CHICAGO (AP) — The defense delivered for the Chicago Bears. It was one of the team's best performances of the season on that side of the ball.
Just not good enough.
“I guess we should have held them to three points or zero points at the end of the day,” safety Kevin Byard said.
Byard and Co. shut down Seattle on Thursday night, limiting Geno Smith and the Seahawks to 265 yards and Jason Myers' two field goals. But Chicago finished with just 179 yards of offense in a 6-3 loss.
The Bears (4-12) became the first NFL team to lose when allowing six points or fewer since the Raiders fell 3-0 loss to the Vikings on Dec. 10, 2023. It was the fourth time in the last 90 seasons that the franchise lost a game when allowing six points or fewer, joining a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Oct. 24, 1999, a 6-3 loss to Denver on Dec. 5, 1971, and a 3-0 loss to the New York Giants on Nov. 17, 1935.
The defense was expected to help carry the team in its first season since it selected quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. But it had struggled of late, contributing to a 10-game losing streak since a 4-2 start.
Chicago had allowed an average of 31 points and 422.6 yards of offense over its previous five games.
“Our defense has a certain standard, and we've showed it,” defensive back Kyler Gordon said. “Obviously sinking a little bit; just getting back on the guys to obviously get back right. It's just important to know what we can do. Just go in there and execute. We did way better today.”
Gordon made a big play with Chicago trailing 6-3 late in the third quarter, stripping Pharaoh Brown at the end of a 4-yard reception. Gordon emerged from a pile of players with the ball and started running up the field. He was briefly chased by Tyler Lockett, before the receiver turned back in confusion about what had happened.
It was originally called a 62-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but a replay official ruled Gordon was down at the Chicago 38.
“Apparently someone touched my leg,” Gordon said. “I don't know. They got to show me a replay before I believe it.”
Chicago had one first down before Williams was sacked for a 14-yard loss and the drive stalled.
Seattle had a chance to put the game away in the fourth. Smith passed to DK Metcalf for 23 yards to move the Seahawks out to their own 40. But Smith's third-and-6 pass to Zach Charbonnet gained just 2 yards and Seattle punted the ball back to Chicago with about five minutes left.
The Bears sacked Smith three times, and the Seahawks went 5 for 13 on third down.
“I think we played our brand of ball today,” Byard said. “Guys flew around. Ky got the turnover. Wanted to get a little bit more, but I think we flew around. We played hard. We know we're a resilient group, but I just think that the execution was a lot better.”
AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.
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Chicago Bears linebackers T.J. Edwards (53) and Tremaine Edmunds (49) react after a play against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon (6) celebrates his fumble recovery with teammates during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Russian air defense systems may have brought down an Azerbaijani airliner this week, a U.S. official said Friday after an Azerbaijani minister also suggested the plane was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor accounts.
Friday's assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. These statements raised pressure on Russia, where officials said a drone attack was underway in the region where the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was heading for a landing. They did not address statements blaming air defenses.
Kirby told reporters on Friday that the U.S. "have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” but refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.
Pressed on whether the U.S. has intelligence that helped lead to that conclusion, or was simply relying on informed speculation from experts based on visual assessments of the crash, Kirby characterized the short answer as “yes” but said he’d “leave it at that,” without providing further details.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land. The crash killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact,” as does witness testimony.
“The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” Nabiyev said.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She said that she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.
Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly afterwards, he sustained a sudden injury like a “deep wound, the arm was lacerated as if someone hit me in the arm with an ax," he added. He denied a claim from Kazakh officials that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane.
Two other survivors recounted hearing explosions before the plane went down: Jerova Salihat told Azerbaijani television in an interview in the hospital that “something exploded” near her leg, and Vafa Shabanova said that “there were two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea.
He didn’t comment on statements from some aviation experts, who pointed out that holes seen in the plane’s tail section suggested that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems.
Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny and other areas in the Russian North Caucasus.
Azerbaijan Airlines blamed the crash on unspecified “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the claims that the plane was hit by Russian air defenses, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
“The air incident is being investigated, and we don’t believe we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
If it’s proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defenses, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.
Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.
Investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as part of the probe of Wednesday's crash, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement.
Following Wednesday's suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.
The company will continue to operate flights to six Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Those cities also have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in the past.
Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air also announced Friday that it was suspending flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.
FlyDubai also halted flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russian for the next few days.
The day before, Israel's El Al carrier suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow citing “developments in Russia’s airspace." The airline said it would reassess the situation next week.
Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.
Rescuers transport wounded passengers from a medical plane after the Azerbaijani Airline crashed, near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, upon their arrival at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo)
The head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in St. Petersburg Vagif Mamishev lays flowers at the Consulate of Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Cadets of the aviation school lay flowers in memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo)
Workers carry a coffin with a body of a victim from a medical plane after the Azerbaijani Airline crashed, near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, upon their arrival at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo)
Wounded passengers of the Azerbaijani Airline's plane crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, are transported from a medical plane at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo)
In this photo released by Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service, a rescuer search at the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 laying on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, a part of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
