Week 8 Recap – Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders

The Commanders win 18-15 in a Miracle Finish

October 28, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. After a touchback on the kickoff, the Bears first series started with D’Andre Swift stopped for a 1 yard gain and Johnny Newton with a 6 yard sack of Caleb Williams. Following a delay of game penalty, with a third and 20, Williams threw an incompletion to D.J. Moore forcing a punt.

Olamide Zaccheaus returned the booming punt 21 yards but fumbled at the end of the return. Jeremy McNichols fortunately recovered the loose ball. Staring at their own 36, Brian Robinson gained two yards on first down. Zach Ertz picked up 12 yards on Jayden Daniels first pass over the middle. Daniels then picked up 9 yards on a read option play. Robinson followed that up with runs for 6 yards, 19 yards and 9 yards  to take the ball down to the Chicago 7. After losing 1 yard on second down, Luke McCaffrey could not get both feet inbounds on a potential touchdown throw. Austin Seibert converted a 27 yard field goal to give the Commanders a 3-0 lead.

After an incompletion, Williams scrambled for 13 yards and followed that with a completion of 17 yards to Keenan Allen. After a false start penalty on first down, Swift rushed for 5 yards to the Washington 41 yard line. Williams misfired on his next two attempts and the Bears were forced to punt again. Zaccheaus fair caught the ball at the nine.

After not much success on the first two downs, Daniels scrambled for 9 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive. Again, Washington did not do much on their first two downs, but then Daniels hit Terry McLaurin for 16 yards deep down the left sideline. Robinson ran for 11 yards on two plays before the drive fell apart. After a false start penalty on first and goal moved the ball back to the 12, Washington was unable to score a touchdown. Seibert nailed a 30 yard field goal, opening the lead to 6-0.

Second Quarter

Swift picked up 8 yards on two carries. On third down, Williams scrambled around but slid before the first down marker, forcing another punt. Zaccheaus returned the punt 8 yards out to the 17 yard line.

On Washington’s next drive John Bates picked up 20 yards on a swing pass from Daniels. Ertz picked up 5 yards on a short pass over the middle.  McNichols lost a yard on a carry and Daniels threw an incomplete pass on third down leading to Washington’s first punt of the game. Tress Way punted it 39 yards and out of bounds at the Chicago 20 yard line.

For the Bears, Swift picked up 11 yards on two carries. Williams was sacked for a 6 yard loss by Jalyn Holmes but scrambled for 13 yards on the next play. After gaining 1 yard on third down, Williams threw a pass on fourth down, but Benjamin St-Juste stopped the defender before the sticks and Frankie Luvu cleaned up the hit forcing a turnover on downs.

Daniels hit Ertz for 12 yards to start the next drive. Dyami Brown picked up 24 yards on a bubble screen, but it was called back for an Ineligible Downfield Pass on Nick Allegretti. Daniels scrambled for 18 yards and then had a 5 yard defensive holding penalty tacked on for the first down. Robinson for two yards and Austin Ekeler ran for 4 yards. Ertz’s catch in the end zone was ruled incomplete and upheld on the Dan Quinn challenge.  Seibert converted a 28 yard field goal to push the lead to 9-0.

The Bears had their best offensive series of the game on their next possession. After gaining 5 yards, Williams hit Rome Odunze for 16 yards on third down. Moore picked up 9 yards on an inside run. Swift ran for 5 yards and Odunze carried it for 8 yards. Williams eluded being sacked by Luvu and ran for 5 yards.  Phidarian Mathis tackled Swift for a two yard loss. After an incompletion, Williams avoided another sack by Luvu but could not avoid Daron Payne who took him down for a 15 yard loss which put the Bears out of field goal range. Zaccheaus fair caught the punt at the Washington 8 yard line.

Washington started with only 55 seconds on the clock. Daniels ripped off four straight completions 8 yards to Noah Brown, 11 yards to Robinson, 13 yards to Noah Brown and 11 yards to Ertz. With eight seconds left, Daniels threw the ball away with nobody open and the last play of the half Ekeler ran for 29 yards down to the Bears 20 yard line.

Third Quarter

After the touchback, on Washington’s first possession of the second half, Dyami Brown caught a screen pass for 6 yards and then Ertz caught a 20 yard pass from Daniels. After an incompletion, Robinson ran for 7 yards and Daniels scrambled for 4 yards making the first down. Daniels took a 6 yard sack on the next play, but Ekeler got most of that back on a 5 yard run. The offense mixed up the next play and took another 5 yard loss putting them out of field goal range. Way put a dead ball punt on the Chicago 4 yard line to back the Bears up deep in their own territory.

Washington’s defense then held the Bears to three yards and nearly sacked Williams for a safety. The Bears were unable to convert and were forced to punt. During the punt play, the Bears were called for unnecessary roughness, adding 15 yards to the original starting point of the Washington 44 yard line to put the ball on the Bears 41 yard line.

After losing 4 yards on first down, Daniels then scrambled for 13 yards. On third and one, Daniels hit Zaccheaus for a 32 yard touchdown on a bubble screen but it was nullified by another ineligible downfield pass penalty on Samuel Cosmi. On the next play, Ertz caught a 6 yard pass for the first down. Ekeler picked up 8 yards running and catching but Daniels was sacked by Montez Sweat for a 7 yard loss. Seibert kicked a 47 yard field goal to give Washington the 12-0 lead.

On the next Bears drive, Williams scrambled for 7 yards, Odunze caught a pass for 5 yards and a first down. Swift ran for eight yards, but the drive fell apart with an incompletion, two penalties and another incompletion, forcing another Bears punt. Zaccheaus fair caught the punt at the Washington 7 yard line.

Washington went three and out on the next drive, with Robinson gaining 7 yards on two carries and an incompletion on third down.

The Bears, starting at their own 41, gained three yards on their first play but then Swift ran around left end for 56 yards and a touchdown. Cairo Santos converted the extra point, cutting the lead to 12-7.

Fourth Quarter

After an incompletion, McLaurin caught a 25 yard pass from Daniel. After the play Tyrique Stevenson was called for unnecessary roughness, adding another 15 yards to the play. After another penalty Washington only gained 8 yards. Seibert missed a 51 yard field goal.

The Bears then went with three straight pass attempts and picked up zero yards and punted it away.

Starting at their own nine, Ekeler gained 4 yards on first down. After an incompletion, McLaurin caught an 18 yard completion for a first down. Ekeler ran for 5 yards and McLaurin with another first down catch for 8 yards. After a short Ekeler run, Daniels scrambled for 5 yards but threw an incomplete pass on third down leading to another Way punt.

On Chicago’s next drive, Swift ran for 7 yards and 22 yards on the first two plays of the drive. Williams completed his next two throws, a 9 yard to Odunze and a 14 yard to Cole Kmet. After a two yard loss, Williams hit Moore for 27 yards to the Washington 8 yard line. After a rush for no gain, D Carter caught a 7 yard pass to put the ball at the one. The Bears tried to hand off to a lineman playing fullback but the ensuing fumble was recovered by Newton at the three yard line.

Washington then ran Robinson twice and Daniels scrambled once but came up inches short on the first down. Way punted again to the Chicago 31.

After no gains on the first two plays, Williams hit Odunze for 16 yards. Roschon Johnson rushed for 5 yards and a scrambling Williams hut Allen for 22 yards down to the Washington 19 yard line. Swift ran for two yards to reach the two-minute warning. Williams ran the next two plays for 5 yards. On fourth down, St-Juste picked up a defensive pass interference penalty on Allen. Johnson scored two plays later. The Bears converted the two-point attempt to make their lead 15-12.

On the final drive of the game, Daniels first had an incompletion, but then completed passes to Ertz for 11 yards and 13 yards to McLaurin to put the ball on Washington’s 48 yard line. Daniels scrambled around for several seconds before launching a “Hail Mary” throw. Incredibly, the ball was tipped up and back into the end zone where Noah Brown was waiting for the touchdown catch. Washington won the game in a walk off touchdown, 18-15.

Thoughts

You can’t keep making red zone miscues and expect to win games against good teams. It almost cost Washington a victory today.

The miracle finish may prove the Snyder-stink has been removed from the franchise.

The defense played well most of the game but got tired in the fourth quarter when the offense could not sustain any drives.

This is probably one of the best finishes to a game this franchise had seen in the last twenty years.

Johnny Newton will probably supplant Jonathan Allen, who in all likelihood, will not return next year. I don’t think they will miss Allen.