“Just the how we drew it up, exactly what we expected, 6-3,” Macdonald joked. “It’s not easy, coming across the country on a short week, playing in an atmosphere like that. So our guys deserve a lot of credit for their poise. We stuck together throughout, we faced some adversity throughout the game. Our defense just deserves a lot of credit, man. They played really hard. Even when (the Bears) made some unbelievable plays in critical moments—you got to give their quarterback a lot of credit, he made some phenomenal plays under duress. So we just kept fighting, and then you defend a blade of grass at the end of the day. Had an opportunity to win it at the end and guys did a great job.”
For the Seahawks, Thursday’s win, while lacking in style points, was an important bounce-back performance for a team with its back against the wall following two straight losses to the Packers and Vikings. Following Sunday’s loss to Minnesota, the Seahawks had to immediately turn their attention to this game, getting right physically while also getting enough prep work before leaving for Chicago on Wednesday afternoon after allowing players, coaches and staff to start their day later than usual in order to be home on Christmas morning. Despite those challenges, the Seahawks were able to execute at a high level, particularly on defense, to improve to 9-7 this season, including a 6-1 mark on the road.
“Going on a short week, on Thursday, and got get your bodies right to go play and go play the right way,” Macdonald said. “You got to be able to play the right way to win in this league. I think this is an opportunity for a shoutout for our support team. (Vice President of Player Performance) Sam Ramsden, (Head Strength & Conditioning Coach) Ivan Lewis and his crew getting those guys — their bodies right on Monday. That was big for us. Needed that. The guys were determined to go get a win here on the road.”
According to Jarran Reed, one of Seattle’s many defensive standouts on Sunday, which earned him a game ball from Macdonald in the postgame celebration, the key to getting prepared on this short week was meetings, lots and lots of meetings.
“Man, it was a lot,” Reed said with a chuckle. “A lot of meetings, I was tired of the meetings. I had my kids here, it was Christmas, it was meetings, it was more meetings, then a walkthrough, then meetings again, then another walkthrough, then meetings, meetings, meetings. I told them yesterday, I said, ‘I’m tired of seeing y’all.’ Then we had another meeting this morning.”
This 6-3 Seahawks win was hardly the first low-scoring Thursday night game, and perhaps the lack of preparation has to do with that, as Smith outlined.
