The Seahawks travel to Chicago this week to take on the Bears after getting a week to rest and recuperate. The Hawks, coming off a loss to the Rams, needed a week to regroup and figure out what went wrong in St. Louis.
The biggest change in the off week came at running back, where Marshawn Lynch joins the team and is expected to contribute immediately. Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider pulled a rabbit out of the hat, grabbing immediate help for the Seahawks backfield for a reasonable price. Our own Jeff Nusser looked at the impact of the Lynch trade.
My guess is that he'll essentially split the workload with Forsett -- at least at first -- and immediately take over short-yardage and goal line carries. (So, yes, for those of you looking for the fantasy football impact of the Lynch trade ... I think that's what's most significant.) And the possibility certainly exists that Lynch ends up in the 18- to 20-carry range.
The Chicago game marks the beginning of a tough stretch for the Seahawks. The Seattle Times' Danny O'Neil examined the schedule and the road ahead for Seattle.
Four of Seattle's next six games are on the road, and three of those games are against teams that currently have winning records.
The Seahawks' road woes are well documented, and this team is going to have to fix that if it's going to avoid another November swoon.
Field Gulls John Morgan took a look at Seattle's inability to play from behind, something that was evident in Seattle's game against the Rams.
I'd like to think of Seattle's passing game as capable of recovering from an early deficit, but that proved incorrect. Since it was incorrect, in many ways, this game was about who could stake an early lead and hold on. That's pretty much what the Rams were able to accomplish, plus a little flourish in the second half.
The Seahawks lost some ground in the off week after the Arizona Cardinals pulled off a shocker against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. However, the log-jam at the top was broken when St. Louis lost, leaving the Seahawks in sole possession of second place, one game behind the Cardinals.
Looking ahead, the Chicago Bears were without starting quarterback Jay Cutler last week against the Carolina Panthers. Cutler suffered a concussion in the first half against the New York Giants two weeks ago and was still feeling some of the effects. Chicago head coach Lovie Smith is optimistic Cutler will play this week against the Seahawks.
The question, and it's impossible to answer, is could Cutler miss more than one game?
"There's no reason to think that," coach Lovie Smith said. "He's making progress. You guys have seen him around here right now. Hopefully that won't be the case. Of course all we know right now is he's not playing this week. Hopefully he'll be ready to go next week."
The Seahawks take on the Bears at Soldier Field this Sunday at 10 a.m. on Fox.