Should the Seahawks Should Make Another Big Splash before the NFL Trade Deadline?

One week ago, Rich was saying the world champs had re-entered the chat. Then the Bears came to Seattle and did to the Seahawks exactly what the Seahawks had done to Kansas City.

That is the uncomfortable symmetry Rich laid out the morning after Monday night. Chicago didn't just beat Seattle emphatically. It left everyone wondering whether the Seahawks had been exposed. Rich still respects how Seattle plays defense and how well Mike Macdonald dials it up, as the Chiefs found out the previous week. But Monday was "either at best an off night or at worst a problem moving forward for this team to make the playoffs, let alone have a chance to repeat."

"Which is nuts," Rich said, "because at this point last week I thought this team has a great chance to repeat. And they might."

Even when Seattle got within three points, the composure wasn't there. Rich pointed to 15-yard penalties, pushing and shoving and silly fouls, including one on Nick Emmanwori on the kickoff right after the Seahawks pulled within three. "The other team's supposed to lose composure in that building," he said. Even the one time the 12s forced a delay of game, it gave the Bears another shot at a third down, and the defense then watched Kalif Raymond go almost half the field.

The pass rush never showed up. Seattle couldn't get through Chicago's offensive line, couldn't confuse Caleb Williams and managed one sack all night. Williams became the first quarterback to throw for 200 yards against Seattle this season. Rich noted Williams is now an 86% passer when he isn't pressured, and on Monday "Seattle couldn't get to him." The Seahawks allowed a season-high 34 points, the third time in eight games they have given up at least 30. They did that only twice all of last season.

Offensively, Rich said the Bears made it look like Seattle can't move the ball unless Jaxon Smith-Njigba is catching it. Cooper Kupp and Tory Horton had their moments in the comeback, but they are only getting a couple of targets. Charbonnet and Price returned and combined for 52 rushing yards. Sam Darnold ran for 20, three fewer than Charbonnet and nine fewer than Price.

Rashid Shaheed was out, and Rich called his involvement "a must moving forward." Seattle paid him on a three-year deal while letting Kenneth Walker walk, and Rich wants to see him used as another receiver who can also run it, "not just a guy in the special teams."

Then there was the late-game play calling. With the Seahawks down 10 and about eight minutes left, Brian Fleury kept dialing up runs and the crowd booed. Rich tried to find the logic, suggesting that obvious passing situations were a problem given how much trouble Seattle had protecting Darnold, but others on set called the sequence head-scratching. "It was so unlike the previous week that we're sitting here wondering if the Seahawks just got exposed."

His takeaway: "If you have an offense like Chicago, you can beat Seattle's defense. If you have an offensive line like Chicago, you can beat Seattle's defense." Just as a defense like Seattle's can beat Patrick Mahomes.

Which brings up the trade deadline. Rich has heard the Seahawks are in on Jonathan Taylor, even with Charbonnet back and Price, whom they took with the last pick of the first round. Should they add a receiver too? Rich wasn't sure who. Calvin Ridley's name has been thrown around, and George Pickens was floated on set. But the obvious tension remains. "You didn't pay Kenneth Walker, so you're going to pay Jonathan Taylor?" Maybe, Rich mused, that was the plan in the spring, "but everyone has a plan until you're hit in the mouth."

Macdonald didn't sugarcoat it. "Tip of the cap to the Bears," he said. "They won it fair and square. They won it in all three phases." Rich appreciated him "just coming up there and saying what we're all thinking." Darnold put it on himself too. "I got to be better in certain situations and we got to be better as a whole on offense."

The schedule offers a path. Arizona comes to Seattle next with Minshew Mania, then a trip to Las Vegas to see their old offensive coordinator, then a bye. Meanwhile San Francisco hosts Las Vegas, visits Dallas and faces Minnesota in Mexico City in Week 11. At 4-4, having already lost to the 49ers, Seattle is effectively three games back, and the Rams, with the same record, haven't played the Seahawks yet. That makes the second 49ers game a must-win.

"Season's not over, obviously," Rich said. But eight days after looking like world champs, the Seahawks watched the Bears look like world champs in their building. And maybe that's the real story. "Bears might be doing that to everyone from here on out."