Four things to watch for on Thursday Night Football in Week 17

• WHERE: Soldier Field (Chicago)
• WHEN: 8:15 p.m. ET | Prime Video

Two desperate teams will meet in the final game of the 2024 NFL season on Thursday evening.

One is barely in the playoff mix, one is out, but each of them has something to offer.

The visiting Seattle Seahawks can have a winning season in their first season under head coach Mike Macdonald by coming out on top, even if they don’t end up making the playoffs.

For the host Chicago Bears, it’s more about stopping the bleeding. Their losing streak spanned nine games and dates back to their Week 6 bye. They won their first four games at Soldier Field this season, but have lost their last four there before their final home game of the season.

Here are four things to watch for when the Seahawks visit the Bears on Thursday night on Prime Video and NFL+:

1) NFC West is Seattle’s only hope. The Seahawks cannot enter as a wild card. Their only path to the playoffs is to win the NFC West, which will be an uphill battle. They have to beat the Bears on Thursday and hope the Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday. If that were to happen, it would be a winner-take-all showdown between the Rams and Seahawks in Week 18 in Los Angeles. Seattle won four straight after the bye and briefly took control of the division, but two straight losses have hurt its chances. However, the effort is beyond question. The Seahawks lost a hard-fought game against the Vikings on Sunday that ended with a Geno Smith interception in the final minute. That drops the Seahawks to 3-6 at Lumen Field, but they’ve been surprisingly good on the road at 5-1 this season.

2) Are the Bears still motivated? Keenan Allen had some interesting comments after the Bears’ 34-17 loss to the Lions. Asked if Chicago still has something to prove the rest of the season, Allen said: “They have to prove it to all 32 teams. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. The last name on your back is really what matters. Allen got off to a slow start in his first season in Chicago, but he is just two touchdowns away from a career-high and could be motivated to reach that mark before entering free agency for his age-33 season in 2025. When asked last week what he was most excited about, WR DJ Moore said (still three games at the time) and said, “vacation,” later clarifying his comments a bit. Interim coach Thomas Brown is 0-3 since joining Matt Eberflus and is desperate for a win, but it’s not clear the entire team is as motivated.

3) Geno Smith hopes to finish well. Smith’s season was a tumultuous affair. He is completing a career-best 70.1% of his passes and is 346 yards shy of his career high. But he’s also been hampered by a recent knee injury and has 15 interceptions – the most in his 11-year career since Smith threw 21 balls as a rookie. He threw two more picks on Sunday, his fourth game this season with two or more, and the Vikings had chances to make a few more. The 34-year-old quarterback has been under fire for a leaky pass rush, but has received consistent support from Macdonald, which could lead to the QB’s return in 2025. Still, a strong finish from Smith may need to be part of that equation as the Seahawks figure out their path forward this offseason. The Bears’ defense started the season strong but has deteriorated in recent games, giving Smith another good opportunity to improve his already respectable numbers, especially given the deficits in Seattle’s running game.

4) Caleb Williams wants to make Bears history. Given what Jayden Daniels has done in Washington this season (and against the Bears in Week 8), there has been debate about whether the Bears selected the right quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, but it’s hard to blame Williams for all the problems the Bears to blame this season. According to NFL Research, Williams has now lost nine starts in which he threw no interceptions. That’s the most such losses in a single season since QB starts were first recorded in 1950. Williams’ pass streak without an interception also reached 326. That’s over 100 attempts longer than the longest rookie streak in NFL history and more than 100 attempts longer than the Bears’ longest ever streak. He’s also 572 yards shy of breaking Erik Kramer’s single-season franchise mark of 3,838.