SEATTLE — The Bears are watching their plans click into place, and it’s beautiful.
It’s been a while since they felt like this, watching the right coach, the right quarterback and the right defensive star hit all at the same time in a 34-17 win over the defending champion Seahawks on Monday. After knocking off each of the teams from last season’s Super Bowl in consecutive weeks, the Bears are very much pushing toward their own run to one.
After years of haphazard moves, ambiguous strategies and mismatched timelines, everything finally seems to be moving in the right direction. At 6-2, they’re off to their best start since 2012.
The Bears never trailed, though the Seahawks clawed back into the game to cut the lead to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, and closed the game emphatically with two touchdowns.
They ended it when defensive end Austin Booker deflected a pass by Sam Darnold for an interception by fellow defensive lineman James Lynch with 5:52 left. That set the Bears up at the Seahawks’ 6-yard line, and they quickly put the game away on D’Andre Swift’s third touchdown run of the night.
Bears coach Ben Johnson outpunched the ultimate counterpart in Seahawks coach and defensive mastermind Mike Macdonald, and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was on top of nearly everything Seattle tried offensively.
Quarterback Caleb Williams was strong throughout, even as the rushing attack stalled, receivers dropped passes and tight end Colston Loveland lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. He completed 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for a 101.0 passer rating, becoming the first player this season to top 200 yards passing against Seattle’s overwhelming defense.
And then there’s defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
As if the Bears needed it after feeling confident enough to trade two first-round picks to the Titans for him last week, they got instant confirmation that he is a game-changer for their defense.
Simmons got his first sack as a Bear when he dropped Darnold for a loss in the first quarter. Then, early in the third, the Bears got the snapshot they were looking for when they acquired him.
On second-and-10 from his own 27-yard line, Darnold dropped back and had nothing. With Simmons and defensive end Montez Sweat coming from Darnold’s right, Seahawks center Jalen Sundell and guard Grey Zabel doubled Simmons and left right tackle Abraham Lucas alone on Sweat.
Sweat made it look easy as he rushed inside Lucas and took down Darnold for a seven-yard loss.
That’s what they mean when they call Simmons “a multiplier,” as many did at Halas Hall last week. A player that disruptive makes life easier for everyone around him.
It has the potential to change the course of the Bears’ season.
Chasing a championship is the typical next step of any franchise’s progression after a breakthrough like the Bears had last season by going 11-6, taking the NFC North title and reaching the second round of the playoffs. But while they showed promise, they faced two major questions going into this season:
1. Can Williams round out his game by adding a foundation of steady, efficient play that maximizes Johnson’s offense?
2. Can their defense climb into the top third or so of the NFL and provide some support so the offense doesn’t have to win shootouts every week?
The answer has been yes to both, and there’s no sign of either slowing down.
Williams is playing like he’s not only the future of the Bears, but the future of the league.
He’s still doing magical scrambles, even as his gait has a clear hitch because of his ongoing hamstring injury, and making stunning passes, but his precision is what’s destroying defenses. Johnson gave him surefire plays and surrounded him with dynamic weapons, and Williams is making full use of them.
He met Johnson’s 70% completions standard for the third time in five games and is second in the NFL at 70.9% for the season. He is throwing for 253.4 yards per game, which ranks 11th and would be the second-highest for a season in franchise history.
All the while, he has just one interception in 158 passes.
The Bears have never had a quarterback like this.
Establishing that as a concrete truth this season would’ve been enough of a landmark for the team’s overall trajectory, but everything else is lining up perfectly with Williams’ arrival.
That convergence is a rarity for the Bears, and it has made them into a legitimate contender.
