach and the best young offensive coach (Chicago's Ben Johnson), Macdonald lost. Seattle's offense did very little, of course, at least not consistently, but the defense allowed a bunch of firsts.
Quarterback Caleb Williams threw for more than 200 yards, the first time that has happened this season against Seattle. The Bears also ran for more than 100 yards and allowed the second-most yards of the season. Most importantly, the Bears played from start to finish like they wanted to win more.
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