Commanders are routed by Bears in prime time for third straight loss
It was the type of game that can get someone fired.
On a night when the Washington Commanders needed a resounding victory to rinse the taste of a frustrating overtime loss to a division rival just four days earlier, they instead turned in a dud.
Against the worst team in the NFL.
In prime time.
In front of a sellout crowd at FedEx Field.
The Chicago Bears, who arrived on a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak, broke that skid Thursday night by handing the Commanders a 40-20 drubbing that will raise questions about the future of the team — and certainly about some coaches’ jobs.
It all happened while new owner Josh Harris could only watch from his stadium suite.
The damage was severe. Chicago had eight scoring drives and amassed 451 yards. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Washington gave up more than 30 points — and it was the Commanders’ third straight loss. The Bears scored on their first five possessions and didn’t punt until the third quarter.
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“We think of ourselves as a top-five defense in the league,” Commanders safety Kam Curl said, “but we’re not playing like that right now.”
Just days after Coach Ron Rivera preached the need to eliminate explosive plays by their opponents, the Commanders (2-3) did the opposite, allowing the Bears to pick apart their defense. And it started immediately.
Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste was beaten by wide receiver DJ Moore for a 58-yard completion along the left sideline on a third and nine during the Bears’ opening drive. Then, on third and 14 just three plays later, Bears quarterback Justin Fields went back to his favorite target for a 20-yard touchdown. Second-year safety Percy Butler drifted inside in coverage, leaving the left side of the field without help over the top. Moore slipped past cornerback Kendall Fuller and had a clear lane to the end zone.
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The crowd at packed FedEx Field was silenced, but Moore, the former Maryland standout, was just getting started.
“We did not come out and slow them down,” Rivera said. “… It starts at the top. We got to be better, and that’s on me.”
The Bears (1-4), who hadn’t won since Oct. 24, 2022, needed only 2:56 to torch the Commanders. But it got worse — much worse.
Running back Khalil Herbert collected 34 yards on a run up the middle on Chicago’s second drive, easily slipping through the grasp of rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. to help set up a field goal.
Washington’s response: a three-play drive that resulted in the loss of a yard — a gift, really. Chicago happily accepted as Fields again found Moore on third-and-long early in the second quarter for an 11-yard touchdown that extended the Bears’ lead to 17-0.
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Though little worked on offense, even less worked on defense for the Commanders in the first half. The once-formidable line was gashed, the second level was practically nonexistent, and the secondary was a bumbling mess.
The only thing keeping the Commanders from being shut out in the first half was a 51-yard field goal by Joey Slye. And the only thing that spared their defense from a complete implosion was its effort in the red zone, where it reduced two potential touchdowns to field goals.
But any shred of momentum was short-lived. After St-Juste stayed glued to wideout Darnell Mooney in coverage to force an incompletion in the end zone and a subsequent field goal, Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was picked off. Chicago quickly scored again, this time on a Cole Kmet touchdown catch from four yards.
As the Commanders jogged off the field at halftime, trailing 27-3, the crowd erupted in boos — with good reason. Quite a few, actually.
Washington picked up just 84 yards as Chicago amassed 307 in the first half. The Bears had 14 first downs to Washington’s five and converted 67 percent of their third downs while the Commanders converted just 40 percent.
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“I think some of it is just missed opportunities,” Rivera said of the Bears’ many explosive plays. “Sometimes it’s not about going after the ball as much as it is about securing the tackle.”
The players reiterated the need to start faster. Asked afterward whether he was shocked by the outcome, wide receiver Terry McLaurin said, “Not really.”
“When you don’t get off to a fast start and a team gets hungry like that — fighting for every play, every yard, and they’re capitalizing — that’s what can happen,” he added. “[Their] record didn’t really matter. ... If you don’t come to play, that’s what’s going to happen to you.”
Although the Commanders responded appropriately to open the second half — a 75-yard scoring drive that Howell (37 for 51 for 388 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) capped with a two-yard scoring pass to Logan Thomas and a run for the two-point conversion to make it 27-11 — the costly mistakes continued, watering down any momentum. Thomas fumbled on the Commanders’ next drive.
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Later in the third quarter, Howell connected with running back Antonio Gibson, who lined up at receiver and picked up 41 yards on a catch-and-run. But Howell was sacked two plays later on a cornerback blitz. The culprit? Greg Stroman Jr., the former Washington defensive back who had picked off Howell earlier.
The Commanders salvaged that drive with a 32-yard field goal (that prompted more boos) but, again, the mistakes.
Forbes, who was torched by the Philadelphia Eagles in a frustrating 34-31 road loss Sunday, missed another tackle on Moore to allow a 32-yard gain just before the end of the quarter. That led to three more points for Chicago to make it 30-14, and soon the rookie was benched for Danny Johnson.
“The thought process was he was struggling,” Rivera said of benching Forbes. “We were hoping he would bounce back from last week and, you know, we felt it was time to make a move.”
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Although Washington came back to make it a 10-point game on a three-yard touchdown catch by Curtis Samuel, it couldn’t get out of its own way long enough to build on it. In position to narrow the Bears’ lead to one score, Slye pushed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide right, sending many fans to the exits.
The complete exodus followed moments later when Fuller missed a tackle, giving Moore a clear lane for a 56-yard touchdown. He finished with eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The previous time Washington allowed as many yards to a receiver was Nov. 13, 1966, when future Hall of Famer “Bullet Bob” Hayes collected 246 in the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-30 win.
Among the many other damning stats were the five sacks and 11 hits that Howell took. Although the quarterback assured he “feels good” and will “do whatever it takes to win,” his left tackle had concerns.
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“I actually am worried, especially late in the game, when the game’s already out of hand,” Charles Leno Jr. said. “I feel like that shouldn’t happen. We should take a different route in that aspect. But that’s what the coaches want, and they want to show fight. We want to show fight and want to put some points on the board and show that we’re not quitting for anybody. But there does need to be a little bit of smarts involved in that. We need him for the whole season — not just for a game that’s out of hand already, in my opinion.”
But perhaps the biggest indictment of Washington’s performance was made by Magic Johnson, the NBA legend and Commanders limited partner, who wrote on social media: “We didn’t compete in the first half and got down 27-3 heading into halftime. It was too big of a hole to climb out of and that is why we ended up losing 40-20.”
After the game, Rivera was asked what changes his team can make to stop the bleeding.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m not going to sit up here and talk about those things until we get an opportunity to break the tape down … sit down and talk with the staff and go from there.”
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