Soldier Field |CS3 Media News
CHICAGO-The Chicago Bears defeated the Seattle Seahawks 24-17 on Monday night. The Bears made several adjustments after their 24-23 loss last Sunday night in Green Bay. The Bears made a concerted effort to contain Russell Wilson to stop the Seahawks’ offensive assault. The Bears defense dominated for three quarters, holding the Seahawks to three points, five first downs and 80 total yards on 34 plays. Out the gate, the Bears scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead for the second straight week as Trubisky passed to tight end Trey Burton for a 3-yard touchdown. However, like last week in Green Bay, the Bears offense struggled after scoring a touchdown on its first drive. The offense was only able to produce one field goal on six possessions which kept the game close. If the Bears could have scored another touchdown within those six possessions, they could have gotten a more comfortable lead to keep the Seahawks at bay.
On the other hand, the Bears’ defense was very impressive. The Bears defense was able to sack Wilson six times; they were relentless as they kept the heat on the Seahawks. After Mitchell Trubisky, threw two interceptions in a row in the second quarter, the Bears’ defense answered by forcing back-to-back turnovers. Khalil Mack made a pivitable third-down strip sack that forced Seattle to punt. The pressure the Bears defense put on Russell Wilson helped them rebound from the mistakes they made in Green Bay.
“They reacted really well to a tough loss, one that stung for so many reasons,” Nagy said. “But we were able to, as a group, put it aside. The message to them before the game was, ‘It’s time to stop barking and it’s time to start biting. The talk is cheap. Let’s go out and let’s produce and let’s play and let’s finish. Last week I told you we knew it was there to reach for. We could grab it. I felt like our team got better today and now we need to use this as a building block for next week.”
Another key play was made when cornerback Prince Amukamara intercepted a Russell Wilson pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. This gave the Bears a 24-10 lead. “Our theme this game was to play all four quarters and finish,” Amukamara said. “I’m so glad that this was a team win and we got that bad taste out of our mouth last week.”
The Bears couldn’t get too comfortable with their 24-10 lead because Seattle was still in the fight. With 14 seconds left to play, Wilson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Dissly making it 24-17. Anthony Miller recovered the onside kick to give the Bears the victory.
“That was a good team win for us,” Bears’ coach Matt Nagy said “For our defense to be able to come out and be as dominant as they were, that’s what we like to see. That was our challenge to them specifically, along with the rest of the team, was to play four quarters. I think you felt that. I know I did. I thought it was pretty neat that after sudden-change with two interceptions, we got two three-and-outs by the defense,” Nagy said. “That’s awesome. There’s not a lot of teams in the NFL that have that mentality of where our defense is playing right now. For the most part, our defense is playing fast, they’re flying around. They helped the offense out. There’s going to be times where the offense is going to help the defense out. In the end, the only thing that matters is that ‘W.’ That’s it.”
Hopefully the 1-1 Bears can carry this momentum into Sunday’s contest against the 0-2 Cardinals in Arizona.
