Game Preview, Week 3: Bears at Redskins
September 20, 2019
by Steve Thomas
The Washington Redskins have somehow found a way to create even more drama in week 2 than in week 1, and now they have to play the starring role on the bane of their existence, Monday Night Football. I’ll save the numbers torture for the “Keys to the Game” section below, but just know that the Redskins have been one of the very worst teams in the NFL on Monday Night Football over the past many years. The Bears offense has been struggling, but their defense is definitely legit, so it’s probably not a good week for Washington to count on fixing its run game, although stranger things have happened. Most of us picked the Redskins to lose this game, and even in good times, but especially now, with injuries already mounting, a win seems like a tall order. Read on for our complete preview of this game.
Game time & location: Monday, September 23 2019, 8:15 p.m. ET, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, Raljon, MD; Gates open 5:15 p.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 3:15 p.m.; all other parking lots 4:15 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Television announcers: Joe Tessitore, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters
DC-area radio: The Team 980
Redskins radio network: Click here
Bears radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: XM: 226/88 (Redskins broad./Nat’l broad) Sirius: 83/88 (Redskins broad/Nat’l broad); internet: 831 (Redskins broad.)
Redskins roster: Click here
Redskins depth chart: Click here
Bears roster: Click here
Bears depth chart: Click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Chicago: 22 – 20 – 1 (last 10: 8 – 2) (streak: 5 – 0)
Last meeting: W, December 24, 2016, 41 – 21
Early odds: Bears, -4
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Establish a run game
The Redskins have been utterly atrocious on the ground thusfar, and while it might not get much better against a defense as talented as the Bears, the fact remains that this needs to happen in order for Washington to have a successful offense and put up enough points to actually win the game. Adrian Peterson needs to be able to do significantly better than 25 yards rushing. The Redskins’ offensive line needs to figure out a way to create rushing lanes against one of the best defensive fronts in the game. This is an essential key to this game. If by the end of the night the Redskins have gained 37 yards rushing on 14 carries, it’s safe to assume the final score will not be in their favor.
Keep Case Keenum upright
As said, the Bears have a defensive line and linebacking corps about which the Redskins have every reason to be concerned. Washington has been pretty good in pass blocking this season, but it doesn’t get any easier with Chicago’s Kahlil Mack and company coming to town. Keenum is going to need time to operate, particularly if rushing yards are hard to come by, and the offensive line needs to provide it. For an offense like Washington’s, the quarterback without time spells doom.
Secondary must stop giving up big plays
The secondary has been bad this year. Fortunately, if there ever was a “get well” game, it’s the Bears. Mitchell Trubisky has, for some reason, regressed from quality 2018 season. Trubisky’s individual problems have largely stemmed from poor, inconsistent mechanics, but that improved in 2018. Plus, the Bears got a new coach and some better receivers, which also helped tremendously, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t clicked this year. The Redskins secondary, of course, has repeatedly given up big play after big play. The last thing that needs to happen is for Washington to allow the Trubisky and the Bears to fix their passing game at the Redskins’ expense. If the Bears are doing well in this area, it probably means Washington is in for a long day.
Bonus Key to the Game: The Monday Night Football Curse
Everyone knows that the Redskins have been the worst team in the NFL on Monday Night Football for a long time now. They are 6 – 23 on Mondays since 1997 (.207 winning percentage), 2 – 13 in their last 15 appearances, 1 – 9 in their last 10, and have lost 7 in a row, with their last win coming on October 27, 2014, in overtime against Dallas. The Redskins have only scored 20 or more points in 3 of those last 10 games. It never seems to go well for this team under the lights – since 1994, Washington has played 68 regular season games that started at 7:00 pm or later, and have a record of 24 – 43 – 1 (.353 winning percentage). In the Jay Gruden era, the Redskins have played 16 games starting 7:00 p.m. or later and have won just 5. Obviously, this disturbing trend needs to end. This seemed to easy to put as a regular key to the game. ‘Nuff said.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Khalil Mack vs Donald Penn and Morgan Moses
You may have heard of a guy named Khalil Mack. He’s a pretty good football player, and he’s been known to terrorize a quarterback or two. The Bears are going to move him around, so it’s highly likely that he’s going to face both Penn and Moses. Those two need to win their matchup against Mack, as giving Keenum time is going to be a key to winning this game. It can’t be a Khalil Mack jailbreak on the left and right edges, or else the Redskins will be in trouble.
Josh Norman hasn’t had a good start to this season, with multiple highly visible blown coverages that have resulted in touchdowns. I don’t think Norman will travel with Robinson for this game, but they are definitely going to be matched up together quite a bit. The Redskins’ #1 corner needs to win the battle against the Bears’ #1 receiver, and we don’t need to see Robinson streaking untouched into the endzone like we’ve seen for the past two weeks. The latter will only spell a loss. This is a critical matchup.
Terry McLaurin has been much more than we could have hoped for; in fact, he’s already become the Redskins #1 receiver. Kyle Fuller is a first team All-Pro corner. This might just be the highlight matchup of the day, and the Redskins are going to need McLaurin to continue to produce.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (as of Friday (active roster only)) (starters in bold)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful NL – not listed
| Redskins | Bears |
| DL J. Allen, knee; Thurs: DNP; Fri: LP; Sat: FP; game: Q | DT B. Nichols, hand; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: O |
| CB Q. Dunbar, knee; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: Q | TE T Burton, groin; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; Sat: LP; game: Q |
| QB C. McCoy, fibula; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: O | NT E. Goldman, oblique; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| LB C. McKinzy, hip; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: O | S E. Jackson, shoulder; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; Sat: LP; game: Q |
| TE J. Reed, concussion; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; ; Sat: DNP; game: O | OL K. Long, hip; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; Sat: DNP; game: Q |
| CB F. Moreau, ankle; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | K E. Pineiro, oblique; Thurs: NL; Fri: NL; Sat: LP; game: Q |
| T M. Moses, knee; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | |
| S M. Nicholson, foot; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | |
| WR R. Davis, knee; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP; Sat: FP |
TEAM STATISTICS
Redskins:
In the first two games, the Redskins have scored a decent number of points (10th overall), although some have come in garbage time when the game has been essentially over. Washington has been at least a mediocre passing offense on the whole, ranked 10th in passing yards and 15th in passing yards per attempt, although the rushing game has been statistically as bad as the eye test would suggest: ranked 30th in total rushing yards and 30th in rushing yards per attempt. The run game has for all intents and purposes been completely ineffective. The only other decent offensive stat I can point to is red zone efficiency (ranked 7th). A word of caution, though: it’s too early in the year for any statistical measurements to be statistically relevant.
There’s no way to accurately describe the Redskins defense, except “horrific”. Or maybe “terrible”. Perhaps, “awful”. There are literally no statistics that can redeem this unit. They are 31st in points, 30th in total yards, 25th in passing yards, and 31st in rushing yards. They’ve been the worst team in the NFL in third down defense, allowing conversions on 64.29% of attempts, and touchdowns on 71.43% of opponents’ trips to the red zone (ranked 23rd). The only place to go is up.
Record: 0 – 2 (4th) (Home: 0 – 1; NFC: 0 – 2)
All-time franchise record: 600 – 592 – 28
Offense
| Offensive rankings | 10 (points) / 25 (total yards) / 25 (yards per game) / 15 (yards per play) / 10 (passing yards) / 15 (passing yards per att.) / 30 (rushing yards) / 30 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 48 |
| Yards per game | 326.5 |
| Passing
|
81 att (9th); 56 comp; 69.1% comp per. (11th); 7.4 Y/A; 578 net yds; 5 TD; 0 Int |
| Passing leader | Keenum (81 att, 601 yds (10th), 69.1% comp perc (10th), 5 TDs / 0 Int, 111.2 QB rating (8th) |
| Receiving leader | McLaurin (187 yds (13th), 16 tgts, 10 rec, 2 TD, 18.7 YPC (13th)); Thompson (116 yds, 18 tgts (22nd), 12 rec (26th), 0 TDs, 9.7 YPC) |
| Rushing | 30 att (30th); 75 yds; 2.5 Y/A; 37.5 Y/G (30th); 1 TD |
| Rushing leader | Peterson (10 att (57th), 25 yds (71st), 1 TD, 2.5 Y/A (43rd), long 10) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 2 / 7 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 26:05 / 29 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 31.82% / 22 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 80.0% / 7 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings | 31 (points) / 30 (total yards) / 30 (yards per game surrendered) / 29 (yards per play) / 25 (passing yards) / 25 (passing yards per att.) / 31 (rushing yards) / 26 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 63 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 455.0 |
| Opponent’s passing | 69 att (13th); 54 comp; 78.3% comp perc. (31st); 8.7 Y/A; 574 net yds; 6 TDs; QB Rating 124.8 (28th) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 65 att (30th); 336 yds; 5.2 Y/A; 2 TD; 168.0 Y/G (31st) |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 2 /31 / Kerrigan, McKinzy (1) |
| Tackles leader | Collins (19) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 1 / 23 / Nicholson (1) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 64.29% / 32 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 71.43% / 23 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns | 16.5 Y/R (20th), 4 returns, long 20 yards (23rd), 0 TDs |
| Punt returns | 20.0 Y/R (8th), 2 returns, long 11 yards (21st), 0 TD |
| Kick return defense | 11.0 Y/R (3rd), 1 return, 0 TD |
| Punt return defense | 8.3 Y/R (24th), 6 returns, 0 TD |
| Punting | 52.2 Y/P (1st) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 0 / 1 / +1 / 14
Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 18 / 25
Chicago:
The Bears have been as bad on offense as the Redskins have been on defense. Chicago is ranked 31st in points and 30th in total yards. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has the lowest quarterback rating of any starter in the NFL (65.0, ranked 32nd). They have at least been medicore in rushing yards (ranked 18th), so there’s that. If there was ever a “get well” week for the horrible Redskins defense it’s this week. Of course, we all know what usually happens in this situation.
Chicago’s defense is legit, statistically. They’ve been very stingy thusfar in 2019, ranked 3rd in points, 4th in total yards, and 7th in rushing yards surrendered. The Bears have let opponents convert on third downs on just 19.23% of attempts (ranked 3rd). They have, however, allowed completions on 66.3% of pass attempts against them (ranked 17th), so that’s a small ray of hope.
Record: 1 – 1 (4th) (Away: 1 – 0; NFC: 0 – 1)
All-time franchise record: 762 – 584 – 42
Offense
| Offensive rankings
|
31 (points) / 30 (total yards) / 30 (yards per game) / 29 (yards per play) / 28 (passing yards) / 32 (passing yards per att.) / 18 (rushing yards) / 15 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for | 19 |
| Yards per game | 263.5 |
| Passing | 72 att (15th); 42 comp; 58.3% comp per. (27th); 4.8 Y/A; 328 net yds; 0 TDs; 1 Int |
| Passing leader | Trubisky (72 att, 348 yds (28th), 58.3% comp per., 0 TDs / 1 Int, 65.0 QB rating (32nd)) |
| Reception leader | Robinson (143 yds (34th), 20 targets (16th), 11 rec (37th), 0 TD, 13.0 Y/C) |
| Rushing | 44 att (21st); 199 yds; 4.5 Y/A; 99.5 Y/G (18th); 1 TDs |
| Rushing leader | Montgomery (24 att, 80 yds (36th), 1 TDs, 3.3 Y/A (36th), long 12 yds) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank | 5 / 21 |
| Ave time of possession / rank | 27:59 / 25 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank | 23.08% / 28 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank | 50.0% / 23 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings | 3 (points) / 4 (total yards) / 4 (yards per game surrendered) / 2 (yards per play) / 12 (passing yards) / 7 (passing yards per att.) / 7 (rushing yards) / 6 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against | 24 |
| Yards per game surrendered | 292.5 |
| Opponent’s passing | 80 att (25th); 53 comp; 66.3% comp per. (17th); 6.2 Y/A; 448 net yds; 2 TD; QB Rating 86.2 (13th) |
| Opponent’s rushing | 46 att (15th); 137 yds; 3.0 Y/A; 0 TD |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader | 7 / 7 / Floyd (2.0) |
| Tackles leader | Smith (97) |
| Int / rank / Int leader | 1 / 23 / Fuller (1) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank | 19.23% / 3 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank | 40.0% / 11 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns | 0.0 Y/R (32nd), 0 returns, long 0 yards, 0 TDs |
| Punt returns | 8.6 Y/R (13th), 5 returns, long 14 yards (15th), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense | 0.0 Y/R (1st), 0 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense | 7.2 Y/R (15th), 5 returns, 0 TD |
| Punting | 48.3 Y/P (7th) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank): 1 / 1 / 0 / 19
Penalties (total accepted # / rank): 17 / 22
* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com