The Chicago Bears have dropped nine straight to fall to 4-11, while the Seattle Seahawks are clinging to postseason hopes after losing consecutive games.
It’s a must-win game on Thursday Night Football for Seattle, and my early Seahawks vs. Bears predictions and NFL picks expect another poor showing from the Chicago defense.
Here’s my breakdown for the Seattle-Chicago showdown on Thursday, December 26.
Seahawks vs Bears predictions
Early spread lean
Seahawks -3.5 (-110 at FanDuel)
My analysis
The Seattle Seahawks are 5-1 outright and 4-1-1 against the spread on the road this season, and the Chicago Bears have lost nine straight while going 2-6-1 against the number.
Additionally, despite losing two straight at home, Seattle isn’t mathematically eliminated from the postseason, either. This also sets up as a bounce-back matchup, with the noted losses coming to the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
The Bears aren’t in the same class as their NFC North peers, and in particular, the Chicago defense hasn’t shown snarl in weeks.
Chicago has allowed the third-highest EPA per play, highest yards per attempt to opposing quarterbacks, and 26.8 points per game during this losing streak, including 31.0 across the past five.
I actually think the Bears are better than their numbers suggest and this is a tight line, but all the coaching turnovers on the Chicago sidelines have just taken too large a toll.
Plus, even with the consecutive losses, the Seattle defense has shown up since the Week 10 bye. The Seahawks have surrendered the sixth-lowest EPA per play and YPA to opposing QBs while allowing 19.8 points per game.
Seattle shows up in a must-win game and plays better on both sides of the ball to pull away and cover the number on Thursday Night Football.
Early Over/Under lean
Over 43.5 (-110 at FanDuel)
My analysis
The Seahawks have gone Over the number in three of their past four, and the Bears have hit the Over in three of their past five.
As noted, the Chicago stop unit is in shambles, but the offense has shown signs with rookie QB Caleb Williams throwing 10 touchdown passes and leading the Bears to 17.8 points per game during the noted five-week stretch.
That might just be enough with Seattle doing the heavy lifting for this Over.
The Seahawks' offense is going to be able to move the football much more effectively against the Bears than they did the past two weeks against the Packers and Vikings.
In addition to the already highlighted Chicago shortcomings on defense, the Bears have also allowed the second-most yards per play (5.9) and surrendered red-zone trips into touchdowns at the sixth-highest rate (62.9%).
Finally, the early weather forecast for this Thursday Night Football tilt at Soldier Field doesn’t look prohibitive to offense, either.
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Seahawks vs Bears live odds
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