Seattle (8-7) at Chicago (4-11)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime
BetMGM NFL odds: Seahawks by 3½.
Against the spread: Seahawks 6-8-1; Bears 6-7-2.
Series record: Seahawks lead 11-8.
Last meeting: Bears beat Seahawks 25-24 in Seattle on Dec. 26, 2021.
Last week: Seahawks lost to Minnesota 27-24; Bears lost to Detroit 34-17.
Seahawks offense: overall (14), rush (30), pass (4), scoring (15).
Seahawks defense: overall (17), rush (18), pass (16), scoring (12).
Bears offense: overall (31), rush (25), pass (27), scoring (25-T).
Bears defense: overall (26), rush (26), pass (23), scoring (13-T).
Turnover differential: Seahawks minus-7; Bears plus-8.
QB Geno Smith. The two-time Pro Bowler had one of his better games last week, completing 31 of 43 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions, giving him 15 this season.
QB Caleb Williams. Williams looked better against Detroit after a string of shaky outings, throwing for 334 yards and two touchdowns. The No. 1 overall draft pick is sixth on the Bears' single-season passing list with 3,271 yards, and Erik Kramer's franchise record of 3,838 in 1995 is within reach if he plays the final two games. His 326 consecutive attempts without an interception are an NFL rookie record and the most ever by any Bears player. But he has also been sacked a league-leading and club-record 60 times.
Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Chicago's secondary. Smith-Njigba once again put up some big numbers last week, when he caught eight passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. He has 1,089 yards this season, making him the 10th player in franchise history with 1,000 yards receiving and the first since both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in 2020. Chicago had a top-10 pass defense as recently as Nov. 17. Since then, it's been in a major decline. The Bears have given up 865 yards passing and 102 points in the three games since former coach Matt Eberflus — who called the defense — was fired.
Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III (ankle) left last week's game and would not have participated had the team practiced Monday and Tuesday. ... Bears LT Braxton Jones suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Detroit and will likely need surgery. ... G Teven Jenkins aggravated a calf injury in the loss to the Lions.
The Bears have won the past two meetings after losing three in a row to the Seahawks. They prevailed last time when Nick Foles threw a late 15-yard touchdown to Jimmy Graham, and Damiere Byrd made an acrobatic catch on the 2-point conversion.
Seattle, trying to stay in the playoff race, trails the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams by a game. ... The Seahawks have four straight road wins, their longest streak since they won five in a row in 2020. ... WR DK Metcalf has 47 TD catches and needs one to pass Darrell Jackson for fourth on Seattle’s career list. Metcalf also needs 3 yards and one touchdown to join Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history with 50 receptions, 900 yards and five TDs in each of their first six seasons. … WR Tyler Lockett, who has 65 touchdowns, needs two to pass Marshawn Lynch for third on Seattle’s total TDs list. And with 18 100-yard games, he is one shy of Darrell Jackson for second in franchise history. … Smith-Njigba, who has 93 receptions, needs eight to set the team's single-season record, and 215 yards would give him a franchise-best 1,304. … Smith has five 300-yard passing games, tying Russell Wilson's single-season club record. ... The Bears have lost nine in a row since a Week 6 victory over Jacksonville in London. ... A loss to Seattle would give Chicago double-digit losing streaks for the second time in GM Ryan Poles' three years. The Bears dropped the final 10 in 2022 as part of a franchise-worst 14-game slide that stretched into last year. They've never lost more than 10 straight in one season. ... WR Keenan Allen caught nine passes for a season-high 141 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown last week. The six-time Pro Bowler has 223 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games. ... K Cairo Santos has seven field goals of 50 yards or more, tying his franchise record from last season. ... With 1,199 yards from scrimmage, RB D'Andre Swift could pass his career high of 1,263 last year with Philadelphia. ... Rookie WR Rome Odunze had 77 yards receiving last week — his third-highest total.
The Seahawks threw on 45 of their 60 snaps last week, and with the Bears struggling against the pass, Smith-Njigba figures to get plenty of opportunities.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) looks to pass while pressured by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman (51) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off the field after his team's 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions in an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates after scoring an 18-yard touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official said.
Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures while meeting with Azerbaijani officials, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted and attempted an emergency landing 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airlines said.
Speaking at a news conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.
“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information showed that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office previously said that 32 of the 67 people on board had survived the crash, but told journalists that the number wasn’t final.
The Associated Press could not immediately reconcile the difference between the numbers of survivors given by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijani officials.
Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane’s colors and its registration number.
Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure eight once nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.
FlightRadar24 separately said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming,” which “made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data,” referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black. It also said that it would suspend flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as between Baku and the city of Makhachkala in Russia's North Caucasus, until its investigation into the crash has been concluded.
Azerbaijan’s state news agency, Azertac, said that an official delegation of Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister, the deputy general prosecutor and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines were sent to Aktau to conduct an “on-site investigation."
Aliyev, who was traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan on hearing news of the crash, the president’s press service said. He was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media. “It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote.
He also signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev on the phone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Speaking at the CIS meeting in St. Petersburg, Putin also said that Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a plane with equipment and medical workers to Kazakhstan to assist with the aftermath of the crash.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities."
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
