There were nine points and no touchdowns.
There were 13 combined punts and 10 combined third-down conversions.
It was anything but pretty, and that was just fine with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, whose team emerged with a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday and a 15% probability to make it to the playoffs.
“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows, man, gutting out a 6-3 win feels just as good as winning the game 44-41,” said Smith, who was 17 of 23 for 160 yards with two fumbles (one lost). “It’s all about getting wins, and I have the utmost confidence in my guys, the guys up front, the defense, our coaching staff, the entire organization. It’s a big game coming up, but we’re all going to stick to our process and get ready for another week.”
Seattle’s postseason chances are as slim as its margin of victory was on Thursday, but in the here and now that made no matter.
Sitting at 9-7, the Seahawks trail the Los Angeles Rams (9-6) by half a game in the NFC West standings. Winning the division is the only path to the postseason for the Seahawks, something they could potentially do with a win over the Rams in Week 18.
“Look, we’re in the mode of control what we can control,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “We know what’s coming next week, so we’re going to spend this weekend getting our minds and bodies and spirits right to go play a game. And yeah, we’re praying that it’s for the division championship.”
Even with the victory, by the time Week 17 ends, so too could the Seahawks’ playoff aspirations.
If the Rams win against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, they could potentially clinch the division based on a strength of victory tiebreaker. L.A. would get it with 3.5 wins from the following teams: the Cincinnati Bengals (who play Saturday versus the Denver Broncos), the Buffalo Bills (Sunday versus the New York Jets), the Cleveland Browns (Sunday versus the Miami Dolphins), the Minnesota Vikings (Sunday versus the Green Bay Packers), the Washington Commanders (Sunday night versus the Atlanta Falcons) and/or the San Francisco 49ers (Monday night versus the Detroit Lions). Thus, the Seahawks will be massive fans of the Cardinals on Saturday.
“I mean all we can do now is win the next game,” Seattle tight end Noah Fant told NFL Network’s Jane Slater after the game. “We’ll see what happens this weekend, but we can control this game, and we can control the next game when we play the Rams, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Regardless of how it plays out, Seattle still has hope now after fighting for a very ugly win on Thursday.
Each team had six-plus punts, three-plus sacks taken, two-plus fumbles, at least one turnover and zero touchdowns. It’s the first such game since all the way back on Oct. 11, 1987, when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New York Jets, 6-0, in a contest featuring replacement players during a strike.
While Thursday’s game -- the lowest-scoring affair in the league this season and the second sans a touchdown -- wasn’t the most watchable, the Cardinals-Rams Saturday night showdown, the nightcap for an NFL Network tripleheader, will be must-see TV for the Seahawks.
“I’m going to watch every snap,” Macdonald said.
Optics be damned, the Seahawks took care of business against the Bears. Now, they’ll hope for the best as they wait and see how the rest of Week 17 plays out and what becomes of their Week 18 prospects.
“Honestly, we shouldn’t be in this position, and that’s the main thing, is understanding we’ve got to control our destiny when we can,” Smith said. “But yeah, I’m going to be a big Kyler Murray fan on Saturday. If they get it done, they get it done, but we’re going to go into this last week of the season with the same mindset no matter what.”