Caleb Williams, Bears Offense Stress Patience Against Seahawks Defense

Patience. 

That's what the Chicago Bears' offense must have in the Monday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Seattle's defense is stingy, making it difficult for opposing teams to execute the fundamentals. 

Fueling the home crowd, every Bears self-inflicted penalty, three-and-out, and big hit from any of Seattle's defenders will unleash a flurry of excitement from the 12s.

Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor shared whether Seattle's run defense or pass defense keeps him up more at night.

“I'll just stay up late no matter what watching Seattle," Taylor said. "It’s all tied together. Honestly, the versatility of the whole unit is what makes it so challenging playing these guys, just the type of players they have, the ability and the versatility that a lot of them have. You’ve got to have a plan for pretty much every look they've seen, regardless of what personnel is on the film, because they'll play it out of any group, any personnel grouping. So, you’ve got to be sound. You’ve got to make sure you're not running into issues. Then you got to find ways to try to move the football and be explosive and do the things that we want to do to put our players in position to succeed.”

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald's unit hasn't allowed a quarterback to throw for more than 189 passing yards this season. In Seattle's 20-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday night, quarterback Patrick Mahomes failed to move his offense into the red zone -- the first time that has happened in his NFL career since he took over as the starter.

When asked if facing a dominant Seahawks defense adds extra motivation for Monday night, Bears tight end Colston Loveland shifted the focus back to the team's execution.

"You could say that but think it's kind of more so like the stats are what it is, obviously," Loveland said. "Like, we see that, that they're a really good defense statistically but it's really about us and what we've got to do. We'll put a good game plan together and have a good game plan together based off of what they run in their defense. It's about us hitting the throws we need to make, blocking the guys we need to block and just the fundamental things of it."

Bears assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El isn't fixated on hitting specific stat benchmarks to evaluate success against Seattle's defense. 

"If you take that approach, it will probably backfire on you," Randel El said. "You just go out there and you got to play ball. You know, in terms of, you know, you got to take what the defense gives you. There is a reason why it hadn't been happening. As you break down the film and you see, 'Ok, take what the defense gives you.' You know, we want to throw it deep. That's what we do at the end of the day, you know. That's what we're trying to get to, but at the same time, you don't want to force anything, so it's not about getting frustrated, but it's about when you do have the ball in your hands and go make the play."

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams knows taking downfield shots against Seattle's defense requires discipline. Rather than forcing explosive plays, Williams is embracing the steady approach needed to exploit Macdonald's defense.

“They don't allow deep plays, so you’ve got to be as patient as possible and that's obviously hard; the whole game trying to be patient, it's a challenge for me," Williams said. "It's a challenge for our offense being able to take the dirty yards, protecting the football. They do a good job with punching the ball out and interceptions. They're second in the league with the amount of turnovers that they've had. 12 turnovers in half the year, I mean they rally to the ball. They’ve got players, they got the scheme like I said, so they're fully equipped over there to do whatever they need as a defense and as a team. Like I said, it's going to be a fun challenge for us.”