The Bears are emerging as contenders: Takeaways from the Chicago Bears 34-17 win over the Seahawks

The Chicago Bears don't want to think about the bigger picture.

But, after a 34-17 win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Seahawks, how can you blame anyone?

Here are our takeaways from the Chicago Bears' win over Seattle, which puts the Bears firmly into the contender category.

The Bears are emerging as a Super Bowl contender

There has been plenty of discussion on the NFC this season so far. Only the Vikings came into this weekend still undefeated. There were some four win teams and some five win teams. Every team had a lingering question mark around them.

The Bears were included here.

Sure, at 5-2 they were above most teams in the league. But their two division losses to Minnesota and Green Bay leave plenty wondering if they had what it takes to emerge as a contender.

Consider a 34-17 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, who boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, a statement.

The Bears are emerging from that pack of questions as an NFL contender.

"People call it a statement, but I think that we just went out there and played our style of football," Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze said. "When we do that, we can compete with anyone in the league. So, obviously coming into this hostile environment, we knew it was going to be a big game against the defending champs and just playing our style of football."

The Bears were a run-first team. D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai led the way, but the Bears don’t have Monangai right now.

They have coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams leading the way offensively, with Swift balancing it all out with some power. The defense is following suit with its opportunistic ways, which now includes game wrecker Jeffery Simmons.

"That’s who we want to be known as," Williams said. "When we come in, we're also a force to be reckoned with. I mean they just won the Super Bowl last year. They got a bunch of guys back. That's a worthy opponent on all sides of the ball, offense, defense, special teams. They got All-Pro guys. They got a bunch of talent over there. They got the scheme and so we knew it was going to be a challenge. We knew it was going to be a dog fight. We knew that our identity had to show up for us and I think it did today."

What they're saying:

The Bears want to make it clear this was not a statement game. Not all the pieces of the puzzle are on the table yet.

But it really did feel like a statement.

Lumen Field is tough to play in. It’s created the most pre-snap offensive penalties on the NFL since 2002, ESPN noted on its broadcast. Twenty-four years later, the defending Super Bowl champions reside there. Basically, it’s loud and its inhabitants are dang good.

They’re so good, the Seahawks hadn't lost by more than 4 points in their last 30 games dating back to 2024.

The Bears beat them by a comfortable and crisp 17 points.

If there was an NFC team that emerged this weekend, it was the Bears. They took a step toward Super Bowl contention. The team isn’t thinking that way, though.

They might start thinking that way once the calendar turns to December.

"Once we get into December and January, we'll start worrying about big-picture stuff, but we got to continue to improve and we got a short week coming up with a good opponent that's kind of hot right now," Johnson said. "We got to keep it going. Prime time or not, we got to keep finding a way to go 1-0 each week."

Caleb Williams has to be entering the early MVP discussion

Seattle’s defense is very good. The likes of Devon Witherspoon, Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones and more are a challenge for any offensive mind.

Caleb Williams did not blink.

He threw for 247 yards on Monday night. That’s the most passing yards any quarterback has thrown for against the Seahawks this season.

Since returning from his injury, the Bears have not trailed. Williams is to thank for that. The Bears’ third-year quarterback should be ascending into the MVP discussion soon, if he hasn’t already.

"I want to be at my best for these guys. I want to be my best for Chicago, the organization, my teammates and things like that," Williams said. "The more that I can do to be able to help this team, I'm going to spend extra time."

By the numbers:

Williams’ injury in Week 2 struck a chord with him. He’s been playing like a quarterback possessed since his return against Atlanta.

In the three games since – wins over the Falcons, Patriots and Seahawks – the Bears have led for 158:33 of 180 minutes of game time. They have not trailed.

He’s also averaging 286.7 pass yards per game, thrown four touchdowns, has not turned the ball over, has a 73.8 completion percentage and has a 109.7 passer rating. He’s not helping the Bears win; he’s a reason why the Bears are winning.

And Williams will still be hyper critical of himself through it all.

"There's one dagger route that I threw to Rome that he had to slide for and he could have possibly ran and got more," Williams said. "I think it's just constantly evaluating myself and being tough on myself, being a truth teller about what I'm doing and who I am and finding ways to keep being consistent."

It’s a big reason why the Bears are 6-2.

Jeffery Simmons is a player the Bears needed

Of all the talk this week of the Simmons’ trade, there was a question of if he’d play much on Monday.

How much could he grasp of the defense? Could he be effective? The answer to those questions was a resounding "uh, duh, yeah?"

"I'm happy he's on our side," Williams said.

Big picture view:

Simmons wreaks havoc. He’s unpleasant to offensive coordinators. He’s the kind of thing offensive guards see maybe once a season, if they’re lucky.

He drew so much attention, Austin Booker, Montez Sweat and James Lynch had their own moments effecting the game on Monday. Simmons tied for the team lead in tackles.

Playing next to Sweat, his old college teammate, looked like it unlocked something in Sweat, too. There was a joy there that wasn’t visible on Tuesday, when Sweat spoke to reporters after returning from a two-game PED suspension.

"It really just felt great being back with the guys," Sweat said. "Obviously, being back with Jeff brought back a lot of memories, but it felt great."

Simmons has an impact that could be felt all over the field. His leadership and play on the field meld together as one, and it’s tangible in how it showed on Monday.

"Getting the game plan early in the morning Friday, just spending the extra time, then when I ran out of the tunnel I kept telling myself, ‘It’s just football. Go out there and be me. Play by play, just stay in the moment,’" Simmons said. "That’s always my goal - just embrace the moment. That’s what happened tonight. It was like a lift once I ran out there. Thank God they got the ball first."

Ben Johnson deserves his flowers, too

Monday was Ben Johnson's 17th win in 25 games as the Bears' head coach. The Bears are 6-2.

Next is Tampa Bay at home in another primetime window.

If he’s not careful, Johnson will enter NFL Coach of the Year discussions alongside Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell, Buffalo’s Joe Brady, Denver’s Sean Payon, New York’s John Harbaugh and Jacksonville’s Liam Coen, if he hasn’t entered that realm already.