Bears quarterback Caleb Williams likes to hum on the sideline.
That, combined with his focus on deep breathing, helps him to relax. He’s been doing it for years.
“It’s calming,” he said of humming. “It calms your nervous system.”
The Seahawks, though, are really humming. And that can’t be relaxing for the Bears quarterback in the least.
Mike Macdonald’s defense is coming off one of the most impressive defensive performances of the NFL season, a 20-3 “Sunday Night Football” shellacking of the Chiefs.
The Seahawks forced Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes into — Deep breaths, everybody —the worst game of his career. The three points the Chiefs scored in Seattle matched the lowest in his 153-game NFL career. For the first time with Mahomes under center, the Chiefs didn’t have a completion of at least 20 yards or a run of at least 10. They didn’t reach the red zone for the first time with Mahomes at quarterback.
The undefeated Chiefs were smothered to the tune of 11 first downs. Five of the Chiefs’ eight possessions produced one first down or fewer. Only one drive went for more than 50 yards. Mahomes went 19-for-33 for just 165 yards and one interception.
“Obviously that’s the best defense in football right now,” Williams said Wednesday. “Stats-wise and [with] players and scheme.”
After the game, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he’d take responsibility for not “putting guys in the right position to make plays,” saying it was time to go back to the drawing board.
A team that began the game undefeated ended it bewildered.
“The biggest takeaway,” Mahomes said, “is if you don’t come ready to play, just you can get your tail kicked in this league.”
Toss out a seven-second drive at the end of the first half and four incompletions at the end of the game with the Chiefs down by 17, and they only had six series to run their actual offense.
“You look up at the end of the game and you have three points,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said of watching film of the game. “And it’s like, ‘Holy cow, where did it all go wrong?’
“So I think it’s one of those things that when you play a good team like this — which, this is a really good team that’s really well-coached — and we’re on the road, we’re going to need the best out of everybody.”
Williams is at the top of that list. The last time the Bears played a top-shelf defense, Williams managed to score just three points against the Vikings on a rainy Soldier Field track in Week 2. He had a 56.2 passer rating and took three sacks before hurting his hamstring late in the fourth quarter.
Williams’ performance needs to rise along with the quality of his opponent.
“They don’t allow deep plays, so you’ve got to be as patient as possible,” Williams said. “That’s obviously hard the whole game trying to be patient, patient, patient. So it’s a challenge for me.
“It’s a challenge for our offense being able to take the dirty yards, protecting the football. They do a good job with punching the ball out and interceptions. … They rally to the ball. They got players. They got the scheme.”
The Seahawks give up the fewest yards in the league — and also the fewest passing yards. The 17.9 points per game they allow is the fourth-fewest in the NFL. Only the Packers have taken the ball away more than the Seahawks. Their eight interceptions trail just the Packers, too.
The Seahawks are able to rush the quarterback with just four players, Johnson said, which makes it hard for play-callers to get receivers open. They “do a phenomenal job taking away explosive plays in the passing game,” Johnson said, which forces teams to try to stay on schedule, march slowly down the field and score from the red zone.
“And that’s what they try to make you do,” Johnson said. “And you combine that with the fact that it’s hard for a lot of offenses to even get started. …. It’s hard to run the ball, hard to throw the ball, and it’s going to take a team effort to win this one here this week.
It will take an outstanding effort from the quarterback, too.
The most famous one in the world just learned that the hard way.
“They’re fully equipped over there to do whatever they need as a defense and as a team …” Williams said. “It’s going to be a fun challenge for us.”