The Chicago Bears head to the Pacific Northwest to close out Week 8 on “Monday Night Football,” taking on the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in what could be an early look at an NFC playoff matchup.

Chicago (5-2) has been one of the conference’s best stories so far, with Caleb Williams finding a rhythm under Ben Johnson. The front office also went all-in at the deadline, landing Jeffery Simmons from the Titans to beef up the defensive front.

Seattle (4-3) is coming off a 20-3 rout of the Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football,” and Mike Macdonald’s defense once again looks like one of the league’s toughest. Sam Darnold and the offense still have some work to do, though, after failing to turn three red-zone trips into touchdowns last week.

The Seahawks are 3-point favorites at FanDuel, with the total sitting at 46.5. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.

We break down our best bets for Bears vs. Seahawks, along with the latest NFL odds, predictions, and sportsbook promos for MNF. Football season is the perfect time to get into football betting, as bet365 offers new users a special promo: Bet $10, get $200 win or lose!

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Seahawks vs. Bears prediction

On paper, this sets up as a slugfest between two defenses that win in very different ways.

Seattle’s unit is the real deal. The Seahawks rank second in the league in EPA per play allowed, and they almost never give up chunk plays, sitting first in explosive play rate allowed. Mike Macdonald also gets home with pressure on 44.2% of dropbacks without having to sell out, which makes life tough on a quarterback who likes to push the ball downfield like Caleb Williams does.

Chicago’s offense has been better than Seattle’s this season, sitting 12th in EPA per play, and Ben Johnson plays faster than anybody in the league. The issue has been finishing drives. The Bears have come away with points on just 65% of their red-zone trips, which is dead last in the NFL. That’s a tough way to live against a defense that rarely lets you get there in the first place.

There is one crack in Seattle’s armor, though. When opponents do reach the red zone, the Seahawks have struggled to hold them to field goals. That’s the spot where Williams can steal some points if Chicago can string a few drives together.

On the other side, Sam Darnold has been under fire all season. Seattle’s offensive line ranks 29th in pressure rate allowed, and the ground game has been one of the worst in football at 30th in EPA per rush. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is still going to get his touches, but without a running game to lean on, the Seahawks have to grind out long drives through the air.

That’s a problem against this Bears defense, which has been the best in the league on third down, allowing conversions just 26.1% of the time. Chicago has been leaky with big plays, however, and that’s where Smith-Njigba can flip a drive with one catch.

Lumen Field should be rocking for a primetime game, and I trust Seattle’s defense more than anything else on the field. I expect a low-scoring, field-position kind of night where the Seahawks make one more stop than Chicago does.

Prediction: Seahawks 21, Bears 17

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Seahawks vs. Bears odds

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Seahawks vs. Bears best bets

The reigning Offensive Player of the Year somehow looks even better this season.

Smith-Njigba already has 867 receiving yards and eight touchdowns through seven games, and he’s cleared 100 yards in six of them. He’s been the entire passing game for Seattle, soaking up about 36% of the team’s targets. With the Seahawks’ run game going nowhere, I don’t see that changing on Monday night.

The matchup sets up nicely for him, too. Smith-Njigba has done most of his damage lined up outside this season, and Chicago has struggled to slow down perimeter receivers. The Bears also live in zone coverage, and few receivers in the league are better at finding soft spots and turning short completions into long gains.

Chicago will likely roll coverage his way, but Sam Darnold is going to keep forcing it to him regardless. The volume alone gets him close to this number, and one catch-and-run should get him the rest of the way.

Rome Odunze has slipped into a supporting role in this offense.

Luther Burden III leads the Bears in receiving, and Colston Loveland has become one of Caleb Williams’ go-to options, too. That leaves Odunze as the third read on most dropbacks, and he’s seeing just over 15% of the team’s targets. He’s topped 41.5 yards in only a few games this season, and he hasn’t found the end zone yet.

His role is also a bad fit for this matchup. Odunze is mostly a vertical threat, averaging over 14 yards per target depth, but Seattle sits in zone almost every snap and keeps everything in front of it. Opposing quarterbacks have averaged just 6.7 air yards per attempt against the Seahawks, so the deep shots Odunze relies on simply aren’t there.

He had a solid night against New England, with 69 yards on four catches. Still, that was a much softer secondary, and this one should be a grind.

Williams has been sharp since returning from his hamstring injury. He threw for over 300 yards in back-to-back wins against Atlanta and New England, and he’s completed 71% of his passes this season.

That said, this is a massive step up in competition. Seattle allows the second-lowest EPA per dropback in the league, and opponents are converting just 36.8% of their plays into successful ones against this group. The Falcons and Patriots couldn’t make Williams uncomfortable the way this defense can.

The game script is working in the Seahawks’ favor, too. Ben Johnson hasn’t been overly pass-happy this season, and D’Andre Swift gives Chicago a reliable way to keep drives on schedule if the passing game stalls. If the Bears don’t fall behind early, there’s no reason for Johnson to have Williams throw 40 times.

The one time Williams faced a legit defense this season, he threw for just 138 yards against Minnesota. I expect something closer to that than his last two outings in Seattle.

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SGP for Seahawks vs. Bears

Here is our favorite same game parlay for Monday Night Football: 

• Seahawks moneyline: Seattle just handed Kansas City their first loss of the season, holding the Chiefs out of the end zone entirely in a 20-3 win on Sunday night. Chicago has earned that 5-2 record, but walking into Lumen Field on a Monday night against a defense playing like this is a tall ask.
• Emanuel Wilson anytime touchdown: Emanuel Wilson has found the end zone on the ground in three of Seattle’s last four games, and he’s handling the lion’s share of the backfield work. He just piled up 24 carries for 100 yards against the Chiefs, and that kind of volume gives him plenty of chances at punching one in.
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba 100+ receiving yards: Jaxon Smith-Njigba has cleared 100 yards in six of his seven games this season, with the lone miss coming in a 76-yard day against the Chargers. He torched Kansas City for 150 yards last week, and the Bears’ secondary is going to have their hands full trying to keep him under wraps.
• Odds: (+375 at DraftKings)