After taking down one of last year's Super Bowl teams a week ago, the Chicago Bears are set to take on the other one, squaring off against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football in Week 8.
The Bears' victory over the New England Patriots inspired even more confidence in this team and, specifically, quarterback Caleb Williams' ability to take over games. Now, he'll have an opportunity to stand out against one of the best defenses in all of football, and on the road in Seattle.
There are several different storylines and questions for each side, going into this one, with the Seahawks recently acquiring six-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson being the big one for Seattle.
On Chicago's side, Bears fans are bracing for a hopefully active trade deadline coming up, to help shore up their defense for the stretch run over the second half.
As far as the game at hand, we've got essentially everything you'll need to know, right here, in one place.
- Bears injury report for Week 8
- Seahawks injury report for Week 8
- How to watch Bears vs. Seahawks on Monday Night Football
- Weather forecast for Bears vs. Seahawks
- Top storylines for Bears vs. Seahawks on Monday Night Football
- Predictions for Bears vs. Seahawks
Bears injury report for Week 8
Note: This section will be updated as teams release official injury reports each day
Update 10/27: Kyle Monangai and Malik Muhammad were not seen practicing (via Courtney Cronin)
Seahawks injury report for Week 8
Note: This section will be updated as teams release official injury reports each day
Update 10/28: Both RBs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price are practicing (via Brian Nemhauser)
How to watch Bears vs. Seahawks on Monday Night Football
Date: Monday November 2
Time: 7:15pm CT
TV and Streaming: ESPN, Disney+, ESPN+
Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters (sideline) and Laura Rutledge (sideline)
Weather forecast for Bears vs. Seahawks
(Weather information via NFLweather)
Temperature: 52 degrees
Precipitation: Slight chance of rain
Wind: 3mph
Top storylines for Bears vs. Seahawks on Monday Night Football
Caleb Williams against one of the NFL's best defenses
The Minnesota Vikings' defense might be scarier, in some respects, but Mike Macdonald's defense currently leads the league in yards allowed (233.9) and is the fourth-best scoring defense (17.9 points per game).
If you're looking for a weakness, you won't find anything glaring. All three levels are sharp.
As we saw against the Patriots, Caleb Williams is going to have to be even sharper. His delivery of pinpoint passes will need to show up more often than not. It's really that simple. Seattle's defense is the best there is.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba takes on vulnerable secondary
Nobody is even close to doing what Jaxon Smith-Njigba is doing this season. His 867 receiving yards are more than 200 over the next-closest, in CeeDee Lamb, with 651. His eight touchdown receptions lead the league, and his 58 receptions are the most among wide receivers.
He is borderline unstoppable, and the Bears' secondary is as vulnerable as we've seen it in recent years. Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson may as well be holding the cornerback room together with popsicle sticks and glue. Malik Muhammad and Kyler Gordon have been bright spots, but Muhammad is also currently banged up.
Sam Darnold is the crucial key to either winning or losing the game for the Bears
What we know about Sam Darnold is that he can tend to crumble under pressure. As good as the Seahawks are, they are only going to go as far as Darnold takes them. This season, he is currently tied for the league lead with eight interceptions thrown.
Darnold also ranks in the bottom third of the league in completion percentage (23rd), sacks taken (22nd), EPA/dropback (22nd) and success rate (21st).
The recipe for beating Seattle and keeping the ball out of Smith-Njigba's hands, as much as possible, is simple: get to Darnold with pressure.
Predictions for Bears vs. Seahawks
Passing yards: Caleb Williams
Rushing yards: D'Andre Swift
Receiving yards: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Turnover battle: Bears
Final score: Bears 27 Seahawks 24
I think we see another excellent fourth quarter close-out by Caleb Williams and the offense, in this one. It's a close game; Jaxon Smith-Njigba gets going, but ultimately, Sam Darnold turns it over at least once, and that ends up being a big difference.
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