The Seahawks picked up their first win of the season, shutting out the Bears, 26-0, on Sunday. A sampling of how the national media viewed it.
It felt, and looked, familiar for the Seahawks and their fans.
The defense doing its thing, the offense eventually doing just enough. All in front of a raucous home crowd.
Sunday’s 26-0 win over the Bears certainly was a return to business as usual. However, there were a few new wrinkles thrown in, and some concerns coming out of the game.
The defense appeared to look whole again with Kam Chancellor back in the fold. Tyler Lockett continues to provide a jolt on special teams. And Jimmy Graham was a factor and scored Seattle’s only offensive touchdown.
But what’s going on with Marshawn Lynch? (Although Thomas Rawls filled in nicely, right?) And the offensive line still allowed four sacks to a Bears team that had zero going in.
Never a dull moment with this team. And as usual, the national media had plenty to say about the Seahawks.
Peter King in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback roundup had Tyler Lockett as one of his special teams players of the week:
“With the Bears clinging to life, losing just 6-0 to start the second half, kicker Robbie Gould booted the kickoff halfway into the end zone. Lockett received it. No one touched him for the next 105 yards. Touchdown. Ballgame. Lockett, the rookie third-round pick from Kansas State, is officially the most dangerous return man in football right now.”
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Seattle Times sports columnist Matt Calkins knows superstitions are vital and therefore looks for the fans responsible for the Seahawks' Super Bowl loss. (Katie G. Cotterill / The Seattle Times)Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated was on hand and said “a crisis averted is a crisis averted” but issues remain:
“The Bears managed to continue to expose what looks like the Seahawks’ biggest weakness three games into this season: their offensive line. The Bears defense entered this game with no sacks on the season and managed to sack Wilson four times, looking more like the 1985 Bears D early than the 2015 version.”
Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, in his game recap, says there’s one reason for the Seahawks to panic:
“Marshawn Lynch is banged up. The Seahawks running back was questionable with a calf injury, but got on the field in the first quarter. Still, Lynch did not look like himself, carrying five times for 14 yards, and he didn’t play after halftime because of a hamstring injury. We’ll find out how serious it is, but against better teams, the Seahawks’ offense desperately needs Lynch.”
Marc Sessler of NFL.com saw some positives from Sunday’s win, among them:
“(Russell) Wilson and tight end Jimmy Graham produced their best outing yet, with the quarterback finding the former Saints star for 83 yards and a pretty touchdown pass in the second half. It was the first real dose of what Graham could mean to this attack, as he continually found holes in Chicago’s defense. It’s also a promising development for Darrell Bevell’s much-ballyhooed “jumbo” package, although 6-foot-5 wideout Chris Matthews was invisible.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs writes that the Bears had no margin for error in this game:
“You knew coming into CenturyLink Field for the Seahawks’ home opener, the Bears offense would be limited. That’s any team that must turn to its backup quarterback. But the Bears were inept as they punted on all 10 possessions. At least it wasn’t a turnover fest. Eddie Royal’s three catches for 17 yards was the only production from wide receivers.”
Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times pins the blame for the Bears’ loss squarely on the offense and special teams:
“You can’t sit on a three-legged stool missing two of its limbs. And you can’t win in the NFL when your defense looks NFL worthy and your offense and special teams look borderline worthless.”
And Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports’ Shutdown Corner blog tried to look at the bright side for the Bears:
“What a day for (Bears punter Pat) O’Donnell! He got to punt 10 times on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. That’s a pretty cool treat. Every time the Bears had a drive, he finished it with a punt. That’s a big-time contribution. And he had 384 yards, which is a huge day. Nobody can say O’Donnell didn’t earn his money. It can be said nobody on the Bears’ offense earned their paychecks, considering they were shut out and had 146 yards.”