Bears Game Day: 5-2 Chicago Takes the League's Leading Ground Game to Seattle for Monday Night Football
The Bears close Week 8 under the lights at Lumen Field (7:15 p.m. CT, ESPN and WCIU) against a 4-3 Seahawks defense that just held Kansas City to three points — Chicago's run game against Seattle's front is the matchup that decides it.
Monday Night Football takes the Bears out of Chicago for their biggest road test of the season so far: 5-2 Chicago at 4-3 Seattle, kicking off at 7:15 p.m. Central at Lumen Field on ESPN and WCIU in the Chicago area. The Bears arrive on a two-game win streak — 30-24 over New England and 31-23 at Atlanta — with the earlier 31-7 loss at Green Bay standing as the season's one flat performance.
The matchup is strength against strength. Chicago runs for about 154 yards a game, with D'Andre Swift carrying the load at 476 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and the Bears will have to do it without second-leading rusher Kyle Monangai, who is out — the absence this desk detailed in Sunday's injury file. Seattle's defense allows about 17.9 points a game and produced its signature performance in its last home game, a 20-3 win over Kansas City, though it will work Monday without left tackle Charles Cross on the other side of the ball, with Josh Jones stepping in — a spot Chicago's pass rush will test early.
What is at stake goes beyond one prime-time win. Chicago leaves Seattle either 6-2 with a statement road victory over the defending champions, or 5-3 heading home to face Tampa Bay at Soldier Field on Sunday night, November 8. In a division race that will not wait, Monday night in the loudest building in the league is where the Bears find out how real the first half of their season has been.
