Seahawks film review: Bears beat Seattle's defense on second down and in the middle

Seattle's defense did most of its job on first down Monday night. Where it lost to the Chicago Bears was the down after. A film breakdown of the Seattle Seahawks' 34-17 loss, published by Ryan Woodall at SB Nation, shows Chicago kept getting back into manageable third downs. Caleb Williams also hit the middle of the field more than this defense had allowed all season.

The first-down numbers looked good for Seattle. According to the Sumer Sports data in that review, Chicago ran 15 times on first down, averaged 1.6 yards on those carries and had positive expected points on only three of them. The Bears faced second-and-8 or longer 12 times. They still moved the chains on seven of those series, a 58 percent rate. The league norm from 2022 through this season is 49 percent. Quick throws and combo blocks on second down got Chicago to short third downs, and the Bears converted six of eight third or fourth downs needing less than five yards. When Seattle did push them into third-and-8 or longer, they converted only one of five.

The passing damage came in the seams. Williams threw 17 passes between the numbers and the hashes for 170 yards, which was 69 percent of his passing yards. On dig routes he went 5-of-6 for 110 yards. Over Weeks 1 through 7, Seattle had given up about 72 yards a game in that area, mostly on short throws. Williams' average target depth was 7.6 yards, about double the 3.9 opponents had averaged there before Monday. The review also notes missed tackles and a few plays where Williams escaped the pocket when Chicago tried to push the ball deeper. Seattle uses six-man boxes about half the time, and the Bears used extra tight ends and receivers to help double the down linemen on runs.

The Associated Press recap carried by Seattle Sports noted that the loss ended Seattle's run of 30 games without losing by more than four points. It opened with a 17-play Chicago touchdown drive. NBC Sports counted 363 Bears yards to Seattle's 252. Williams finished 24-of-34 for 247 yards, and D'Andre Swift scored three second-half rushing touchdowns.

What it means for Arizona

The defending champions are 4-4 and have lost three of their last four. The 34 points Chicago scored are the most Seattle has allowed this season. Before Monday, the Seahawks had allowed about 17.9 points a game. They return to Lumen Field on Sunday, Nov. 8, against the Arizona Cardinals on Fox. Seattle won the first meeting 31-7 in Arizona. The Seahawks are 3-2 at home, with losses to San Francisco and Chicago.

The market expects a bounce-back. On this site's board for the game, Seattle is favored at -365 on Novig, one of 12 venues listed. Arizona is +355 there, and DraftKings has the best Cardinals price at +360. The spread runs from 8 to 9 points depending on the venue. Novig lists Seattle -8.5 at +102 and Arizona +8.5 at -104. theScore Bet has Seattle -8 at -115, and Hard Rock Bet has Arizona +9 at -115. The total is 39.5 on Novig. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9 to 5.3 percent across the spread, moneyline and total. The prices are close from venue to venue, so the gap is mostly in the spread number, not in who is favored.

The film points to what Seattle needs to fix: win second down and keep the middle of the field closed.