Seattle Seahawks guard Grey Zabel entered Monday night perfectly aware his draw wasn’t exactly favorable.

Zabel has been perhaps the Seahawks’ best offensive lineman since they drafted him in the first round in 2025, starting all 27 games (including playoffs) at left guard before Monday night.

But after Seattle’s trade for All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson on Oct. 27, Zabel switched to the right side midweek, forcing him to do his job backward. Zabel has played on the right side of the line before, but not since 2023, when he started 12 games at right tackle for North Dakota State. His last start at right guard was way back in 2020, his freshman season with the Bison.

Not only did he have to relearn the position on the fly, but he and the rest of the Seahawks’ offensive line also had to deal with a revamped Chicago Bears front featuring recently acquired defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons on Monday night.

Considering the circumstances, Zabel performed admirably, allowing only one pressure, per Pro Football Focus via TruMedia, but it came on a sack by Simmons. The four-time Pro Bowler and 2025 All-Pro aligned to Zabel’s side of the line on 48 of 56 snaps, and he wreaked havoc throughout Seattle’s 34-17 loss at Lumen Field, which dropped the Seahawks back to .500 at 4-4.

“It’s a tough transition to flip sides in the middle of the week, but at the end, no excuses,” Zabel said after the game. “Could have played better. I will play better. We move forward from here.”

Nelson’s transition to a new team — at his customary position — was smoother. He was booked for a false start, but he allowed just one hurry on 39 pass-blocking snaps and made several impactful blocks, after drawing rave reviews from his teammates in the lead-up to Monday’s game.

The Seahawks’ offensive line should benefit from Nelson’s presence. As Monday showed, though, his integration won’t be without growing pains for the whole unit, nor will it fully compensate for the Seahawks’ shortcomings under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Fleury.

Seattle’s offensive line has largely regressed this season. Right tackle Abe Lucas, for instance, allowed two sacks Monday, one of which was nullified by an unrelated penalty in the secondary. Lucas allowed only four sacks in 17 games last season but has already yielded a team-high six through eight games.

Running backs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price, each of whom missed significant time because of injuries, returned Monday to combine for 16 of Seattle’s 19 rushing attempts. For weeks, the Seahawks had turned to a much-maligned tailback tandem of Emanuel Wilson and George Holani, each of whom fumbled at inopportune times.

And yet, the return of Price and Charbonnet, making his season debut Monday after tearing an ACL in the playoffs in January, didn’t benefit the Seahawks in a significant way.

On running back carries, Seattle’s rushing success rate was a season-worst 17.6 percent, compared with the previous-worst 25.6 percent the Seahawks turned in during last week’s 20-3 win against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Seahawks averaged 0.59 yards before contact on tailback attempts against Chicago, below their season average of 0.65, the worst in the NFL, suggesting the group isn’t getting much help.

“I think the theme is we can always be better and do better,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “It just wasn’t good enough today. I think our preparation and how we went about the week and with Jadarian and Charbs, even Quenton up front, Grey going to (the) right. I feel like our prep was really good, and those guys had a great week of practice.

“Unfortunately, it’s about going and doing it.”

Through eight weeks, the defending Super Bowl champions have too frequently struggled to bring Fleury’s vision for Seattle’s offense to fruition. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the NFL’s leading receiver by 259 yards, defended Fleury’s play calling and said the Seahawks’ issues lie with their execution.

Instead of running efficiently to set up Darnold for play-action passes, the Seahawks have averaged just 3.9 yards per rush, 24th in the NFL. Seattle’s minus-50.33 expected points added on rushing plays is last in the league, with lost fumbles playing an outsized role.

“Have to improve quickly in the run game,” Zabel said. “Have to get back to running the ball, taking pressure off our quarterback and wide receivers and our play caller, and have to be able to move the line of scrimmage.”

The Seahawks’ hopes of finding their footing won’t benefit from an increasingly makeshift offensive line, either.

Left tackle Charles Cross, who injured his ankle against the Chiefs, sat out Monday. During his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710 on Tuesday morning, Macdonald said Cross could return this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Even so, reserve Josh Jones delivered a fine performance while starting in place of Cross, allowing just three pressures and one quarterback hit.

“I thought Josh stepped up big,” Nelson said, “and he played great next to me.”

Aside from Jones and Smith-Njigba, few members of Seattle’s offense have found themselves on the receiving end of such flowery praise lately.

Monday’s showing was particularly gut-wrenching for many involved because of how dominant the Seahawks looked against the previously undefeated Chiefs. Just eight days after rushing for 153 yards and 10 first downs as a team, Seattle ran for 81 yards (20 on scrambles by Darnold) and one first down, which came on a 13-yard rush by Charbonnet in the third quarter.

“We came off of last week feeling good, and then obviously we have some change-up in our offensive line,” Macdonald said. “I expect us to get back and get better.”

It’s much too soon to judge the reconfigured offensive line. Nelson will develop more chemistry with the group and could form a stout tandem with Cross once he returns. Zabel should settle in on the right side with more snaps and less challenging opposition, and his presence could help settle Lucas. The Week 11 bye should help everyone.

But the new group could take time to jell.

In the meantime, the Seahawks have work to do to stay in contention. According to The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator, Seattle’s playoff chances sit at 52 percent, and its chances of catching the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers (6-1) for the division crown have slipped to 11 percent. Before the season, the simulator gave the Seahawks a 78 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 31 percent chance to win the division.

Unless general manager John Schneider deals for another difference-maker before the Nov. 10 trade deadline, the Seahawks will need to make do with their current crop of offensive linemen and running backs. Because of health and offseason departures such as Kenneth Walker III, the NFL’s third-leading rusher, Seattle’s roster isn’t as deep or as talented as last season’s Super Bowl-winning team.

As the Seahawks hit the halfway point in their season, though, they are steadfast in their conviction that what has ailed their offense most won’t continue indefinitely.

“I refuse to point the finger,” Zabel said. “I have to play better, hand in hand, and have to learn from it and move forward.”