Windy City Gridiron
The Bears were coming out of the bye week on Monday night, having two weeks to prepare for their matchup against the Commanders. At times, it looked like they didn’t look like they had that extra time to prepare. But in the end, they came away with the victory to improve to 3-2 for the 2025 NFL season.
A 38-yard field goal from new kicker Jake Moody at the absolute last second secured the victory for the Bears, bouncing back against a team who beat them in Washington in comical fashion last year under Matt Eberflus. Under Ben Johnson, though, Chicago scratched and clawed to come away with the win.
Here are some of the takeaways from the Bears’ matchup in prime time.
The Bears got called for nine penalties that cost them 84 yards, including an illegal formation that cost them a touchdown. I’ll be the first one to say that the referees were terrible on Monday night, and that their “ticky-tackiness” certainly played a role in Chicago’s inability to run away with the game. I don’t agree with the illegal formation call, to be sure.
You can’t blame everything on the refs, though. At a certain point, the Bears were still hurt by a lack of discipline on both sides of the ball. If your team has even entered a point to where you can argue the refs cost them the game, that means the team should’ve played better so that they wouldn’t have even needed to enter that situation in the first place. The referees were a problem, but the way the game played out was the sum of its parts, not just off of one or two plays.
With a touchdown to his name and over 150 scrimmage yards, D’Andre Swift put together a stellar outing on Monday night. The offensive line created opportunities for him up front, and he took advantage in the ground game. He also contributed through the air, including a 55-yard receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter. He’s been much maligned during his stint in Chicago, but he was incredible on Monday.
The Bears were inconsistent in coverage against the Commanders, allowing opportunities for Jayden Daniels to move the ball down the field to the tune of three passing touchdowns. However, their defense deserves credit for sacking Daniels three times and creating three turnovers: a fumble recovery by Kyler Gordon, an interception from Jaquan Brisker, and a fumble recovery by Nahshon Wright. Those chances to get the ball back kept the Bears in the game, even when it seemed like they shouldn’t have been.
Four-for-five on field goal attempts. One-for-one on his extra point attempts. Game-winning field goal from 38 yards out at the last possible second of the game. After all the inconsistency Jake Moody showed during his time with the 49ers, hitting a game-winner in the...
