Recap – Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders – Week 5

October 6, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Bears Crush Commanders 40-20

First Quarter

Chicago won the coin toss and elected to receive. Justin Fields was sacked once but completed two passes. The first was for 59 yards to D.J. Moore and the second was a 20 yard touchdown to Moore. Cairo Santos kicked the extra point to give the Bears a seven-point lead.

Washington responded by picking up 9 yards on 2 plays with Brian Robinson rushing for 5 yards and Logan Thomas with a 4 yard reception. With third and one, Robinson was tackled for a one yard loss, forcing a Tress Way punt.

Fields led another excellent drive mixing short runs and passes to keep the Washington defense off-balance. The big play on the drive was a 34 yard run by Khalil Herbert which put them in field goal range. On third and 9, Cole Kmet was stopped short of the first down marker and Santos kicked a 22 yard field goal giving the Bears a 10-point lead.

Washington went three and out again after a false start on second down and a sack on third down.

Second Quarter

After the Way punt, Emmanuel Forbes let Moore catch and run for another 39 yard gain. Roschon Johnson ran for 19 yards on two plays and then Moore caught an 11 yard touchdown from Fields. Bears 17, Commanders 0.

Washington had its best offensive series of the first half on the following drive. With the running game not working, Sam Howell opened the drive going 5 for 5 with a six yard completion to Curtis Samuel, a three-yard completion to Logan Thomas, a 9 yard pass to Jahan Dotson, a three-yard completion to Terry McLaurin and then 11 yards to Thomas again. Then the drive stalled with incompletions and a penalty. Joey Slye nailed a 51 yard field goal. Bears 17, Commanders 3.

Chicago’s next drive saw them picking up 28 yards rushing, plus a 23 yard catch by Kmet. A sack and incompletion stalled the drive and Santos the 36 yard field goal. Bears 20, Commanders 3.

Howell threw an interception to Greg Stroman after the kickoff. Herbet ran for 23 yards on 3 three plays. Field picked up a first down on second and 6, then threw a 4 yard touchdown to Kmet. Bears 27, Commanders 3.

The Commanders picked up 35 meaningless yards passing in the last 24 seconds of the half.

Third Quarter

The offense came to life on the first drive of the second half. They opened with a 24 yard screen pass to Robinson and followed it up with more passes, including seven more yards to Robinson, five to Thomas, 12 to Antonio Gibson and then a 25 yard defensive pass interference on a throw to McLaurin. That put the ball on the Chicago two where Howell hot Thomas for the short touchdown. The Commanders went for two and Howell ran it in on a scramble to the right slicing through two defenders. Bears 27, Commanders 11.

Washington’s defense finally was able to stop the Chicago offense from scoring. The Bears picked up 20 yards, with 14 of that coming on a Fields run. After the punt, Howell completed two passes to Thomas, but Thomas fumbled the second catch while fighting for additional yardage.

The Commanders held the Bears to negative 10 yards between a sack and a penalty. A third and 20 to go incompletion forced another punt.

Washington continued with the all passing theme. After Robinson picked up 7 yards on a check down, Howell hit Gibson on a sideline go route for a 41 yard gain. Jahan Dotson had a 14 yard reception, but Howell was sacked on a blitz for a 9 yard loss. Washington could only pick up 17 yards and had to settle for 32 yard field goal. Bears 27, Commander 14.

Fourth Quarter

After a touchback, Fields picked up 12 yards on two runs. After a run for no gain, Forbes missed knocking down a pass to Moore who picked up 32 yards on the play. The Bears only picked up 6 more yards on two runs and then kicked a 43 yard field goal. Bears 30, Commanders 14.

The next Washington drive started with Howell escaping the Bears pass rush and gaining 5 yards. Then Howell hit consecutive 10 yard completions to McLaurin and Bryon Pringle. Sandwiched between some incompletions were catches for 11 yards by Jamsion Crowder and Dyami Brown. Howell hit Samuel for 25 yards to put Washington into the red zone. Two plays later Samuel caught a three yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed. Bears 30, Commanders 20.

The Commanders defense held the Bears to a three and out on the next drive. On Washington’s next possession, Howell hit passes of 15 yards to Samuel, 13 yards to Thomas and 32 yarder to McLaurin after the official picked up the flag on a DPI call. After that the drive stalled out and Slye missed the 46-yard field goal wide right.

The Bears put in the final nail in the coffin with a 56 yard touchdown to Moore on a short throw in which Kendall Fuller missed the chance for an interception, failing to put himself in a position to tackle Moore, who raced down the sideline for a score, Bears 37, Commanders 20.

After a turnover on downs by Washington, the Bears tacked on another field goal. Bears 40, Commanders 20.

Thoughts

The coaching staff had poor games plans on both offense and defense.

The players looked lackluster in the first half, playing with little emotion.