The Chicago Bears handed our Seahawks a brutal 34-17 loss on Monday Night Football, but the final score doesn’t even tell half the story. The real gut punch for the 12s? Our offense went a pathetic 1-for-11 on third downs, signaling a deeper problem that has us all on edge about the direction of this season.
The Offensive Scheme Is Changing, But the Results Aren’t
Coach Mike Macdonald and OC Brian Fleury rolled out a different look against the Bears, showing us the most 11 personnel (one RB, one TE) we’ve seen all season at 59%, while also featuring our lowest 12 personnel usage (18%) and the most 21 personnel (18%) since Week 2. But despite the adjustments, the offense sputtered. The Bears defense, which usually gives up 6.3 yards per play, held us to just 4.5. And those dreaded red zone struggles? They absolutely continued, with the Hawks scoring a touchdown on only 1 of 4 trips inside the 20. For comparison, the Bears typically let opponents score on 65% of red zone trips. Our average drive distance (around 22 yards) and plays per drive (5) stayed the same as the season average, but when you can’t convert on third down, those drives just stall out. We never even got into a 3rd and 3 or less situation all game! With 8 of our 11 third downs being 7+ yards, it’s no wonder we’re ranked 26th in the league at 35% on third down for the season.
Sam Darnold’s Struggles and JSN’s Heavy Load
Our passing game took a hit, hitting its lowest dropback success of the season at 35%. This is the second game we’ve been under 40% dropback success, with the 49ers game (38%) being the other. For the season, we’re ranked 21st at 44% in dropback success. We also saw our second-lowest explosive pass rate (6%), with the Denver game being the only one lower at 4%, and this is the fourth game this season under 10%. We’re sitting 13th in the league at 9% for the season in explosive passes. Shotgun usage was the second-highest of the season at 63%, a 14% jump from our Week 1-7 average, pushing our season rank to 25th at 50% usage. This was also our third game with a >65% pass rate, and all three have been losses. And play action? It’s fallen off a cliff.
It’s clear Jaxon Smith-Njigba is carrying a massive load, accounting for 63% of our passing yards, his third game over 60%. He’s had five games over 50% and seven games over 40% of our passing yards! Meanwhile, the rushing game managed our third-highest YPC of the season at 4.3, though we’re still ranked 24th at 3.9 YPC for the season. Runs from shotgun were up, with the second-highest usage at 37% and the third-highest Gun YPC at 5, compared to our season rank of 14th at 4.8. We even had our highest yards before contact since Week 1 at 1.6 yards, but still rank 22nd at 1.1 for the season.
The pass blocking is still a huge concern. We allowed 39% pressure, the seventh game this season with 39%+ pressure. Last week’s 33% was the only game below 40%. Our season rank for pressure allowed is 28th at 44%. Giving up 3 sacks brings us to our fourth game with 3+ sacks allowed, and we still haven’t had back-to-back games with zero sacks this season. For the season, we rank 20th in OL pressures and sacks at 6.6%. Individually, Josh Jones and Quenton Nelson each allowed 3 pressures but 0 sacks, Jalen Sundell allowed 0 pressures and 0 sacks, but Grey Zabel (2 pressures, 1 sack) and Abraham Lucas (2 pressures, 1 sack) both gave up a sack. The Bears defense, with the addition of Jeffery Simmons, didn’t even need to blitz, relying on a 4-man rush 80% of the time (up from their 60% W1-7 average) and shifting to 67% 2-High shells.
Defense Allows Too Much in the Red Zone
Our defense isn’t without its own issues, especially in the red zone. We allowed the Bears to score a touchdown on 4 of their 5 red zone trips. The Bears usually score a TD on 52% of their red zone trips, so this is way above their average. It’s a major reason we’re ranked 30th in the league, allowing TDs on 79% of opponents’ red zone trips this season. While our defense did reduce what the Bears usually get per drive, bringing them down by 6 yards from their average of 36 to 30, we still allowed 30 yards per drive! That’s a full 9 yards more than our league-leading season average of 22 yards per drive. We also tied for our highest success allowed at 49%.
This isn’t just one bad game; these are trends we’re seeing. The offense is sputtering, the defense is giving up too much in the red zone, and frankly, we need answers. We bleed green and blue here in the Emerald City, and we expect more. The 12s deserve to see some adjustments, and fast, if we want to turn this season around.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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