The Chicago Bears hit a field goal as time expired to defeat the Washington Commanders on a rainy Monday night, 25-24. After starting the season 0-2, the Bears have now won three straight games.
Chicago running back D’Andre Swift was spectacular in this one. He finished the game with 108 rushing yards, 67 receiving yards, and a TD catch. On top of that, quarterback Caleb Williams went 17 for 29 with 252 passing yards and two total touchdowns.
The Bears looked really good coming out of the gate by putting together a nine-play drive that ended in a field goal to go up 3-0 in the first quarter. D’Andre Swift accounted for 21 of Chicago’s 41 yards on that series.
The Commanders looked poised to respond to that scoring drive when they made a critical error. At Chicago’s 21, quarterback Jayden Daniels threw an interception that was returned 30 yards to the Bears’ 34 yard line. That was Jayden Daniels’ first interception of the season.
A promising Bears drive was derailed by a penalty. An offensive pass interference came on a play that got the Bears down to Washington’s 21 yard line, so instead of having a 1st and 10 down just outside the red zone, they were stuck with a 1st and 20 at the 42. That blunder forced them to settle for another field goal to increase their lead to six points.
As bad as the Bears’ early mistakes were, they were nothing compared to Washington’s. Running back Bill Croskey-Merritt was stripped of the football, which was picked up by the Bears at the Commanders’ 35 yard line. This was Croskey-Merritt’s second straight game with a lost fumble.
With good field position, Chicago had no problem scoring the game’s first touchdown. From one yard out, quarterback Caleb Williams found the end zone on a designed quarterback keeper for a 13-0 advantage.
The Commanders’ offense finally came to life at this point. Shortly after a facemask on the Bears, Jayden Daniels hit wide receiver Chris Moore near the side of the end zone for an acrobatic 22-yard TD catch to cut the lead to 13-7. Moore, who had three receptions on the season coming into tonight, finished the game with three catches for 46 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears had their first big decision of the night come a little more than midway through the second quarter. Faced with a 4th and 1 at Washington’s 31 yard line, a Caleb Williams pass intended for wide receiver Rome Odunze was batted down by a Commanders defender, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Bill Croskey-Merritt did everything in his power to make up for that earlier fumble. He recorded four straight touches for 24 yards to get the offense into enemy territory. Jayden Daniels then hit tight end Zach Ertz for a ten-yard pickup to get down to Chicago’s 35, which brought us to the two-minute warning. The Commanders eventually attempted a 50-yard field goal, which they missed with 1:10 to go before the break.
Though Washington forced a three-and-out to get the ball back. They wouldn’t be able to make anything happen with just 25 seconds left on the clock, so they took a knee and went into halftime trailing 13-7.
Coming out of the break, the Commanders inched closer to tying this thing up. They had an eight-play, 25-yard drive that allowed them to attempt another field goal from 53 yards out. This time, kicker Matt Gay got the ball through the uprights to narrow the gap, 13-10.
Chicago had an answer. Caleb Williams hit wide receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III for 21 and 37 yards, respectively, to reach the red zone. Unfortunately for the Windy City faithful, a touchdown was wiped off the board by an illegal formation penalty. That resulted in Caleb Williams taking a seven-yard sack, which forced the Bears to settle for a 41-yard field goal and a 16-10 lead.
Washington had no problem responding to the six-point deficit. They cobbled together a nine-play, 84-yard drive that was capped off with a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Luke McCaffrey to give the Commanders their first lead of the night, 17-16. This was McCaffrey’s third TD in his last four games.
The Bears had a chance to retake the lead, but they made huge errors on back-to-back plays. On a 3rd and 1, Caleb Williams bobbled a snap from the center, which led to a five-yard loss. Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 48-yard field goal attempt by Jake Moody was blocked, allowing the Commanders to take over on their own 37.
Washington did an excellent job of capitalizing on that extra possession. Jayden Daniels connected with rookie wideout Jaylin Lane for a 37-yard pickup to get to Chicago’s seven yard line. Two downs later, Daniels hit Zach Ertz in the back of the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-16 advantage.
This time around, the Bears knew how to answer the call. On a 3rd and 4 at their own 45, D’Andre Swift had a 55-yard catch-and-run that he took to the house for a 24-22 deficit. However, Caleb Williams failed to complete a pass on the two-point attempt, so Chicago found itself trailing with 10:26 to go in the game.
Following an exchange of punts, Jayden Daniels hit running back Jeremy McNichols for a 15-yard gain on a 3rd and 13 to give the Commanders a fresh set of downs at Chicago’s 49. Soon, they were tasked with a 3rd and 1 with 3:10 to go in the fourth quarter, but the handoff between Daniels and Bill Croskey-Merritt was bobbled, which led to a fumble that was picked up by the Bears. That was Washington’s third turnover of the evening, which matched their total from their first five games of the season.
The Bears picked up five yards before the two-minute warning, which meant they had a 3rd and 5 at their own 49. Caleb Williams completed a six-yard pass for a new set of downs. D’Andre Swift then gained 14 yards on back-to-back runs to get to Washington’s 31 with 1:22 remaining. After the Commanders burned their final timeout, D’Andre Swift ran for 15 yards to get into the red zone. From there, they were able to run the clock down and kick a 38-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
With that loss, the Commanders fell to 3-3, which means they currently hold sole possession of second place in the NFC East.
*Author’s note: all information and statistics are tracked in real time and are provided by the game’s broadcaster, NFL.com, and ESPN.com*
