‘We don’t waver’: Chicago Bears overcome offensive missteps with big plays by Kalif Raymond and D’Andre Swift

SEATTLE — After building a 20-9 lead in the third quarter, the Chicago Bears knew the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks would eventually counterpunch.

They just didn’t expect to help by committing a turnover that the Seahawks turned into points.

But that costly blunder — Colston Loveland’s fourth-quarter fumble — also provided a test for the Bears, a chance to rise to the occasion en route to a 34-17 win at Lumen Field on “Monday Night Football.”

Other than their opening 17-play drive, it was perhaps the Bears’ signature series of the night: A six-play, 61-yard response that included Kalif Raymond’s electrifying 39-yard rush and culminated in D’Andre Swift’s 5-yard touchdown run.

With 14 minutes, 2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams’s 10-yard sack cast the Bears in a third-and-20 at their own 13. So they were simply trying to buy back some field position when Williams hit Colston Loveland on an 8-yard pass.

But Loveland fumbled, knocked loose by DeMarcus Lawrence.

Sam Darnold capitalized with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp, then followed with a 2-point conversion to Tory Horton.

“Obviously it’s sickening to put the ball on the ground, and they end up scoring,” Loveland said. “But luckily, just trying to flush it. Some other guys stepped up and made some plays for me.”

The Bears were helped on the ensuing kickoff by Seahawks defensive lineman Mike Morris’ unnecessary roughness penalty, setting them up at the Chicago 44-yard line.

Loveland helped keep the chains moving — and bought himself a measure of redemption — with a 12-yard catch.

But on third-and-4 at the Seattle 39, the Bears were flagged for delay of game.

That turned out to be another big blessing.

Williams and company were discombobulated getting the play set up, and Swift would’ve been dropped for a loss had the running play counted.

“Luckily we got the delay of game because I ended up messing up a little bit, and it allowed us time to be able to fix it,” Williams said. “The crowd was loud and I missed a word, one word or so, and that’s what happens.”

Following that mini-break, Williams threw a backward pass to Raymond, who zipped through the tunnel of blocks by Rome Odunze, Darnell Wright, Jonah Jackson and Loveland on a 39-yard run to the Seattle 5-yard line.

“I should’ve scored,” Raymond laughed. “I thought somebody was sweeping at my feet.”

On the next play, Swift punched it in. The Bears took a 27-17 lead and never looked back.

The defense took a lot of the sting out of the Seahawks on their next possession when James Lynch intercepted Sam Darnold deep in their own territory to set up another Swift score.

But it took the Bears overcoming a turnover and a penalty when the pressure in the fourth quarter was at its highest.

“We talk about that,” coach Ben Johnson said. “When the pressure is high, we want to be at our best. All three phases did that. I think you find out more about your identity as a team when you get put in those situations.”

“We don’t waver,” Williams added. “And we believe in that.

“We know who we are. Things are going to go bad. It’s an emotional game, it’s football, things happen. So when things do go wrong, it’s staying steady, it’s not overreacting.”

Williams said he delivered a similar message after a devastating loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, a game he missed because of a hamstring injury.

“When an event happens, you know, something happens — cool,” the quarterback said. “The reaction is the most important thing, and that equals the outcome.”

Overall, the Bears offense didn’t put up the biggest numbers, just the ones that counted most.

They had a total of 363 yards, but dominated time of possession 35:03 to 24:57.

Swift averaged just 2.6 yards per carry for 69 yards, but he scored three touchdowns for the second time in his career — the first coming in the season-opening blowout of the Carolina Panthers.

“All glory to God. Shout out to Ben (Johnson) for sticking with the run against a great opponent. Made it tough tonight. When we got down to the red zone, O-line (and) receivers did their job,” Swift said.

Williams recorded a modest 247 yards through the air, but his 70.6% completion rate marked the eighth time in his career his completion percentage topped 70%.

The first Bears drive ate up 80 yards and 8:30 on the clock, and kept the Seahawks offense on ice for much of the first quarter.

Johnson said, “To see us go out there and play a physical brand of football, we thought that was going to be important for us. That showed up in that first drive. I thought our guys came out with their hair on fire and I thought it carried over for 60 minutes.”

plthompson@chicagotribune.com