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The loss dropped the Bears to 4-3 and ended their three-game winning streak.
While the offense struggled in the first two and a half quarters, the defense kept the Bears in the game by forcing the Commanders to settle for four Austin Seibert field goals of 27, 30, 28 and 47 yards.
The Bears eventually reduced the deficit from 12-0 to 12-7 D'Andre Swift's sensational 56-yard touchdown run with :43 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
They had a chance to take the lead midway through the fourth period. But on third-and-goal on the 1st. Caleb Williams tried to vomit Doug Kramer Jr.an offensive lineman who was used as a fullback in the game. Kramer never recovered the ball and the Commanders recovered the fumble at the 3rd.
“We’ve been working on this play since he’s been there,” Eberflus said of Kramer. “We worked on the mechanics, the handoff to him. We just have to do better. We block the wedge. You're on the 1-yard line. You have a big guy” to get the ball. We practiced it a lot.
The Bears rallied and took the lead for the first time, 13-12, with 25 minutes left in the game Roshon JohnsonThe 1-yard TD burst capped a 10-play, 62-yard drive. The score fell after Keenan Allen drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on fourth-and-3.
Williams followed with a two-point conversion pass Cole Kmetgiving the Bears a 15-12 lead.
Daniels completed two consecutive passes of 11 and 13 yards to Washington's 48, leaving :02 on the clock. On the final play, he crawls around the backfield for about 12 seconds before launching the ball deep into the middle of the field. When it landed in Brown's hands, the stadium exploded.
“We’ve practiced this game 100 times since we’ve been here,” Eberflus said. “I have to look at how this was implemented. But we have a body on a body and boxing guys out like basketball I need to take another look and make sure we do better next time.
“In this scenario, I’m supposed to be the jumper and try to jump and.” [bat] the ball down,” Safety said Kevin Byard III. “But I was standing back there and everyone was kind of huddling together. It's pretty hard to get an angle, try to get a running start. When the ball is in the air you try to fight for the right position.”
Nickel back Josh Blackwell was also in the crowd of players jumping for the ball.
“That was tough,” Blackwell said. “We had them. We had the victory and unfortunately only the last ball was caught.”
The Bears trailed 9-0 at halftime after being outscored 267-90 by the Commanders in the first half. The defense forced Washington to settle for three field goals after hitting the Chicago 7, 7 and 9.
After their first three possessions resulted in punts, the Bears turned the ball over on downs at their own 40-yard line DJ Moore was unsuccessfully tackled after Williams caught a rushing pass on fourth-and-1.
The Bears picked up three first downs on their final drive of the first half, getting to the Commanders' 23. But on third-and-12 from 25 yards, Williams was sacked for a 15-yard loss, knocking it out of field goal range.
In the first half, Williams completed three of eight passes for 38 yards. During the game, he completed 10 of 24 passes for 131 yards and a passer rating of 59.5, snapping a streak of three consecutive appearances with a rating of at least 100.0.
“The progress, I thought he got away with it a little bit, but I have to look at it,” Eberflus said. “The rhythm and timing that we've seen over the last couple of weeks… it could be guys being covered, having pressure on their face, whatever it may be. This is also something for everyone. This is a protection matter. That’s a route-running thing.” And that’s a quarterback thing.
While the defense didn't allow a touchdown until the end of the game, the Commanders accumulated a total of 481 yards, including 168 on the ground and 313 through the air. Daniels completed 21 of 38 passes for 326 yards and a 92.7 passer rating and ran for 52 yards on eight carries. Terry McLaurin caught five passes for 125 yards. And Brian Robinson Jr. ran for 65 yards on 16 attempts.
Swift again had an outstanding performance, rushing for 129 yards on 18 carries. On his 56-yard TD run, he leapt outside and raced down the left sideline, catching blocks from Kmet and left tackle Kiran Amegadjiewho came into the game in the first half Braxton Jones retired with a knee injury.
Prior to Swift's TD, the Bears had not scored on their first seven possessions, a significant departure from the previous two games in which they had scored five TDs in consecutive games for the first time since 1956.
“Sometimes when you have those days, you just have to make sure you continue to find answers,” Eberflus said. “One of the answers could have been to get the ball to our tight ends and running backs when I look at the stats. I know we tried that. They put pressure on their linebackers. We knew they would do some things.” These were effective for them. It's always about working towards the next series and we have to do better.
Eberflus isn't worried that the Bears will allow Sunday's devastating loss to define their season.
“Our guys believe in each other, trust each other, have confidence in each other,” he said. “They are a resilient team. You will come back more determined. The game didn't go the way we wanted. But we had a chance to win it. We did everything we could in the end. “We just have to do better.”
The Bears will play on the road again next Sunday against the Cardinals in Arizona.
