Ahead of the Seattle Seahawks–Chicago Bears game, the team received mixed news: Price returned to full practice, while Charbonnet’s status is uncertain because of a knee injury. Meanwhile, a Chamber of Commerce survey found that more than half of businesses believe the city’s business climate has worsened, though there has not yet been a mass exodus of companies. Most analysts are picking the Seahawks to win at home, but the narrow spread and cautious predictions in favor of the visitors point to a close game.
Seattle Seahawks: Price Is Ready to Go, but Charbonnet Is Questionable
Injuries are a constant headache for NFL coaching staffs, and the Seattle Seahawks are no exception. On the eve of their crucial Monday night game against the Chicago Bears, Mike Macdonald’s team received an updated medical report with both encouraging and worrying news. The main storyline is the contrasting fortunes of two running backs: Jay-Darian Price is making a confident return after a chest injury, while Zach Charbonnet—whom fans have been waiting to see since he underwent knee surgery in February—has unexpectedly taken a step back.
Jay-Darian Price, who was placed on injured reserve on October 3, took part in a full practice for the first time on Friday. The day before, Macdonald had called it “realistic” that Price would play against Chicago, and the latest report backs up his comments. Zach Charbonnet’s situation is quite different: after four straight full practices, he was suddenly listed as limited because of a knee issue. That is a worrying sign as he nears his long-awaited return from a torn ACL suffered in February. The team has not yet said how much this affects his chances of playing on Monday.
The Seahawks’ problems are not confined to the backfield. Left tackle Charles Cross, receiver Rashid Shaheed and pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu missed practice for a second straight day with ankle and knee injuries, respectively. Cross’s absence is especially significant: the offensive line is already being reshaped after the trade for guard Quenton Nelson, as the coaching staff has discussed separately. The latest addition to the injury list is standout defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, who has a back injury and was limited in practice. Backup nose tackle Brandon Pili also sat out with a back issue.
There was some good news, too. Three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who has been dealing with an Achilles issue, and starting linebacker Drake Thomas moved from limited to full participation. For Thomas, who missed the last two games with an ankle injury, this is a great opportunity to return to the starting lineup. Guard Quenton Nelson, fullback Brady Russell, linebackers Chazz Surratt and Chazz Surratt, and several other players also practiced in full. Leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence were given a rest; their absence from the list of limited participants is not injury-related.
A little context helps explain the situation: injured reserve (IR) is a list for players who cannot take the field, generally for at least four weeks; after that, they can be activated. “Full participation” in an injury report means a player practiced without restrictions and is likely to play. “Limited participation” signals that the coaching staff is being cautious and may wait until the last minute to make a decision. ACL reconstruction is one of the most serious injuries in sports, and recovery typically takes 9–12 months, which is why Charbonnet’s anticipated return in February has been so eagerly awaited. Monday Night Football is a distinct NFL showcase: the game is played in prime time on national television, and teams give it extra attention.
The main takeaway is clear: Seattle has gained a boost from Price and probably Thomas, but risks being without Charbonnet and having a weakened offensive line. Murphy II’s new injury could hurt an already battered defense. As commentator Mike Salk noted on Seattle Sports, the team may want to consider another trade amid its shortage of healthy players. Final roster decisions will be made closer to kickoff, but it is already clear that Macdonald’s coaching staff will need to be as flexible as possible to plug holes on both offense and defense.
Seattle Between Concern and Hope: What a Local Business Survey Found
A survey conducted by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Association among their members paints a picture of a business community that is frustrated but not yet ready to give up. More than half of respondents said the city’s business climate had worsened over the past year, and nearly half of those who answered the relevant question had seriously considered moving operations, jobs or investment outside Seattle. The sample was voluntary and small—just 247 responses from more than 2,500 chamber member companies—so it cannot be treated as a precise snapshot of the entire business community. Even so, the results are telling: they reflect the concerns of the most engaged business owners, those willing to spend time filling out such surveys, and those concerns echo what business groups and city officials have said publicly.
According to the survey, the biggest pain points are public safety and taxes and fees, each cited by nearly two-thirds of respondents. Homelessness, mental health and behavioral health issues, and labor costs came next. Seattle’s overall business climate received a score of 39 out of 100—a figure that speaks for itself. Yet when asked directly about the next 12 months, only 9% of respondents said they expected to move their Seattle operations out of the city. The gap between the 47% who had “seriously considered” leaving and the 9% who actually plan to move is crucial: dissatisfaction is high, but the willingness to act is much lower. This is a warning sign, not evidence of a wave of companies leaving.
Downtown Association President and CEO John Scholes, commenting on the results, could not immediately name companies that had already signed leases elsewhere, relocated jobs or canceled investments in Seattle. Instead, he pointed to upcoming office lease renewals as the real test of whether employers will stay downtown and expand. There is some cautious optimism here: according to commercial real estate firm CBRE, downtown Seattle gained about 300,000 square feet of occupied office space in the third quarter—the first quarterly increase since 2021. Still, more than a third of downtown office space remains vacant, so the improvement is more symbolic than a turning point.
The tax picture is mixed and depends on the size of the business. Since January, companies with annual taxable revenue below $2 million have been exempt from the city’s business and occupation tax (B&O)—a local tax on gross revenue, not profit, for which businesses must still file returns. Rates have risen for companies above that threshold. Scholes credits Mayor Katie Wilson for proposing a budget that does not introduce new taxes, and notes that business concerns about taxes and regulation predate her administration. Wilson, however, has made clear that she does not plan to cut business taxes, citing the city’s continuing need to fund public services.
Labor costs are another sticking point. Scholes supports allowing restaurants to count tips toward the minimum wage, which Seattle currently does not permit. In January, the city’s minimum wage will rise from $21.30 to $22.14 an hour under its annual cost-of-living adjustment, and the mayor defends the increase: the city, she says, should remain a place where people can afford to live in the neighborhoods where they work, and where that money circulates in the local economy. It is a classic debate over the balance between business costs and workers’ earnings, and it is especially sharp in Seattle because of the high cost of living.
Wilson and Scholes agree that public safety and homelessness are critical to attracting businesses downtown. Scholes is calling for more police officers, help for people to get off the streets, and a tougher response to public drug use. The mayor’s proposed 2027–2028 budget provides funding for 1,250 full-time police positions each year—66 more than in the current budget. Wilson says progress on safety and homelessness downtown is essential if the city wants companies to set up there. She also points to efforts to simplify business permitting and to an economic task force created earlier this year to diversify Seattle’s economy. She says work on public safety is proceeding separately and will not wait for the task force’s recommendations, and identifies clean energy and manufacturing as promising areas for growth.
Despite the gloomy figures, Scholes remains cautiously optimistic, citing Seattle’s workforce, research institutions and infrastructure as reasons to believe the city can attract jobs and investment in the future. His words—“I would never bet against this city, but we have to acknowledge the headwinds and turbulence we’re facing right now”—capture the mood of the survey: the anxiety is real, but there is no mass business exodus yet. The key question is not how intense the concerns are, but whether they will turn into relocation decisions when office leases come up for renewal. That, rather than the results of a voluntary online survey, will be the real test of whether Seattle remains a city businesses are willing to invest in. Read more in KUOW’s report.
Seahawks–Bears Predictions: Seattle at Home Against Chicago
Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season brings the defending champions and one of the league’s hottest young teams to Lumen Field. The Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears are set to play on November 2, with kickoff at 5:15 p.m. Pacific Time. For both teams, this game means much more than another entry in the standings. Analysts see it as a preview of January’s NFC Championship Game—the matchup fans nearly got last season but never saw. In their predictions on the Seahawks’ official website, writers are split, and that range of opinions says a lot about how unpredictable this game looks.
Mike Florio of NBC Sports made the strongest case for Seattle, predicting a 20–14 home win. He calls this the conference championship game fans nearly got in January and suggests that we may now be seeing its dress rehearsal. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports also expects Seattle to win, but predicts a higher-scoring game: 24–17. His reasoning rests on two factors: the Bears really are on the rise thanks to Caleb Williams and a much-improved defense, but a road trip to Seattle is a different kind of test. The Seahawks took care of Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs in front of a national audience on Sunday, showing what their defense can do while finally getting their ground game going. Prisco believes Seattle’s defense will slow down Chicago’s offense, and that will be enough to win.
Interestingly, there is no consensus within ESPN: Pamela Maldonado (27–20) and Eric Moody (26–20) are picking the Seahawks, while Seth Walder expects a narrow Bears win, 24–23. NFL.com is similarly divided: Brooke Cersosimo (28–24) and Bobby Kowan (28–27, by just one point) favor Seattle, while Jeremy Bergman (20–16 for Chicago) and Gennaro Filice (24–23 for Chicago) lean toward the visitors. The outlier is Vic Tafur of The Athletic, who does not give a score but picks the Bears. His reasoning is the most provocative in the roundup. He points out that the Seahawks effectively declared themselves the team to beat last week by “steamrolling” Mahomes and Kansas City, then traded for one of the league’s best guards. Against that backdrop, the three-point line in Seattle’s favor seems suspiciously low to Tafur, who wonders whether the legend of coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams is growing right before our eyes.
A few points need explaining to make sense of these predictions. The spread, or line, Tafur mentions is a point handicap set by bookmakers: if the Seahawks are favored by three points, they need to win by more than three for a bet on them to pay off. Such a narrow line for a team that has just beaten the Chiefs and added a key player does suggest that the market rates Chicago highly. A guard is an interior offensive lineman responsible for protecting the quarterback and opening lanes for running backs; trading for “one of the league’s best guards” is a significant upgrade that should directly help Seattle’s ground game, which came alive the previous week. Caleb Williams is the young Bears quarterback around whom Chicago’s offense is being built, while Ben Johnson is a coach whose reputation as a creative offensive architect has prompted the talk of a “legend.” Finally, Lumen Field is traditionally considered one of the league’s loudest stadiums, making home-field advantage for Seattle a tangible, not abstract, benefit.
Put it all together, and the picture looks like this: of the ten predictions cited, six favor the Seahawks and four the Bears, with nearly all the picks for Chicago calling for a narrow win. That reveals the game’s central tension: Seattle’s elite defense, which just stopped Mahomes, against a Chicago offense gaining momentum under Williams. The Seahawks’ win over the Chiefs and their subsequent trade underscore that the team is not merely defending its championship status but continuing to strengthen as the season goes on, making it the favorite in the eyes of most analysts. However, the narrow spread and cautious picks for the visitors are a reminder that in the NFL, reputation and past achievements do not play on Sunday—current form does. For Seattle, this game is a chance to prove that the win over Kansas City was not a fluke but the new standard. For Chicago, it is an opportunity to see how real its upward trajectory is against the defending champions. We’ll find out on November 2.
