Bears at Seahawks: 5 Qs and 5 As with Windy City Gridiron

It’s Christmas Eve, and for the Seattle Seahawks the 2021 holiday season comes without the merry cheer of looking ahead to who the Hawks will lose to in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That said, even with the playoffs all but officially off the table for this year, the team still has three games remaining to play, with the first of those Sunday when the Chicago Bears, with Seahawks fan favorites Germain Ifedi and Jimmy Graham on the roster, come to town.

To preview the game, Field Gulls teamed up with Patti Curl of Windy City Gridiron to get answers to the five questions for the week. So, without wasting any more of the precious few minutes left to buy last minute gifts for your favorite bloggers, here are the five questions and answers.

1) It feels like everyone outside Chicago watched the way the quarterback position was handled last offseason and has no idea how Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy are still employed. Is this the final three games of their tenures with the Bears?

Nagy for sure. Ryan Pace probably, but he’s a smooth talker with good hair so you can never be sure. The owners seem to like him, but they also have the vague idea that winning might be a fun change and the team hasn’t done enough of that under Ry-guy.

There’s even talk of letting the team president go, since he hired pace and several suboptimal performers before him in his 20+ year tenure. But there’s been talk of that for years so no promises there.

2) The Bears have a pair of former Seattle first round picks on the roster in Germain Ifedi and Bruce Irvin. What are the odds either of them are retained by Chicago for 2022, or will they likely be heading elsewhere in search of greener pastures?

That’s going to depend on the new GM, but I’m sure if the Seahawks want either back for a first round pick the Bears will listening. Also, there are no greener pastures than the snow-kissed fields of the Windy City.

Seriously, though. Ifedi might stick around as a backup or a stop-gap starter while the new GM works on rebuilding the line. I’d personally be fine with that.

3) Everyone knows the big names on both the rosters, but who are a couple of players for the Bears, one on offense and one on defense, that Seattle fans may not be familiar with who could have an impact on the game?

For offense, the Bears receiving corps is as thin as any, so I can see the Bears success resting in the occasionally-sure hands of journeyman receiver Damiere Byrd, who very well may be a top two target in this game. If he catches the ball in stride, he can do damage. Naturally the Bears predominantly use him for stick routes.

For defense, 6th round pick Thomas Graham Jr. was elevated from the practice squad last week to have the best performance of any non-Jaylon-Johnson Bears cornerback this season. I wouldn’t put it past the Bears to drop him back to the practice squad, but if it were up to me, I’d slap some chocolate and a marshmallow on that Graham and start him the rest of the season because that performance left me wanting s’more.

4) Both the Bears and the Seahawks will miss the postseason and then be looking to retool the roster in the offseason without a first round pick. For the Seahawks, a lot of fans are dismayed with what that means following a disappointing season from Russell Wilson and a likely inability of the team to rebuild the roster due to the lack of draft capital. How do Bears fans feel regarding the upcoming offseason where Chicago will also be without a first round pick, but may have found its quarterback of the future?

I think Bears fans will be happy enough with a shiny new coach that we won’t lose too much sleep over the first round pick. Most of us are more than happy to have Fields over a couple 1sts. Although if Fields plays poorly in his last games, a few of us will definitely decide he’s a bust and complain about it all draft season.

And let’s be honest, whoever the Seahawks want to pick in the first round will probably still be there in the second. And if Ryan Pace is still GM, the Bears will undoubtedly trade up into the 1st.

5) What is your prediction for the game?

Somebody wins, but both teams walk away feeling like losers. Staley Da Bear eats all the salmon in the Pacific Northwest and in a drunken stupor Akiem Hicks knocks over the space needle. Tevin Jenkins has a chance to catch it but lets go out of fear for a holding penalty.

And with that, it’s time to get ready for the final Sunday of Seahawks football in 2021.