The Bears (2-2) will head to the nation’s capital this week to face off against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders (3-2). The matchup brings a certain hail mary to mind, one that catapulted both involved teams in polar opposite directions. Following Daniels’ heartbreaking game-winning hail mary touchdown pass last season, the Bears promptly lost 10 games in a row. Meanwhile, the Commanders parlayed the victory into a 6-3 record to round out the regular season and an NFC Championship appearance following road playoff victories in both Tampa Bay and Detroit. Chicago hopes to flip the script this time around.
Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is getting a lot of attention at the moment due to his role in the hail mary last season. Video footage shows him riling up Commanders fans during the first few seconds of the play. Then, after still making it to his spot on time, he tipped the ball up and ultimately into Commanders receivers Noah Brown’s hands, instead of down into the ground. Stevenson finished the season off poorly after that game. However, he has looked fantastic this season and is coming off of the best performance of his NFL career, in my opinion. All eyes will be on him to see how he responds to the noise.
Other storylines heading into this Week 6 matchup include the QB battle between the 1st and 2nd picks of the 2024 draft, the return of Bears LB T.J. Edwards, and and long-awaited season debut of Bears nickel CB Kyler Gordon. We also have a worst-vs.-best matchup to watch in this game: the Commanders are first in yards per carry, while the Bears defense allows the most yards per carry.
Keys to the Game
Bears
- Limit Washington on Ground
For Chicago to have a chance, it needs to limit Washington on the ground. This is not likely to happen, as the Bears allow the most yards per carry in the NFL this season (6.1 yards), while the Commanders offense averages the most (5.9 yards). However, this is why it is so important for the Bears and why slowing it down would be a crucial step towards victory. The one game that Washington has lost this season with star QB Jayden Daniels in the lineup, they were only able to muster up 51 rushing yards. I’m not asking for dominance, just holding the rushing attack to 120 yards or so would suffice. The Bears just need to make sure that Washington doesn’t put up 200+ yards like has done twice already this season.
- Caleb Needs to Impress
QB Caleb Williams is going to have to go off on Monday Night if the Bears want a chance to win. The defense is in trouble; Washington is a bad matchup. With the state of Chicago’s rushing game and the strength that Washington has in defending the run, the Bears will also mightily struggle in that department. There’s only one area of this matchup where I don’t expect the Bears to be exploited: the passing game. This is why they are going to live and die by Williams’ passing performance. Without much threat of a rushing game (unless Ben Johnson made some major changes during the bye week), Caleb is going to have to do it all himself this week, through the air.
Commanders
- Own Time of Possession
The Commanders would have the most comfortable time this week if they control the time of possession, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t. They have a top tier rushing attack while Chicago has the worst run defense in the league. To further demonstrate their efficiency, they are 1st in the NFL in rushing yards despite ranking only 13th in rushing attempts. 7th-round rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt ranks 1st in the NFL in yards per carry (6.6 yards).
On the other side of the ball, Washington’s 13th-ranked run defense-led by Bobby Wagner who grades out 1st in linebacker run defense grade-shouldn’t have much issue slowing down the league’s worst running game in Chicago’s. All these factors support the idea of Washington suffocating Chicago on both offense and defense.
- Stifle Rome Odunze
The Commanders need to make sure that second-year WR Rome Odunze does not beat them. Odunze is in the midst of a clear breakout season. He ranks 2nd in the NFL in receiving touchdowns (he’s had at least one in every game this season) and 13 of his last 14 catches have gone for first downs. Rome is the clear WR1 in Chicago’s receiving attack, having usurped DJ Moore (although it’s interesting to note that Moore went nuclear against Washington in 2023 with a 3-TD game). The Bears need a big game out of him in Monday Night, so the Commanders will be keen on stopping that from happening.