Bears and Seahawks In-Game Blog

Blogging live in game by Gene Chamberlain for BearDigest as the Bears play Game 2 of preseason in Seattle against the Seahawks with starters expected only to work about 10 plays or less.

Fourth Quarter

• Eason tried to go at Bopete again but overthrown out of bounds and the Bears will be in victory formation. Bears 27, Seahawks 11 Final
• Dominique Robinson rush forces a third-down incompletion. Fourth-and-goal for Seattle. Robinson getting lots of good reps tonight.
• Another false start, 13 penalties for 92 yards for Seattle. Duke Shelley got away with pass interference but Seattle gets the first don at the 4-yard line with 51 seconds left.

• Over/under was 39 1/2. We're right there.

• Fuller on a 17-yard TD catch spinning after being hit. Wasn't sure he was in bounds. Replay shows it hit the ground. Jon Alexander wasn't in good coverage position but the ball came out and the nose hit the ground.

• Bears slot cornerback Justin Jones on the turf after a short pass for a first down for Seattle. 

• Keyes got the benefit of the doubt on a jump ball in the end zone. He made a solid play to disrupt and keep it from J.J. Acega-Whiteside.

• TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
• Bopete Keyes with a pass interference call on a deep ball and Seattle is back in business in Bears territory. Just an awful call. Keyes barely had a finger on him and the pass was well overthrown.

• Seattle not done. They onside kick it and Blount comes up with the ball after it went through the hands or Coulter.

• Darwin Thompson with an 8-yard TD run up the middle and Seattle can go home happy about something. A two-point pass and it's 27-11.

• Seahawks convert a fourth-and-6. So you can't call it their eighth three-and-out, because there was no out.

• The Bears with a rare mistake on special teams. A muff by Dazz Newsome but no one could blame him as Tuggle was knocked into him as he was trying to field it. First Bears preseason turnover at the Bears 44.

• We're seeing how short on linebackers the Bears are now as Joe Thomas is back out on the field this late in the game. Not enough guys left to play.

• Seattle from its 1 with 5:41 remaining. 

• Peterman throws to the outside twice for incompletions and Bears have fourth-and-goal at the 1. They go for it. Tuggle stood up inches short and driven back. Joel Iyiegbuniwe makes the stop. The former Bears linebacker. 
• Tuggle powering through Seahawks defense and drives to the 1-yard line behind the second- and third-team line. 
• Tuggle is a much tougher back than I had expected. Having seen him a little in the MAC I thought he was more speed and a little guy. But he just ran through tackles to pick up a first down and has done that in both games.
• Tuggle back in and bad handoff winds up on the ground but Peterman gets it back.
• The Bears have to be happy with 1) scoring on the first drive; 2) the tight end play, two catches by Cole Kmet and one by James O'Shaughnessy as well as a TD by Jake Tonges; 3) more solid, mistake-free defense, this time from starters and not just the backups like in the first game; 4) complete special teams dominance; 5) A defense that forced seven three-and-outs on Seattle's first 13 possessions.
• Santos with a 47-yard field goal. Bears 27, Seahawks 3
• Another back dropping a pass, this time Evans. Need David Montgomery back.  A dangerous Peterman third-down pass to the sideline to Kevin Shaa goes incomplete and they're fortunate. Could have been a TD return.

• Bears at the Seattle 29. 

Third Quarter

• Evans back in at back instead of Tuggle? Not sure why unless there's an unannounced injury. With the injury to Ebner, they need to keep Evans healthy in as the third back. 
• Nsimba Webster breaks the kick return 60 yards. Excellent blocking up the left sidelines. Another big special teams game for the Bears, whether it's starters or backups.

• After a dumpoff, for a few years, the Seahawks send Myers out for another field goal try. This time he doesn't slice it from 27 yards. Bears 24, Seahawks 3
• Duke Shelley breaks some momentum by Jacob Eason on a pass to the flat by knocking one down. Seattle on third-and-goal and what else? False start. 

• First poor punt from Trenton Gill since he arrived, short and not real high. Lamar Jackson, Bears cornerback, was hurt on the play and they're tending to him.
• Nathan Peterman committed the unforgivable sin of rolling right and then running out of bounds for the sack instead of throwing the ball away. It set up third-and-long and the screen comes up well short so they punt.
• Demontre Tuggle in at running back now. He had a solid game last week, as well. 

• The Bears have done an excellent job of getting Seattle into third- and second-and-long, then playing solid zone, dropping to their landmarks and keeping the receivers in front, well short of first downs. Add in solid tackling and they are having a second straight strong defensive effort.

• All the third team players and a few second guys on the defense now for the Bears. Duke Shelley on the field and also Jack Sanborn, last week's player of the week.
• The Seahawks have 10 penalties for 82 yards. Just one flag after another. The Bears have two for 10 yards.

• Using the tight ends well tonight. Rookie Chase Allen with a catch to the 4, then Evans powers in behind blocks by Eiselen and Zachary Thomas for the 1-yard TD. Bears 24, Seahawks 0

• Nate Peterman in for the Bears and he throws his favorite pass, the slant over the middle to the Seahawks 33 to Dazz Newsome. Then he hits Isaiah Coulter for 23 yards to the 10. An unsportsmanlike flag for helmet-to-helmet puts it at the 5.

Second Quarter

• Fans booing. There was no reversal of the call and Bears have a TD. Hicks is their seventh-round pick from Cal who gave up a TD in coverage just before halftime last week to Kanas City. Now he got back the TD. Bears 17, Seattle 0

• Elijah Hicks with the special teams touchdown, recovering it  on the goal line after a muffed punt. They'll review because it looked like Hicks was touched on the half-yard line.
• Line gives up first sack of the day. They have Michael Schofield in with backups now. That's not a good sign for him to be playing
• Evans running hard off the left side. Looks like a guy trying to take advantage of another back being hurt. Opportunistic. After a timeout, Webster isn't open and Siemian misses the mark. Second-and-10 at Seattle's 45. They go back to the same play on the other side and it's batted away.

• Pettis finally gets to return one after three fair catches and one he let bounce. He gets back a few yards. 

• Trevon Coley with his third preseason sack. But the flag should have been flying because Charles Cross  was holding Dominique Robinson. Not called.

• Wow, Seattle with another false start with 1:18 left in the half. Their offense looks totall out of sync. Cross false-started. Cross was represented by the infamous unsanctioned Saint Omni.
• Evans had a first down but tried to make a cut on third down and then didn't pick up the first down. So they face fourth-and-inches at their own 40. They decide to punt.

• A facemask for a first down and Ebner limps off the field after a hit on another run to the right. He's in some pain on the bench but gets up and is walking it off. Bears really need him to stay healthy. They need three backs at least, maybe four.  That will be one of the interesting cuts if Darrynton Evans continues playing like he has tonight. Will they keep him, too?

• Bears backup defense deserves a lot of credit. They're playing like last week and against a starting QB or at least a guy competing to be starting QB.

• Pettis with a great fake on the punt like he was fielding it but that's something you do when it's inside the 5. He let it hit about the 8-yard line and they downed it at the 10.

• Flare out of backfield goes uncovered by anyone. Seattle at Bears 49 but on second down Smith stumbles, tripping over his back and is sacked in the backfield. Smith overthrows on third down, Bears to get it back. This time they'll have Dante Pettis back for the punt.

• Bears punt and Seahawks with Smith still at QB have a third-and-1 play for a first down but they false-start. Now it's third-and-6.

• Dazz Newsome with a terrible drop on first down.

• Jaylon Jones gives up a 41-yard bomb to Bears but a couple incompletions and then a fumble on third down tight end screen but Seattle recovers and Jason Myers totally botches a 47-yard field goal try. In golfer terms, he sliced it. Started in the middle, went off to the right. Really hard to do for a kicker who is kicking soccer style with his right foot.

• Poor snap but Siemian gets it away. Isaiah Coulter caught a rushed, poor throw for a first down but officials mistakenly rule it an incompletion. The Bears fail to throw the red flag this time. And they had plenty of time. Matt Eberflus was so proud of last week's win on the red flag. He should have thrown it again. Bears forced to punt. Backup defense playing except for Gordon.

• Coleman and Ebner both whiff on blocking the same player and Seattle forces a throwaway by Siemian.

• A third-and-1 and Shon Coleman with false start but Bears make up for it with a nice timing throw from Siemian to Nsimba Webster for the first down.

• Justin Coleman of the Seahawks with the "Doah!" play of the game. Stood on the goal line and caught the bouncing punt. A few inches forward and the Bears were pinned back but instead it's a touchback.

• Nice slant beats Gordon but Seattle called for illegal hands to the face of Angelo Blackson. Seahawks must punt.
• Al-Quadin Muhammad with a second-down stop at the line and puts Seattle in third-and-long situation. Then a completion but Joe Thomas and Gordon combine to stop him a few yards short of the first down.
• Bears can't stand too many more linebacker injuries. They'll have DeMarquis Gates playing the rest of the game.
• Bears linebacker Caleb Johnson and Seattle's guard Damien Lewis both with bad injuries on first down from Bears 33. Johnson got the better of it limping on sidelines.  Lewis taken off on a cart.

• Kyler Gordon mises a tackle on Travis Homer for a 33-yard gain.
• Punter Trenton Gill kicked off, touchback. He was excellent at this in college. Maybe they'll explore this.
• TE Jake Tonges from Cal on the flip to the outside gets into the end zone and Bears 10, Seahawks 0.

First Quarter

• Nsimba Webster  to the 2 on a short flip near the hash mark. Second-and-goal. Quarter ends. Bears 3, Seahawks 0

• Evans powers ahead again for 6 to the Seahawks 14. Then a first down pass to Isaiah Coulter to the outside at the 9. Bears closing in.

• Bears start at the Seattle 33 and on second down Darrynton Evans smashes straight ahead like a power back not a speed back, gains 11.

• Velus Jones flashes his speed on the punt return, gets  loose on a 48-yard return up the sidelines and might have gone if Joe Thomas had thrown a block. 

• On third-and-3 Angelo Blackson in his first preseason action bats down Smith's throw. Blackson showing he can fit in a 4-3. 

• First team defense still on for Bears. Kyler Gordon with a slot corner blitz nearly sacks Smith and Nicholas Morrow with a QB hit on incompletion.

• Shon Coleman, who hadn't played since 2017 other than preseason, allows pressure and commits a third-down hold. Bears have to punt.

• Tight end James O'Shaughnessy, a Chicagoan in his first action, gets 16 on a throw over the middle.

• Former rugby player and weightlifter from South Africa, Dieter Eiselen, leaves the field with a leg injury. Bears are short on centers tonight because they put Doug Kramer on injured reserve. Corey Dublin, newly acquired, is the center now.

• On third-and-6 offensive coordinator Luke Getsy for the second straight game showed he's not afraid to run it and Ebner gets the first down. 
• QB is now Trevor Siemian and Herbert has been replaced by Trestan Ebner as backups are in but they still have Teven Jenkins at right guard playing with the second team O-line now. Borom still out there alongside him, too.
• Roquan Smith on the sidelines tonight but no sign of a contract or of Saint Omni. Seahawks incompletion by Geno Smith and they punt to Jones but it goes OB at the Bears 21.
• Roquan Smith replacement Matthew Adams made the tackle on a screen but was shaken up. They can't afford an injury to any linebacker right now. 
• Joe Thomas came off the back side to prevent a big gain on first down run and it's second-and-8.
• Seahawks can't even get a play off without a penalty. False start on the first play.
• Better start for first-team offense than last game anyway. They managed points. 
• Fields made a poor throw on third down out to Herbert, floating it behind him in the flat and got his back blasted on the play. Bears settle for a chip shot Cairo Santos field goal from 35. Bears 3, Seahawks 0

• Fields could have thrown the ball for the first down after scrambling and then had Mooney open shortly for a TD but overthrew him for an incompletion. Still wouldn't have counted cause Borom was downfield illegally. Fields should have gotten rid of it earlier and all the moving around he did shows the line has to get used to the way he plays and he also needs to get rid of the ball faster.

• Mooney so slippery. Gained 6 yards on a completion when he shouldn't have had anything.

• A 4-yard pass to Herbert on the run and again Field scrambling for his life. Poor pass blocking. But on second down the boot pass works to perfection to Cole Kmet to the 20-yard line and he gets pumped up and yells at the Seahawks.

• Fields gets them to jump and the Bears have a fresh set of downs. Bears have a ton of cadences so that's not surprising.

• Field scrambles forward and gets nothing, loses the ball but was down already and Bears line up to go for it.

• Blitz pressure and Bears didn't pick it up so Fields threw it away on first down, but on second down Khalil Herbert gains 7.

• A debut for Cole Kmet for this preseason too and he takes a tiht end screen 12 yards to the Bears 43.

• Velus Jones back on his debut and returns it to the 30. He fumbled it but it appeared he was down anyway. But the officials ruled it was a fumble. Bears ball.

Pregame

• Fields throwing tonight against pretty inexperienced cornerbacks. Should have an edge on them. The Seahawks were using Artie Burns as a starter and he ears was injured. 

• An interview with Ryan Poles by ESPN in pregame turned up an interesting quote. It's probably one everyone expects, but it's the GM saying this himself. "This team in two weeks may not look exactly as it looks tonight." This can mean a few things, like plenty of additions to the team with players who are cut by other teams as well as the return of some players like Lucas Patrick and Byron Pringle.
• Adam Rank of NFL Network says he would be shocked if David Montgomery is not a top-five back this year and it seemed to meet with ridicule from some panelists, but hey, Montgomery already was a top-five running back in 2020 and did it in a bad offense that didn't use the run correctly. He finished fifth in rushing. So why not?
• Riley Reiff and David Montgomery not suiting up tonight. Montgomery really didn't do much at practice after missing last week and it wasn't really expected. They will look closely at Larry Borom at right tackle.
• Teven Jenkins the likely starter at right guard tonight.