Bears beat Seahawks 34-17 on Monday Night: Chicago is a playoff team

Why the Bears are a playoff team after beating Seattle

The Chicago Bears went into Seattle on Monday Night Football and beat the defending champion Seahawks 34-17. Ben Johnson's team is 6-2 with three straight wins, and it is for real.

This was not a lucky night. Chicago put up 363 yards on the league's top defense. The Bears opened with a 17-play touchdown drive, and Seattle had not given up an opening-drive touchdown in its last 16 games. Chicago had touchdown drives of 80, 69 and 56 yards on the night.

This morning we said we got Chicago. We got Chicago. Last Call game data had the Bears 4-1 in their last 5 coming in. Add Monday night and it is 5-1 over the last six.

How good was Caleb Williams against the Seahawks?

Caleb Williams went 24 of 34 for 247 yards with a touchdown, a 101.0 rating and no turnovers. He took one sack. His touchdown was a 1-yard throw to Luther Burden to finish that opening drive.

Those are not video game numbers. They are winning numbers against the best defense in football. Williams kept the chains moving, the Bears went 7 of 15 on third down, and he never gave Seattle a short field.

D'Andre Swift did the dirty work. He carried 27 times for 69 yards and scored three second-half touchdowns from 1, 5 and 5 yards out. The last one made it 34-17 with 4:41 left.

How the Bears defense shut down Sam Darnold

Seattle went 1 of 11 on third down. That is the game. The Seahawks finished with 252 yards and ran for only 81. Sam Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and a fourth-quarter interception that set up Swift's final score.

Jeffery Simmons, acquired from Tennessee last week, had six tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss in his Bears debut. Chicago sacked Darnold three times after he was not sacked once the week before.

The loss ended a 30-game run in which Seattle had not lost by more than four points, the fourth longest for any team in the Super Bowl era. The Bears did not just beat Seattle. They ended one of the best runs in the league.

The case against the Bears

Here is the fair side. Seattle helped. The Seahawks took three unnecessary roughness penalties in the second half, missed an extra point and had a 33-yard field goal blocked. Jaxon Smith-Njigba still had 118 yards, and Seattle cut it to 20-17 after a Colston Loveland fumble. Swift needed 27 carries to get 69 yards. A sloppy opponent can make any win look bigger than it is.

Are the Bears really a playoff team?

Yes. A team that is 6-2, 5-1 over its last six and just beat the champs by 17 on the road is not a fluke. The quarterback is not turning it over, the defense just got Jeffery Simmons, and the run game finishes drives.

Next up is Tampa Bay at Soldier Field on Sunday Night Football. The Bears are a playoff team. Tell us we are wrong.