The Seahawks are growing road favorites in this spot, looking to bounce-back from consecutive losses to two of the premier teams in the NFC. Seattle had won four in a row prior to losses to Green Bay and Minnesota, and will face another NFC North opponent on Thursday in Chicago. The difference is, this Bears team in out of contention, and has been playing dreadful football lately.
The movement on the spread tells you what the market thinks of the Bears, setting up a terrific get-right spot for Seattle. For the Seahawks to go into Chicago and get a win, they’ll likely look to attack the Bears on the ground. Chicago has been the seventh-worst rushing defense this season in terms of yards allowed, and are just getting worse on a weekly basis.
Last week, Jahmyr Gibbs ripped off a 23-109-1 line on the ground in Chicago. The week before it was Aaron Jones going for 18-86-1 as a runner. The game before that we saw Isaac Guerendo carry for 15-78-2. On Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, we saw both Gibbs and David Montgomery rip off 87 or more rushing yards each as teammates against the Bears. Prior to that, the Bears saw Aaron Jones for the first time, and he went 22-106-1. In the last meeting against the Packers, Josh Jacobs posted 18-76-1. Even the Patriots helped Rhamondre Stevenson to 74 yards on 20 carries against the Bears. James Conner destroyed Chicago for 107 yards on 18 carries, and his backups combined for just shy of 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.
I think you get the picture by now, but that brings us to the last time the Bears did not allow an opposing running back to go for 74-plus yards, which was against Washington on October 27. Pretty insane, and even in that game, Brian Robinson managed 65 yards, while Jayden Daniels and Austin Ekeler each exceeded 50 rushing yards on their own. Not exactly an encouraging performance.
That brings us to Thursday, where Zach Charbonnet will get the start for Seattle with Kenneth Walker ruled out. In the four games that Walker has missed this season, Charbonnet averages 79.3 rushing yards, and has found the end zone six times. That also includes the recent loss to Green Bay, where Charbonnet totaled 54 rushing yards, but on just eight carries due to the early blowout.
This is a terrific spot for Charbonnet to see a healthy workload against a rush defense that can’t keep its head above water. Look for a big one from Charbonnet on the ground on Thursday night in Chicago.
The Play: Zach Charbonnet OVER 67.5 Rushing Yards (-120) – 1.5-units
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