Preview for Chicago Bears @ Washington Commanders
The Chicago Bears square off against the Washington Commanders in an NFC showdown on Monday night.
Chicago come into this one off a bye week, while Washington is riding high after a road win over the Chargers. These two teams last met a season ago in a dramatic finish – the Commanders took the victory thanks to a Hail Mary from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown.
The Bears are fighting to push past the .500 mark after recovering from a rocky start under high-priced head coach Ben Johnson. Chicago dropped their first two games – including an ugly 52–21 blowout loss to Detroit – but have since found its footing, picking up back-to-back wins over Dallas and Las Vegas.
Quarterback Caleb Williams has looked impressive even in defeat. The 23-year-old threw for 212 yards in the win over the Raiders and now sits at 923 passing yards with an 8:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, plus 110 rushing yards on the ground.
The rushing attack has been less consistent. D’Andre Swift has topped 50 yards in half of Chicago’s games but only totalled 187 rushing yards so far.
In the air, Rome Odunze continues to shine with at least 60 yards in three of four outings, totalling 296 yards on the year. DJ Moore follows with 173 yards receiving.
Defensively, the Bears still have work to do. They surrendered 357 yards to the Raiders and are giving up 379 yards per game on average.
Commanders seeking consistency
The Washington Commanders look to move two games above .500 and continue their steady start to the season. After opening 2-1, Washington dropped a close 34–27 game to Atlanta before bouncing back with a dominant 27–10 win over the Chargers.
Jayden Daniels returned last week after missing two games with an injury and made an immediate impact, throwing for 231 yards against a quality defense.
On the season, he’s totalled 664 passing yards and added 124 yards rushing.
Washington’s backfield has been 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 on the season. Jeremy McNichols has contributed 112 yards of his own.
At receiver, Deebo Samuel continues to deliver in his first season with the team, putting up 300 receiving yards and posting his best performance last week.
Terry McLaurin remains sidelined with a quad injury and is questionable after missing practice on Thursday. Overall, the Commanders offense tallied 389 total yards last week and averages 349 yards per game.
