Hogs Haven
The NFL’s Play of the Year for 2024!!
This matchup had been anticipated since (at least) the day that Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels were selected #1 and #2 overall in the 2024 draft. With both teams playing well and both rookie quarterbacks developing rapidly into polished professionals, the game was flexed into the late-afternoon window to broadcast it to a wider audience.
All of that drama had been put into doubt when Daniels was injured on the first offensive play of the game against the Panthers the previous Sunday. With the injury, Washington went from being a home favorite to a home underdog in one fell swoop. when Sunday afternoon arrived, reports began to surface that Jayden Daniels would, indeed, play, setting up the QB matchup everyone wanted to see.
The game was important to both teams.
Coming into the week, Washington, with a 5-2 record, sat atop the NFC East, but just a half-game ahead of the 4-2 Eagles, whose game against the struggling Bengals was moved to a 1:00 start time to make way for this Bears-Commanders flex. The Eagles beat the Bengals on the road, allowing them to match Washington’s 5-2 record, creating, at least for a few hours, a tie at the top of the division.
Chicago, despite its 4-2 record, came into the week in last place in the ‘black & blue’ NFC North division, in which every other team had 5 wins. With the Lions winning in the early window, the Bears needed a win to prevent them from falling further back in the standings.
Neither the Bears nor the Commanders have yet beaten a team with a winning record, so this game offered added significance since the winner would gain legitimacy while the loser risks being seen as a paper tiger.
The stakes couldn’t be much higher for two teams playing a mid-season, non-divisional matchup.
Of course, this victory and its dramatic ending gave a huge boost to the Commanders national profile, which had established a strong beachhead in Week 3 when Washington had beaten the Bengals in a shootout on Monday Night Football.
In contrast, the Bears season fell apart. The loss to Washington was the first of ten straight defeats. The Bears didn’t win another game until Week 18 when they snuck past a Green Bay team that had already clinched a playoff wildcard berth.
Chicago gets the ball first but can’t score
The Bears got the ball first, and with a 2nd down sack by rookie DT Johnny Newton, they almost immediately found themselves in a hole at 3rd & 15. Then, a delay of game penalty pushed the ball back to make it 3rd & 20 with the home crowd roaring. Caleb Williams eluded pressure on 3rd down, but the checkdown pass to DJ Moore was simply dropped. Washington’s defense had forced a 3 & out to open the game.
Commanders draw first blood
Olamide Zaccheaus had an 18-yard return on the return, but fumbled...
