The Seattle Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive on the day after Christmas, as they defeated Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears 6-3 on “Thursday Night Football.” This was a game that featured three field goals and 13 punts. It was a defensive battle that took place in the rain, but Seattle emerged victorious after a final fourth-quarter stand.

The Bears did have a chance to lead a game-tying or game-winning drive late in the final stanza. Williams hit D.J. Moore on an impressive pass on fourth-and-5 from his own 35-yard line, but got as far as the Seahawks’ 40-yard line before his final throw ended up in the arms of the wrong team — Williams’ first interception since Oct. 13.

Williams completed 16 of 28 passes for 122 yards and the one interception, while Moore caught six passes for 54 yards. Geno Smith completed 17 of 23 passes for 160 yards, and Zach Charbonnet rushed 15 times for 57 yards in the place of the injured Kenneth Walker III. 

Here are some of Cody Benjamin’s takeaways from Thursday’s defensive affair:

Play of the game

Caleb Williams didn’t get the “W,” and he didn’t get a ton of help from his staff and blockers, either, but he did make magic out of nothing late in the game, avoiding heavy pressure to zip this perfect fourth-down throw and keep Chicago in contention for a last-minute comeback:

Caleb Williams still has ‘it’ underneath

It actually says something about the Seahawks’ mediocrity that on a night Seattle snapped a two-game slide to keep slimming playoff hopes alive, the Bears quarterback was maybe the most impressive player on the field, even as his own team scored a mere three points. No, the rookie wasn’t spotless. He hardly hit anything beyond the line until late. But in between another seven sacks, putting him just 10 away from the undesirable single-season record of 76, Williams kept fighting, kept eluding rushers, and kept his eyes downfield for some pinpoint darts in crunch time. He still has some play-extending hunger to rein in, but it’s clear that if he ever gets a reliable pairing of coaching and up-front protection, he’s got the moxie, mobility and snappy arm talent to make the Bears more special than, say, a potential Week 17 spoiler.

The Seahawks are stuck in mud

This isn’t a completely fair statement, as the defense is a bright spot under first-year coach Mike Macdonald. The Bears front isn’t much to write home about, of course, but Leonard Williams and Ernest Jones IV have feasted with physicality under Macdonald’s watch, especially against similar or lesser foes. And yet, all that said, this win hardly moves the needle for the team on the whole. It delays elimination from the wild-card race, but the fact it took all 60 minutes to scrape by an ailing, rebuilding Bears team with a situationally challenged interim coach suggests Seattle doesn’t really belong in the postseason anyway. A win is a win, to be sure, but their own offensive operation may have had even less juice than Chicago, with play-caller Ryan Grubb flirting but never committing to a bruising ground game.

Geno Smith’s future is murky as ever

His Seahawks tenure won’t be defined or terminated as a result of Thursday’s sloppy affair; the wet Windy City conditions may have played a role in his unusual aversion to downfield shots, and he also came in battling a lingering knee injury. But still, at 34, approaching the end the penultimate season of his contract, Smith isn’t exactly blazing to the finish line in a path of glory. A week after his aggressive passing veered into recklessness, helping the Minnesota Vikings preserve a close one against Seattle, the veteran quarterback averaged just 5.5 yards per throw, registering as something of a non-factor in a must-win game that actually should’ve been more like a cakewalk for a once-firm NFC wild-card contender.

What’s next

The Seahawks (9-7) will finish their 2024 season in Week 18 by visiting the Los Angeles Rams (9-6), who will look to win their fifth straight when they play the rival Arizona Cardinals this Saturday. The Bears (4-12), meanwhile, will close the regular season against the Green Bay Packers (11-4), who shut out the New Orleans Saints on Monday and will visit the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday.