This matchup was nearly for the NFC championship in January.
The Chicago Bears held the ball with a chance to win in overtime against the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field. If the Bears won that divisional-round game, they would’ve punched their ticket to Seattle with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Instead, the Rams intercepted Caleb Williams and went on to kick a game-winning field goal. A week later, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Rams and went on to claim the Super Bowl title.
Nine months later, these are different teams, but they remain two of the best in the NFC. The Seahawks have lost three games by a combined eight points. The Bears offense has been electric when Williams is healthy — and right now he is.
Both teams swung trades this week, with the Seahawks adding guard Quenton Nelson in a deal with the Indianapolis Colts, while the Bears traded for former Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. The moves only bolster the idea that both teams plan on being in the mix as the calendar turns to November and beyond.
The Bears (5-2) and the Seahawks (4-3) will play Monday at Lumen Field (7:15 p.m., ESPN and The U). Here’s what to watch for in Week 8.
1. An NFC heavyweight fight.
In some ways, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is the defensive version of Bears counterpart Ben Johnson. At 40, Johnson is 13 months older than Macdonald, 39. Both worked their way up the coaching ranks the hard way.
Macdonald began as a high school coach while he was in college at Georgia, long before he became an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. Johnson grinded away for years at Boston College and with the Miami Dolphins before he ever earned a chance to run an offense.
You can almost feel that hard-scrabble history in the way these teams play. Their coaches may be considered gurus on their respective sides of the ball, but their philosophies start with being physical at the point of attack.
Macdonald’s defensive front has been among the league’s most feared since he took over in 2024. Johnson’s offensive line is on the short list when considering the best in the NFL right now.
This game is going to be won and lost in the trenches.
“The versatility of the whole unit is what makes it so challenging playing these guys,” Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. “Just the types of players they have, the ability and the versatility that a lot of them have, you’ve got to have a plan for pretty much every look.”
The Seahawks rank fourth in scoring defense at 17.9 points per game. They are the No. 2 third-down defense in the league, with opponents converting just 28% of the time. The defense ranks first in total yards (233.9 per game), sixth against the run (89.4) and first against the pass (144.4). The Seahawks are tied for second with eight interceptions.
Communication will be the key for the Bears offense, especially in a notoriously difficult place to play.
“From inside out, our ability to communicate to the tight ends effectively is going to be paramount,” offensive line coach Dan Roushar said. “Then we have to play with exceptional fundamentals. And we have to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. If we don’t, it’ll be a tough one.”
Last week the Seahawks stuffed a Kansas City Chiefs rushing attack that had been humming behind new back Kenneth Walker III, who was Super Bowl MVP for the Seahawks in February.
On the other side of the ball, Nelson adds an eight-time Pro Bowl selection to the lineup at left guard. He makes an already good offensive line better, just as rookie first-round running back Jadarian Price (chest) and veteran Zach Charbonnet (knee) appear ready to return from injuries.
This will be a tough test for the Bears defensive line, but this group can sleep a lot better knowing Simmons is now on their side
2. Player in the spotlight: Bears DT Jeffery Simmons
The Bears traded for the All-Pro on Thursday in a deal that sent two future first-round draft picks to the Titans. The Bears believe they added a cornerstone piece for their defense, a player who is among the best — if not the best — at his position.
Simmons, 29, spent all 7½ seasons of his career with the Titans. He plans to play Monday night; the only question is how much.
“I’m still trying to catch up with the playbook, get this game plan down and just trust the process, especially with this first week,” Simmons said Friday. “But at the same time, I’m ready to roll.”
He had been playing 86.6% of the Titans’ defensive snaps. Few defensive linemen in the NFL play that frequently, but Simmons is valuable enough that the Titans rarely took him off the field.
He might not play as much Monday, but the Bears could use him against the defending champions.
Monday will be three years to the day since Simmons’ last prime-time game. The Titans haven’t played an island night game since 2024, and Simmons missed it. He last played a prime-time game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 2, 2023, on “Thursday Night Football.”
He’ll begin his Bears career with back-to-back prime-time games against the Seahawks on Monday and versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 9.
He’ll also go up against Nelson, the new Seahawks guard, whom he battled twice a year in the AFC South division when Nelson was with the Colts.
“I love the game of football,” Simmons said. “I love competition. There’s nothing I don’t like about Quenton Nelson. He’s a true competitor. He’s a guy who is going to always bring his A game. When we play against each other, it’s always a great matchup.”
3. Who will step up at tight end?
The Bears will have had 10 days off since their last game on Oct. 22. That gave them time to figure out how to move forward at tight end without Cole Kmet.
Kmet suffered a season-ending right knee injury in the Week 7 win against the New England Patriots. The Bears will be without the heart and soul of the team, a Chicago native who is their longest-tenured player.
On a more basic level, though, they will have to figure out how to divvy up his reps. Kmet was playing 62% of offensive snaps this season.
Second-year tight end Colston Loveland will continue to take the spotlight as a pass catcher. He already is playing 86% of snaps. The player who could see the biggest jump in playing time is rookie third-round pick Sam Roush.
Roush, as he put it, “didn’t have a great start to the season.” He has played 22% of snaps as the third option at tight end and totaled three catches for 33 yards while also committing three penalties.
How do the Chicago Bears move on without TE Cole Kmet? ‘I don’t see us really changing who we are.’
But tight end can be a tricky position to learn as a rookie. They have a lot of responsibilities, and sometimes it just takes time.
Now, though, Roush is likely to get thrown into the fire. The rookie feels as if he has been playing better recently.
“I think just having more confidence in my assignment, not (only) my ability to do it,” Roush said. “If I get up on the line and we’re running wide zone, being able to confidently make a call and stick with it and not have doubt in my mind that that’s what I’m going to do. I feel like when I have confidence in what I’m supposed to do, I can really get after people.”
The Bears also have tight ends Stephen Carlson and Qadir Ismail on the practice squad. They will need a third tight end on the active roster Monday, so at least one of them is likely to be flexed into action.
4. Keep an eye on: Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Johnson called Smith-Njigba the “engine” behind the Seahawks offense. Smith-Njigba has surpassed 100 receiving yards in six out of seven games. He leads the NFL with 867 yards and eight touchdown receptions.
Among qualified receivers, Smith-Njigba has the highest target share in the league at 35.6%, and his 58 receptions are one shy of the league lead. Quarterback Sam Darnold loves to look his way.
“You look at him down there in the red area and he wins the one-on-one matchups,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “That’s what all the good receivers do, and he’s got exceptional hands. He has a lot of catches in a contested environment.”
Slowing Smith-Njigba will be a challenge, especially if the Seahawks have the running game going and can utilize play action. Bears linebacker Devin Bush said the best way to keep Smith-Njigba from making an impact is to “stop the run early and try to make them one-dimensional.”
Bush played in Seattle in 2023 when Smith-Njigba was a rookie. He knows firsthand just how good the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year is.
“Hit him as many times as you can, often,” Bush said. “Scheme him up to not get these easy throws or these over-the-top throws where you know that’s where the strength of his game is.”
5. Injury updates
The Bears ruled out running back Kyle Monangai on Saturday with toe and thumb injuries; the toe is what has kept him out since Week 4. He remains on the active roster despite the prolonged absence.
“Every time you have an injury you don’t know how a player’s going to bounce back from that,” Johnson said. “And I think we’ve had a number of guys that have been able to return a little bit sooner than we thought and anticipated initially, and then that’s not always the case. So obviously we didn’t feel like it was warranted to put him on IR for a stretch of time, and yet we’re still hopeful we’ll get him back sooner rather than later.”
D’Andre Swift will take center stage at running back, with Roschon Johnson likely to see work as the No. 2 back.
Tight end Colston Loveland (neck) was a midweek addition to the injury report Friday. But Loveland practiced in full Saturday and holds no injury designation ahead of the game.
“We’re hoping it’s a minor thing,” Johnson said Friday.
Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson (ankle) and cornerback Malik Muhammad II (toe) are both listed as questionable. Muhammad was limited in practice Saturday, while Jackson was a full participant.
Linebackers T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and Jack Sanborn (concussion) hold no injury designations and should make their returns. Edwards missed two games after injuring his hamstring against the Packers in Week 5. Sanborn missed one game with a concussion.
The Seahawks are expected to get a boost as a pair of running backs return to action. Neither Price, the No. 32 draft pick who has been on IR with a chest injury, nor Charbonnet, who has yet to play this season after tearing his ACL in January, holds an injury designation for the game. Price technically remains on IR and would need to be activated, while Charbonnet is on the active roster.
The Seahawks ruled out left tackle Charles Cross (ankle), reserve running back Velus Jones Jr. (hamstring) and receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) on Saturday. Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (ankle) is listed as doubtful, while guard Anthony Bradford (knee), backup quarterback Drew Lock (right elbow), linebacker Patrick O’Connell (toe) and defensive tackle Brandon Pili (back) are questionable.
If Lock is unable to play behind Darnold, the Seahawks list second-year quarterback Jalen Milroe as their third-stringer.
Predictions
Brad Biggs (4-3)
The Seahawks are playing throwback football on defense — a throwback to a different era because opponents are having so much trouble throwing the ball against them. The Seahawks are No. 1 in the NFL, allowing only 144.4 passing yards per game. The last time a team allowed fewer than 150 yards per game in a full season was 1980, when the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins accomplished the feat. Who’s to say if the Seahawks can continue to be so stingy? Caleb Williams should give them a good test as the offense plays its first game without Cole Kmet. In a rowdy road environment and against an elite defense, field position will be at a major premium. The Bears enhance their chances with some short fields. The addition of Simmons is intriguing, and there’s reason to look at this as a measuring-stick game.
Seahawks 27, Bears 22
Sean Hammond (3-4)
Sam Darnold has thrown an interception in five consecutive games. In each of the Seahawks’ three losses, they turned the ball over three times or more. Jeffery Simmons changes the equation for the Bears defensive line. He knows what he’s doing, and I don’t think learning a new playbook in a short amount of time will be a problem for the All-Pro. I think the Bears defense will find a couple of takeaways and give Caleb Williams short fields to work with. It will be tough going up against this defense, but if anyone can build the right plan of attack for it, it’s Ben Johnson.
Bears 23, Seahawks 20
Phil Thompson (4-3)
The Bears eventually will get a huge boost from the trade for Jeffery Simmons, but it likely won’t be enough to turn the tide in what should be the their most daunting matchup to date. The Seahawks are sound in all phases, and their top-ranked pass defense should be Williams’ biggest challenge yet. Meanwhile, Dennis Allen keeps digging deep into his bag of tricks to find inventive ways to pressure quarterbacks and protect his secondary, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba will likely expose its weaknesses.
Seahawks 26, Bears 23
