The biggest challenge Seahawks will get from Bears

The Seattle Seahawks faced one of the NFL’s most talented quarterbacks last week in Patrick Mahomes and are set to do so once again in their upcoming Monday Night Football showdown with Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.

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Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is a true dual-threat with the ball in his hands. He’s ninth in the league this season averaging 255 passing yards per game. He’s also fifth among quarterbacks averaging 32 rushing yards per game, which includes picking up nine first downs and two touchdowns with his legs over four games.

When discussing the biggest challenge the Seahawks will face against the Bears, Seahawks analyst and former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus pointed to the way Williams is able to gash defenses with off-script plays.

“He will hold that ball for 15 seconds and find a guy wide open somehow. It’s going to be tough,” Bumpus said. “This is the most mobile quarterback, I believe, that they have played this year, and he’s looking to throw the ball.”

Williams’ ability to scramble around and make things happen have very much been on display throughout his career, including when he made a throw you’d have to see to believe in the playoffs last season, chucking up a prayer off his back foot from behind the Rams’ 40-yard line for a touchdown pass in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime in the NFC Wild Card round.

NO WAY. CALEB WILLIAMS HEAVES IT ON 4TH DOWN.

LARvsCHI on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/JJymsDhen2

— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2026

And Williams isn’t afraid to wait around for plays to happen. His average time to throw of 3.06 seconds this season is most in the league and his average time to throw on scrambles of 6.11 seconds trails only Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold. While turnovers have been an issue for Darnold, Williams has thrown only one interception this year.

That means there could plenty of plays where Seahawks defenders have to stick in coverage for an extended period of time, a tough task against a team that has invested high draft picks in two wide receivers (UW Huskies product Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III) and a tight end (Colston Loveland) in recent years.

Bumpus compared Williams’ elusiveness to 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, but said the Bears’ signal-caller is more dangerous with his legs.

“Brock Purdy is mobile in the pocket, right? Very elusive,” Bumpus said. “But Caleb Williams will get outside that pocket, he’ll run for 20, 30 yards. I want to see how they decide to attack Caleb Williams when it comes to containing him, because when he gets outside the pocket, he’s special.”

Hear all of Michael Bumpus’ Four Down Territory segment at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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