By The boo birds were loud and clear Thursday night at Soldier Field following the latest Chicago Bears loss.
On a chilly, rainy night in Illinois – the Bears lost to the Seattle Seahawks in a 6-3 defensive struggle between both squads on Thursday Night Football.
Needing a field goal to at least force overtime, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams drove the Chicago offense all the way to the Seattle 40-yard line.
With a field goal attempt out of reach on fourth down, it was up to Williams to convert to keep the Bears alive but things went awry. The 23-year-old No. 1 overall pick was hit as he threw the ball and was intercepted by Seattle cornerback Tariq Woolen, securing the win for the Seahawks.
It was Williams’ first interception in 354 passes, which had been the longest streak by a rookie in NFL history.
All three field goals in the game came in the first half.
Williams finished with 122 yards and the interception, while Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith threw 17-of-23 for 160 yards.
Offense was almost non-existent, but both defenses held firm to keep the game within arm’s reach.
The Seahawks defense sacked Williams seven times to help keep them alive in the NFC playoff picture; NFL.com currently has Seattle with a 15% chance to make the postseason.
In a sign that perhaps Chicago needs to improve its offensive line, Williams has now been sacked 67 times this season. Former Houston Texans quarterback David Carr holds the NFL record for most times sacked with 76 back in 2002.
In the midst of Chicago fans chanting “sell the team,” Seattle signal-caller Smith told the Amazon Prime broadcast that the team “doesn’t care” how they get wins.
“Defense played tremendous,” Smith said. “At this point, we don’t care how we get wins. We just want to win games. I don’t care if it was 5-4. We got the dub. It was a hard fought game. Our defense was lights out.”
Seattle improves to 9-7 on the season and can clinch the NFC West with a bit of help. If the Los Angeles Rams lose on Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals and the Seahawks beat LA to close out the regular season, Seattle will win the division and book a ticket to the postseason.
The Bears have now lost 10 straight after starting the season 4-2 and fall to 0-4 under interim head coach Thomas Brown.
Chicago travels to Green Bay to take on the Packers to round out the regular season.
