Caleb Williams, Bears Roll Past Seahawks 34-17

Seventeen plays, 1 yard, touchdown. Caleb Williams opened Monday night in Seattle by marching the Bears the length of the field and flipping a short score to Luther Burden III, and Chicago never really let go after that, beating the Seahawks 34-17 at Lumen Field, the AP reported. Williams was sharp and clean all night: 24 of 34 for 247 yards, one touchdown, zero turnovers.

That matters. The Bears are now 6-2 and right in the NFC mix, while the defending champs fell to 4-4 with their third loss in four games. This was one of the league's stingiest defenses, and Williams took just one sack against it.

Caleb Williams Ran the Show

Coach Ben Johnson called it one of the more elaborate game plans the Bears have asked Williams to handle. "He stayed calm and collected throughout," Johnson said. "I think that there are some times where it can get a little bit chaotic and yet he didn't allow that to happen."

Williams spread it around. Rome Odunze had 87 yards on four catches, and Colston Loveland and Burden each caught seven balls. Then the Bears leaned on the ground near the goal line. D'Andre Swift carried 27 times and punched in three short touchdowns, including the one that made it 34-17 with 4:41 left after a Sam Darnold interception.

Williams even kept the cleat drama quiet. After reportedly being fined about $35,000 over the past two weeks for an unauthorized logo, he wore all-black shoes with nothing showing. "Just to calm things down, man," he said.

Jeffery Simmons Makes His Bears Debut Count

The other headline was on defense. Jeffery Simmons, acquired last week from Tennessee in a deal that included two first-round picks, got a sack on Seattle's opening drive and finished with six tackles, three pressures and a pass defensed. Johnson called his impact "profound."

"When I attacked the field, I wasn't worried about the trade," Simmons said. "All I was worried about is play after play, just give the team everything I got."

The numbers that tell the story:

• Seattle: 252 total yards

• Seattle: 1 of 11 on third down

• Seattle: 81 rushing yards, even with Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back and new guard Quenton Nelson up front

Seattle Has a Problem

Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 yards and two scores, one a 43-yarder to Jaxon Smith-Njigba (six catches, 118 yards) right before half. Seattle clawed to 20-17 after DeMarcus Lawrence forced a Loveland fumble and Darnold hit Cooper Kupp for a 7-yard score plus the two-point try. The Bears answered with a touchdown drive, then Darnold's pick ended it.

The loss snapped a 30-game run, regular season and playoffs, in which Seattle never lost by more than four points. "We got beat. No other way to sugar coat it," coach Mike Macdonald said.

Chicago did lose defensive linemen Grady Jarrett (groin) and Kenatvius Street (knee) during the game, and Seattle lost Leonard Williams to a stinger. Watch those reports this week.

Bears Host the Bucs Next

Chicago comes home to Soldier Field to face Tampa Bay on Sunday night, and Seattle hosts Arizona. If Johnson keeps feeding Swift the way he did in Seattle, 27 carries and every short-yardage look, the Smacktok lean is higher on Swift's rushing attempts against the Bucs. The Bears are 6-2 and playing like they believe it.