by Michael-Shawn Dugar, Kevin Fishbain, Adam Jahns and Amos Morale III

The Seattle Seahawks stayed in the postseason hunt thanks to a strong defensive performance in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears on “Thursday Night Football.”

The Seahawks now need the Arizona Cardinals to defeat the Los Angeles Rams this Saturday to set up a Week 18 matchup with the Rams for the NFC West crown.

Seattle’s defense held the Bears to 179 total yards, managed seven total sacks and stopped Chicago rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ streak of 354 passes without an interception.

The Seahawks appeared determined to set the tone from the opening kickoff, as they ran the ball for 91 yards on 15 carries in the first half of the season, often pressuring Williams.

Williams completed 16 of 28 yards for 122 yards and an interception, but made several impressive throws during the game. However, the Bears made several unforced errors that set their offense back.

On the Bears’ final play, which ended in the interception, there was a false start penalty on 4th-and-10 and Chicago was forced to call a timeout on 2nd-and-10 even though the game clock had already stopped.

Seahawks need help

With this win, the Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive. Now they will turn their attention to the Cardinals-Rams on Saturday night. If Arizona wins, Seattle automatically stays in the running for the division title, which would be due to the team’s Week 18 road trip to Los Angeles.

If the Rams beat the Cardinals, the Seahawks’ only chances of avoiding elimination will depend on whether Los Angeles can pick up enough wins from other teams this weekend to secure Seattle’s winning tiebreaker. This may have been the ugliest offensive performance of the season for Seattle, but considering what was on the line, the team will get a win any way they can. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer

Seattle’s defense is stepping up

The Seahawks recorded a season-high seven sacks on Thursday night and defensive tackle Leonard Williams was the only one to bring down Caleb Williams twice. The Bears managed just 179 yards of offense, which is the lowest total Seattle has allowed this season. After conceding 57 points in two games in Weeks 15 and 16, this was a nice comeback effort for Mike Macdonald’s defense, which got the better of Williams on the final series and put the game on ice. — Dugar

Unfortunately, the Bears set a record

When Caleb Williams’ streak of consecutive games without an interception ended, the Bears’ losing streak continued. With their 10th straight loss, they somehow found a new way to lose, tying a franchise record set just two years ago.

The mismanagement of the clock at the end was a disaster, and that says something about how this team has handled close games all season. The defense played well, but the offense remains a mess. Williams needs to be better in these late game situations as he and the offense seemed ill-prepared for Seattle’s Cover-0 blitzes. There were no answers. The consolation for this Bears team is that there is only one game left. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer

The next coach will be important for Williams

The Bears played like a team that deserved to lose ten games in a row. And they still have to play the Green Bay Packers to end the season at Lambeau Field. The Bears’ search for their next head coach can’t start soon enough. Williams urgently needs help. He has now been sacked 67 times this season, the most in the NFL.

But the worst part is that Williams continued to look overwhelmed in the game’s most important moments. He’s the most attractive thing about the Bears going forward and he needs help. His development cannot be affected until this season. A short list of coaching candidates for the Bears must start with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson but also include former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. — Adam Jahns, Bears beat writer

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)