Plenty went wrong in the Seattle Seahawks’ primetime loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night, with most of those issues unsurprisingly coming on the offensive end. But the defense isn’t free of blame in the loss.

The Seahawks’ defense, though given little rest all game, gave up 363 total yards and 34 points. Chicago turned all four of its red zone trips into touchdowns and converted 7 of 15 third-down conversions.

Numbers are one side, but the Seattle defense simply didn’t look like itself. That was partly due to the Bears’ offensive excellence, but also because the Seahawks didn’t seem to have the same fire they showed against the Kansas City Chiefs the week before. 

Seahawks' defense didn't play their brand of football

“We go into a lot of games knowing that if we play our brand of football — clean, efficient, on the same page — then we play well,” Seahawks safety Julian Love said after the game. “Kudos to them for sure, but we’ve got to go to work, man. People need to step up, guys need to get together here, and just play better football together.”

The “Dark Side” defense has created an identity since Mike Macdonald became the Seahawks’ head coach in 2024, and it’s clear when they are playing to their standard. 

Five players flock to every ball carrier; they get consistent quarterback pressure with four rushers, they never lose the line of scrimmage, and the secondary plays with a moxie and swagger no other defense in the league has. We saw none of those things against the Bears, at least not consistently.

“It’s a tip of the cap to the Bears,” Macdonald said postgame. “They won the game, they won it fair and square, they won it in all three phases. And we just got beat. No other way to sugarcoat it. I think when you look at the things it takes to win in our league, we didn’t do those things and they did.”

It’s been expected that the offense would struggle with identity this season, as the growing pains under offensive coordinator Brian Fleury have been immense. The defense having those issues, on the other hand, speaks to a larger problem with Seattle being at a midseason crossroads. 

Love offered some solace, however, about the team’s mindset after losing four of their last six games. As Super Bowl champions last season, they’ve worked through adversity in the past.

“I would say a lesser team would be really frustrated, pointing fingers, turning on each other,” Love explained. “I think the guys in the room, or at least me, it’s like, ‘Man, there’s so much out there for us.’ We play a good brand of football; teams know kind of what we’re about; I think we play tough, we’re connected. But we’re still chasing efficiency.”

The Seahawks (4-4) have a short week of preparation before they host the Arizona Cardinals (3-5) at 1:25 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. That will be their first non-primetime game since Week 4.