The Seattle Seahawks suffered as bad a loss as we have seen in the Mike Macdonald era. Only a 21-point loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 of the 2024 season (his first in Seattle) surpasses the Seahawks' 17-point defeat to the Bears. Seattle also lost by 17 points to the Green Bay Packers in 2024. Those two games are tied for the second worst losses, by margin of defeat, in the Macdonald era.
However, that unfortunate stat isn't even remotely "worthy" enough to crack into our top takeaways from the 34-17 loss on "Monday Night Football." It was that bad of a night for the Seahawks!
There's no sugar coating this one. The Seahawks got stomped at home in front of a national audience and looked awful in every phase of the game. So let's dive into
our autop... I mean, takeaways piece, from NFL Week 8.
No. 1 - The Cavalry did not arrive
The Seahawks were getting both of their top two ball carriers in Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back in action. Charbonnet was finally ready to make his 2026 debut, while Price became a borderline surprise activation on Monday afternoon. Neither of them made any impact whatsoever. Price "led" the way with 29 yards on ten carries, while Charbonnet was close behind with 23 on six carries. In fairness, this was a game where Seattle needed to throw it more, as they were down by multiple scores most of the time, but it was still disappointing that the ground attack did not improve at all with their best running backs in the lineup. On that note...
No. 2 - Quenton Nelson didn't improve this line
Perhaps this is a tad unfair to have this be a takeaway, but Nelson was the talk of the town going into MNF after the blockbuster trade, and Chicago's star acquisition in Jeffery Simmons made an immediate impact for the Bears. Ultimately, it is probably going to take time for the Seahawks' newly reshuffled offensive line to fully gel together. Still, it was disheartening to see the run game completely grounded and quarterback Sam Darnold under fire once more. Oh, speaking of Slingin' Sammy D....
No. 3 - *heavy sigh* Sam Darnold... man...
It was already difficult to defend Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold on any level going into Monday's game against the Bears, and after another stinker in Week 8, it is becoming borderline impossible. Darnold looks nothing like the confident, decisive quarterback we saw last season or even the year prior in Minnesota. What we are watching is far more reminiscent of the Sam Darnold that got run out of New York as a draft bust. No, Darnold isn't getting much help from his offensive line or ground game. But franchise quarterbacks find ways to make do with what they've got, and overcome. Darnold is not doing that right now. Ironically, Darnold's passing line mirrored the final score, completing 17-of-34 passes for only 188 yards. He did throw two touchdowns, but threw yet another interception. Although it was when the game was basically out of reach, it still looked ugly and it's yet another data point against him.
No. 4 - No one besides Jaxon Smith-Njigba is doing anything
Jaxon Smith-Njigba earned his paycheck on Monday night, recording another 118 receiving yards and a touchdown on only six receptions. Shocker, JSN balled out! If it feels like he is the only one generating offense for Seattle, it's because he is. If there is one thing I will still give a little bit of defense for Sam Darnold, it's this: no one else is doing anything. At one point in the game Darnold had 94 passing yards. 92 of them went to JSN. As for the other two yards? They were accumulated by six other pass catchers who had three receptions total to get those two yards. Yeesh. It did get better as the game went on, Cooper Kupp did score a touchdown and Tory Horton had a two-point conversion catch. But even with those points, those two combined for four receptions for 33 yards. Throw in AJ Barner's 23 yards and their combined 56 yards still aren't even half (59) of JSN's 118.
No. 5 - Pass rush was non-existent
The Seahawks' dominant defensive line was nowhere to be seen on Monday night. The unit recorded only a lone sack from Mike Morris, and while it did come prior to the DeMarcus Lawrence fumble recovery, it was also the only time they made Bears quarterback Caleb Williams uncomfortable. Seattle finished the game with a grand total of three quarterback hits, including the aforementioned sack. This didn't lose the Seahawks the game, but their impact that is usually the difference maker didn't come close to affecting anything in their favor.
No. 6 - Jason Myers' shaky night
I won't linger on this one too much, as Jason Myers' has been otherwise stellar this year, but I would be doing the reader a disservice by not at least mentioning it. Myers left four points on the field with a shanked PAT, and a blocked field goal attempt, keeping the Seahawks at a wonky nine points. Ultimately, they ended up not mattering, but given how points-starved this Seattle offense can be it's still something to keep an eye on when the sure-footed kicker starts missing easy attempts.
Bonus Takeaway - Please retire the navy jersey/grey pants combo
I hate this look. I've never liked it. They look too much like the Dallas Cowboys' cursed road jersey uniform, and that's never a good thing. Seattle is now 10-9 all-time in this combo, and 1-2 this season.
The Seahawks once retired a neon green jersey/navy pants uniform combo in 2009 after only a single game: a 25-19 loss to da Bears. Seattle is now 0-2 against Chicago when wearing the navy jersey/grey pants. I propose a similar solution to this particular combo.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Top Seahawks takeaways from blowout loss to Bears on MNF
