Tale of the tape: the 5-2 Bears run into Seattle's top-ranked defense on MNF

The Chicago Bears (5-2) visit the Seattle Seahawks (4-3) on Monday Night Football tonight at Lumen Field. Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, per the NFL and ESPN's game page, and it is the last game of Week 8.

This one has new faces on both lines. Chicago traded for All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons on Thursday, and he could make his Bears debut tonight, per the AP preview on ESPN. Seattle answered by getting guard Quenton Nelson from the Colts for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth, and the NFL's own account showed him arriving for his first game as a Seahawk.

Tale of the tape

1. Run game against run defense. Chicago leads the league at 154.3 rushing yards a game. Seattle has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 36 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. D'Andre Swift has seven rushing touchdowns.
2. Total defense. The Seahawks allow 233.9 yards a game, best in the league, and 144.4 passing yards, also first. They held Kansas City without a touchdown in a 20-3 win last week.
3. Quarterbacks. Caleb Williams has back-to-back 300-yard games, the first Bears quarterback to do that since 2018, per Underdog NFL. Sam Darnold has 1,290 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
4. Top receiver. Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL at 123.9 receiving yards a game, with eight touchdowns.
5. Situational defense. Chicago allows a 26% conversion rate on third down and 9.7 second-half points a game.
6. History. Seattle leads the series 12-8 and won the last meeting 6-3 in Chicago on Dec. 26, 2024.

Who is in and who is out

Seattle activated first-round running back Jadarian Price from injured reserve, and Charbonnet makes his season debut after tearing his ACL in January, per Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport. ESPN's injury report lists left tackle Charles Cross (ankle) and receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) as out.

For Chicago, running back Kyle Monangai is out with a thumb injury and tight end Cole Kmet is on injured reserve with a season-ending knee injury. Colston Loveland has no designation. Montez Sweat returns from a two-game suspension.

Why it matters

The Bears can get to 6-2 and stay near the top of the NFC. Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champion, has alternated wins and losses for a month and needs to show the Kansas City game wasn't a one-off. The swing matchup is Simmons against Nelson, two All-Pros who just switched teams, in the middle of the line where Chicago wants to run.