Bears' defense squandered a prime opportunity against the Seahawks and it was a big reason why the team suffered a 10th consecutive loss
The Chicago Bears got great news going into Thursday's game against the Seattle Seahawks that should have set the scene for the plan on defense.Instead, everyone seemed to miss the news and did the opposite.That news was that the Seahawks' 30th ranked rushing offense would be without starting running back Kenneth Walker, who was placed […]
The Chicago Bears got great news going into Thursday's game against the Seattle Seahawks that should have set the scene for the plan on defense.
Instead, everyone seemed to miss the news and did the opposite.
That news was that the Seahawks' 30th ranked rushing offense would be without starting running back Kenneth Walker, who was placed on the injured reserve hours before kickoff against the Bears with an ankle injury.
The last minute injury left running backs Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh to carry the load against the Bears, and they were able to do that exceptionally well early on, starting from the first drive of Thursday's game.
On the opening drive, four of the Seahawks' seven carries went for 5+ yards including a 25-yard run by McIntosh. In the first-half alone, the Seahawks had 91 yards on the ground. Seattle had less than 100 team rushing yards in five of their previous six games entering Week 17's matchup.
The Seahawks finished the game with 122 rushing yards with Charbonnet and McIntosh each going for over 45 yards on the ground. It was the 11th game of the season the Bears defense allowed 120+ rushing yards.
The Bears entered the game short-handed on the defensive line after surprisingly listing second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens as a healthy inactive. The rest of the defensive line and the second level just gave up too many big runs early on.
The unit was able to turn things around in the second-half but the damage was already done in the first-half to put the Seahawks ahead.
In a game where the weather was a mess and Geno Smith only had only 23 pass attempts and 17 completions, the Bears should have been better prepared to take advantage of Seattle's biggest weakness on offense. That wasn't the case and the Seahawks were able to get just enough to secure a win.
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This just doesn’t make any sense.
