Chicago Bears @ Washington Commanders Preview
The Chicago Bears will face the Washington Commanders in an NFC showdown on Monday night.
Chicago enters this bye week, while Washington is in great shape after a road win against the Chargers. These two teams last met a season ago in a dramatic finale – the Commanders clinching the victory thanks to a Hail Mary from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown.
The Bears are fighting to get above the .500 mark after recovering from a rough start under expensive head coach Ben Johnson. Chicago lost its first two games – including an ugly 52-21 loss to Detroit – but has since found its footing, posting back-to-back wins against Dallas and Las Vegas.
Quarterback Caleb Williams looked impressive even in defeat. The 23-year-old totaled 212 yards in the win over the Raiders and now has 923 passing yards with an 8:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, plus 110 rushing yards.
The rushing attack was less consistent. D’Andre Swift has gone over 50 yards in half of Chicago’s games, but has only 187 rushing yards so far.
In the air, Rome Odunze continues to shine with at least 60 yards in three out of four outings, totaling 296 yards on the year. DJ Moore follows with 173 receiving yards.
Defensively, the Bears still have work to do. They have given up 357 yards to the Raiders and are giving up an average of 379 yards per game.
Commanders in search of consistency
The Washington Commanders look to go two games above .500 and continue their regular start to the season. After opening 2-1, Washington lost a close 34-27 game to Atlanta before rebounding with a dominant 27-10 victory over the Chargers.
Jayden Daniels returned last week after missing two games due to injury and made an immediate impact, throwing for 231 yards against a quality defense.
During the season, he totaled 664 passing yards and added 124 rushing yards.
Washington’s backfield was a committee effort, with Jacory Croskey-Merritt emerging as a pleasant surprise. The rookie exploded for 111 yards against the Chargers and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry with 172 yards this season. Jeremy McNichols contributed 112 yards himself.
At receiver, Deebo Samuel continues to perform in his first season with the team, collecting 300 receiving yards and posting his best performance last week.
Terry McLaurin remains sidelined with a quad injury and is questionable after missing Thursday’s practice. Overall, the Commanders offense totaled 389 total yards last week and averaged 349 yards per game.
