Connect with us

Seattle, WA

Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks Game Day Preview

Published

on

Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks Game Day Preview


Seattle Seahawks (8-7) at Chicago Bears (4-11)

Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. Thursday

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: Prime, Fox locally (Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung)

Advertisement

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

National Radio, Westwood One (Kevin Kugler, Ryan Harris)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Mateo Moreno)

The Line: Seahawks by 3 1/2, over/under 42 1/2 (Fan Duel)

Chicago Bears On SI Prediction: Seahawks 23, Bears 12

Advertisement

The Series:  The 20th game between these teams. The Seahawks lead the series 11-8 and 11-6 in the regular season. The Bears won in the last game 25-24 in 2021 at Seattle. They won the last two in the series.

The Coaches: Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is in his first year with an 8-7 record, 5-1 on the road.

Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown has an 0-3 record. He took over the team from Matt Eberflus following the 23-20 Bears Thanksgiving Day loss at Detroit. The Bears have been outscored 102-42 in his three games.

The Teams: Seattle fell a game behind the L.A. Rams with a loss to Minnesota last week on a late Vikings TD and now is on the verge of elimination, but can still win the NFC West with a victory over the Bears because its last game is against the Rams.  The Seahawks have stepped up on defense down the stretch, ranking sixth overall in yards allowed since Week 11. Geno Smith has had a roller-coaster season with five 300-yard passing games, which ties him for most in a Seahawks season with Russell Wilson. The season on offense has been marked by the rise of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, whose 93 catches are seven short of the Seattle record for a season.

BEARS AND SEAHAWKS INJURY REPORT

SEAHAWKS WHO CAN CAUSE BEARS MATCHUP PROBLEMS

BEARS FANS REACT TO COMMENT ABOUT TEVEN JENKINS’ FUTURE

The Bears are trying to avoid a 10th straight loss and are ninth in draft order. QB Caleb Williams owns a streak of 326 throws without a pick but the defense has given up 422 yards a game over the last five as they’ve dropped from top 10 to 26th overall.  

Advertisement

Stat Leaders:  For Seattle, Smith has completed 370 of 528 (70.1%) for 3,937 yards with 17 TDs but 15 interceptions with a 90.4 passer rating.  Leading rusher Kenneth Walker III is unavailable due to injury and Zach Charbonnet is the rushing leader in the game with 453 yards on 106 attempts (4.3 yards a carry) and a team-high eight TDs.  WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads in receptions with 93 catches, 1,089 yards and six TDs.  … S Julian Love is Seattle’s tackles leader with 98 while D-lineman Leonard Williams leads in tackles for loss with 12. He is tied for the lead in sacks with Derick Hall at 7. CB Riq Woolen is the leader in pass breakups with 13 while CB Coby Bryant leads in interceptions with three.

For the Bears, Williams is 314 of 505 (62.2%) for 3,271 yards with 19 TDs and five INTs for a passer rating of 89.3. RB D’Andre Swift leads in rushing with 841 yards on 221 carries and Roschon Johnson leads in rushing TDs with six.  WR DJ Moore has the receptions lead with 83 and yards with 826 while WR Keenan Allen leads in TD catches with seven.  … LB T.J. Edwards has the tackles lead with 119 and tackles for loss lead with 10. DT Gervon Dexter leads in sacks with 5.0 and the interceptions lead belongs to CBs Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson with two each.

Injury Report: For the Seahawks, RB Kenneth Walker III (ankle) and TE Brady Russell (foot) are out.

Advertisement

For the Bears, G Teven Jenkins (calf), S Eljah Hicks (ankle), S Tarvarius Moore (knee) and RB Travis Homer (hamstring) are out. DT Gervon Dexter (knee), C Doug Kramer (shoulder) and LB Amen Ogbongbemiga (hip) are questionable.

Matching Up: The Seahawks are 14th on offense, fourth passing and 30th rushing. They are 15th in scoring. Seattle is 17th on defense, 16th against the pass and 18th against the run. The Seahawks are 12th in scoring defense.

The Bears are 31st on offense, 27th in passing and 25th at rushing. They are 26th in scoring. Chicago is 26th on defense, 23rd against the pass and 26th against the run. They rank 13th in scoring defense.

Of Note: Williams’ 3,271 yards ranks sixth in Bears history for a single season. … Although the Seahawks had had a reputation for explosive offense, Njigba’s 1,089 yards make him the first player since both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett went over, 1000 yards in 2020.  … Seattle’s four straight road wins are its most since 2020. … Metcalf needs 3 yards receiving and a TD catch to join Randy Moss as the only NFL players to have 50 catches, 900 yards and five TD catches in each of their first six seasons. … Swift needs 65 yards from scrimmage for a career high 1,264 from scrimmage, breaking the mark he set with the Eagles last year. … The Bears have converted 21 fourth downs, the second most in the NFL.  … The Bears defense is third in the NFL  in red zone TD percentage allowed (47.5%) and third in red zone takeaways (5). … The Bears have been outscored 86-20 in first quarters. … The only defeat in Seattle’s 5-1 road record was against Detroit.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson vs. WR DK Metcalf

It’s unlikely they would stick with Johnson all game on Metcalf with Jaxon Smith-Njigba now a real threat. The Bears have been switching up coverages and assignments to keep offenses off balance. It would be easy to see them playing Tyrique Stevenson on Metcalf some, with safety help, because Stevenson is a bit closer in size and a very physical cornerback. Either way, he or Johnson would have their hands full with a 6-4, 235-pound wide receiver who can get the jump ball. As much as Stevenson has been maligned for the Hail Mary and a few other mistakes made, he hasn’t had a bad season statistically with a passer rating allowed of 86.4 and only 55.8% completions when targeted. Last year he allowed nine TD passes and this year only four so far, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. Metcalf has had a so-so year by his standards, with half the TD catches (4) he had last year (8) and 215 yards less than he had for last season.

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

This could be a tag team thing between Johnson and Kyler Gordon depending upon the route run, as Smith-Njigba could line up about anywhere but definitely has ascended and is their leading weapon. Johnson/Gordon will have their hands full staying with him. Smith-Njigba has caught 73.8% of targets this year, a 6.1% improvement over last year and has 471 more yards with 1,089, as well as 30 more catches. Johnson has kept his passer rating at a solid 87.4 against with only two TDs allowed and 61.7% completions. All are strong numbers considering he most often gets the tough receiving assignment. It’s Gordon who has been victimized more with 74% completions allowed and a 111.3 passer rating against when targeted.

Bears DE Montez Sweat vs. Seahawks RT Abraham Lucas

The Bears haven’t been getting the numbers from Sweat they had last year but this could be an opportunity for him to pad those against a third-year tackle who has started the last six games. The 6-foot-6, 322-pound Abraham is graded 67th out of 80 tackles by Pro Football Focus. The third-rounder from Washington State has given up four sacks with six penalties committed in 354 snaps, or about 40% of the team’s snaps. Sweat still has 4 ½ sacks. It might be more difficult for the Seahawks to hit him with effective chipping since starting running back Kenneth Walker III is out injured.

Bears WR Keenan Allen vs. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon

Allen has picked up the pace and now leads the Bears in receiving touchdowns as his connection heated up with Williams. He has 15 catches for 223 yards and two TDs the last two games and five TDs in the last four.  Witherspoon’s passer rating against in his second season is at 101.0 13.1 points worse than his rookie year, but he has allowed three fewer TD catches than last year when he gave up five. But his real problem is he has allowed 68.9% completions after only 58.3% last year. The Bears need to continue to take advantage of the improving pass connection they have here since Allen might not be in Chicago next year.

Advertisement

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Seahawks CB Riq Woolen

Like with Allen, Moore’s numbers in terms of catches are up, but the yardage has been tough for him to come by, all shorter passes and he’s taking a beating with some of these catches. Moore made 29 catches over the last four games but for only 260 yards. Woolen is the speed merchant and outstanding athlete who has an 87.6 passer rating against and is allowing only 55% completions. He’s giving up just 6.2 yards per target. This is a tough matchup for the Bears this week and they could look to target Rome Odunze more.

Bears TE Cole Kmet vs. Seahawks LB Ernest Jones

The Bears haven’t made good enough use of Kmet as they’ve tried to get their wide receivers involved more. Kmet has only one dropped pass on the year but only had more than five targets in games twice on the year. Seattle’s linebackers offer a good opportunity to attack that area of the field with passes as PFF has Jones graded 61st out of 79 linebackers in pass coverage and linebacker Tyrice Knight 44th of 79.

X: BearsOnSI





Source link

Seattle, WA

VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year

Published

on

VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year


(Story originally posted 8:22 pm, updated 12:32 am)

By Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

From a distance, they looked like a regular crowd of people enjoying a nice evening walk on the shores of Lincoln Park. But they were gathered here for a singular purpose: to scream. Since September 2025, the Scream Club Seattle has met at Lincoln Park on every third Sunday to scream, led by head organizer Amber Walcker. No explanation, justification, or invitation to scream is needed – come as you are. “There are some harder emotions people come here to deal with, sure, but some people also just come to scream.” head organizer Amber explained.

Advertisement

Tonight’s crowd showed the club is rapidly growing. From around a dozen or so participants in the first gathering in September, tonight seemed to attract around 40 people gathering to let it all out.

As the sun started to set, and everyone was finally gathered together, the Scream Club was ready to begin.

There are only three screams, organizer Amber explained. The first, she said, is a scream to get used to doing it in public. The second scream is there to ground you. And the final – and longest scream – is there to let you have an emotional catharsis.

She also wanted to make sure people were taking care of their vocal health beforehand. As she told everyone to walk a little bit from the meeting place and start to gather near the shore, she instructed the crowd to hum for a few minutes on the way, to warm up the vocal cords.

With that, the crowd walked towards the shore.

Advertisement

“On the count of one – two – three – scream!” said organizer Amber.

You can see our video of the proceedings here. After the screaming, we talked to a few participants about why they came out.

“There’s not one thing that’s really making me want to scream. There’s a lot of stuff going on for me, a lot of emotional ups and downs. Screaming into the ocean together gives you a sense of community.” said Jessie.

“This is my third or fourth time coming to scream. With the political climate, with everything that’s happening, getting together with local community to scream feels more productive than screaming into the internet on social media.” said Ursula.

“This is my first time coming out.” said Liz. “I screamed after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and I really felt something. I realized I’ve been feeling a lot of frustration recently, and it felt like coming here was a healthy way to get it out rather than screaming at your neighbors.”

Advertisement

Organizer Amber recognizes much of what they were saying. “Meeting like this can be an important element to have in your mental health toolbox. It’s rare to have scream therapy.” She shared an anecdote about the therapeutic origins of the group, which originally started with a chapter in Chicago. “The founder was a life coach. Their girlfriend was having a bad day, and they encouraged them to go to the Chicago Pier and just let it out. He walked her through the process, and that was that. Eventually they invited more people to come do it.” She hopes to bring that same therapeutic energy to the practice here. “It’s a moment of emotional release more than anything else. Depending on what’s going on in people’s minds, everyone will come here with a different mindset and purpose. We’re providing a safe space to do that.”

Scream Club Seattle meets at Lincoln Park on the first Sunday of every month, and they are also starting to meet on the third Sunday of every month at Golden Gardens in Ballard. Tentatively, the next events will be in Lincoln Park on April 5th around 6 PM, and Golden Gardens on March 15th around 5 PM. If you’d like to know more, you can find them on Instagram here or look at their future events on their Eventbrite page here.





Source link

Continue Reading

Seattle, WA

Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over $20 Necklace – SPD Blotter

Published

on

Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over  Necklace – SPD Blotter


Seattle police detectives are investigating a robbery and shooting of a 23-year-old man over a $20 necklace in Pioneer Square this morning.

At about 12:40 a.m., patrol officers responded to a shooting in the 500 block of 2nd Avenue. There, they found a victim, bleeding, with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. Police and the Seattle Fire Department treated his injury. Medics took him to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) in stable condition.

Police determined that the victim just left a bar, getting into the passenger seat of his friend’s car, when the suspect, wearing a ski mask and armed with a firearm, approached him and demanded his necklace. They struggled over the item, and the suspect shot the victim in the leg. The shooter fled in a vehicle with the necklace before police arrived. The value of the “chain” is about $20.

Detectives in the Robbery Unit responded to the scene and HMC. Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip line at 206-233-5000. Anonymous tips are accepted.

Advertisement

Incident Number: 2026-57536



Source link

Continue Reading

Seattle, WA

Fast Start for Kraken Win, Homestand | Seattle Kraken

Published

on

Fast Start for Kraken Win, Homestand | Seattle Kraken


That stretch begins with five more home games: A skilled and successful Carolina squad Monday, followed by St. Louis (for the second time in a week) Wednesday, Ottawa next Saturday, then Nashville (just behind Seattle in the West wild-card race) on March 10 and then finishing with Western Conference leader Colorado March 12.

Stars Shine and Star-Crossed Hat Trick

Vince Dunn opened the scoring in his 600th NHL game. Jordan Eberle topped the best Kraken-season goals mark with his 21st and 22nd goals of the year, with 23 games left to flirt with his first 30-plus goals on the year since his sophomore season in 2011-12. Joey Daccord registered 27 saves on the victorious night, including nine high-danger chances in the first 40 minutes alone.

To the fans’ disappointment, the slick-stickhandling Daccord missed a historic goalie goal by inches. But the sellout crowd was rewarded when Eberle cashed in on the Vancouver empty net. Eberle now has four two-goal games this season.

Advertisement

In a bizarre twist, when Eberle scored that empty-netter, Kraken fans rightfully cheered and tossed headwear for what was presumed to be a hat-trick score. But after Eberle scored, the scoring change on the Kraken’s power play goal was announced when off-ice officials realized Eberle’s shot had just ever-so-slightly deflected off Matty Beniers’ skate. So no hat trick for the second time this season. Linemate Jared McCann and hat-tossing fans thought the Kraken’s all-time leading scorer had notched a hat trick earlier this season, only to have it reversed when an offside infraction by, wait for it, Beniers, erased the goal.

Eberle joked post-game that maybe fans deserved some hats. The Kraken captain also said when Daccord missed by inches on his goalie goal, he was on the bench saying, “he got it, he got it.” Post-game, Eberle said, “It’s just a matter of time before he gets one” because he greatly admires the goaltender’s puck-handling skills.

The Kraken came out fast Saturday night with two goals, a couple of near-misses, lots of scoring attempts and pucks on net during the first 20 minutes. One near-miss was a hard wrist shot from Jordan Eberle that clanged off the far post. But no matter, Eberle scored a pivotal goal in the second period, getting in front of a Vancouver shot and chasing his own ricochet to create a breakaway with his still-elite speed. The 35-year-old Seattle captain went to his lethal backhand to beat Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen. Eberle’s tally re-upped the two-goal lead.

Good night for Kraken special teams as well. The penalty killer snuffed an early third period Canucks power play to keep the two-score cushion. Later third period, Matty Beniers scored on the power play, deflecting an Eberle shot, to push the score to 4-1. Chandler Stephenson earned his second point of the night with the primary assist. Same for Dunn, who notched the second assist. The Kraken needed just 10 seconds to score the man-advantage marker.

Captaining His Best Kraken Season…

Advertisement

It is Eberle’s 21st goal of the season. The next one he scores will set a new high as a Kraken for the teammate everyone calls “Ebs.” That makes it three of five seasons that Eberle has scored 20 or more goals. Eberle almost scored again later second period when matching cross-checking penalties on SEA forward Kaapo Kakko and VAN defenseman Filip Hronek. The ensuing 4-on-4 play was dominated by the Kraken quartet of Eberle, Matty Beniers, Brandon Montour and Ryker Evans. Beniers stood with some moves and an improv that had future Hall of Fame play-by-play man John Forslund saying, “Beniers did everything but score.” It was heartening to see Seattle flexing its offensive chops with a 3-1 lead.

The Kraken scored twice in an opening 20 minutes played to order, returning to the hard forechecking game they exhibited on a heater 10-game streak before the Olympic break. The starting goalie did his part, stopping all nine of Vancouver’s shots in the first 20 minutes to bring confidence to the first-intermission home locker room.  

Jumping Out of the Starting Blocks

The Kraken faithful were mega-decibel loud during the announcement of the starting lineups, welcoming back Olympian bronze medalists Kaapo Kakko and Eeli Tolvanen, as well as Seattle teammates. This week’s two road losses forgotten, replaced by rousing cheers for starters and fourth-liners Freddy Gaudreau, centering Jacob Melanson and Ben Meyers (on the wing for the first since a road matchup in LA right before the winter holiday break).

Defenseman Cale Fleury and Ryker Evans rounded out the skaters in front of Joey Daccord. It’s not a stretch to think head coach Lane Lambert was sending a message with his fourth line and third pair getting the first shift after losing two games in the Midwest by a composite score of 9-2.

Advertisement

Saturday morning, both defenseman Vince Dunn and Lambert both talked about what would be the ideal first 10 to 20 minutes in this Pacific Division showdown with rival Vancouver.

“We need to play simple and hard and direct,” said Dunn, who was playing in his 600th NHL game, 333 with Seattle. “I think we’re very connected when we can get our forecheck going. I think the way we play as a five-man unit is that we slow teams down and don’t get scrambled in our own end. We’re more patient in our own end and letting guys accept their positions and roles and areas that they need to defend in.

“Right away, we need to start shooting pucks … the past two games, the shot count hasn’t been where we wanted it to be in the first 10 minutes. So let’s get some looks and see what happens. Let’s see if we can get the other team scrambling.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending