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Perhaps the NFL’s most inconsistent team resides in the Washington D.C. metro.
One week, the Commanders struggle with Arizona, the next they come back from 18 points down to win, the next they get trounced by 34, then they take the defending NFC champions to overtime before losing by 3.
And then, Thursday Night, they lose to previously winless Chicago by 20, falling to 2-3 on the year and suffering the third consecutive loss.
“We’ve got to be better and that part is on me,” said Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera after the abysmal 40-20 loss to the Bears. “Then we have to make sure we’re put in a position to be successful.”
Washington fell behind immediately in the game, allowing Chicago scores on each of the five drives in the first half. Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown.
At the half, 27-3.
On offense, the Commanders went three-and-out on each of the first two drives and was behind 17-0 before converting a first down.
On defense, Washington looked lost, especially in the secondary, allowing new Bears receiver DJ Moore to have a career night with 230 yards and 3 touchdowns on 8 catches.
It's the most receiving yards in a game by any NFL player since Tyreek Hill put up 269 on Tampa Bay in 2020.
In the second half, the Commanders came out strong and outscored the Bears 17-13 through the final 30 minutes.
Of course, it wasn’t nearly enough. A late missed field goal by Joey Slye that would have cut the deficit to 7 quickly led to Moore’s third touchdown of the night to put the game on ice.
Bears Receiver DJ Moore breaks away for his third touchdown of the game (Photo: NBC Sports Chicago)
For the fourth straight game, the Commanders gave up 33+ points, including the season high 40 to a Chicago team that had lost 14 straight games entering Thursday night.
Chicago QB Justin Fields threw 4 touchdown passes and racked up 282 yards through the air to go along with 57 on the ground
The Bears outrushed the Commanders 178-29, and put up 451 total yards on the Washington defense.
Commanders Quarterback Sam Howell threw 51 passes in the comeback effort, completing 37 of them for 388 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.
He was also sacked 5 times on the night, making him the most sacked quarterback in the NFL this season (29).
Washington can’t protect the quarterback and it is struggling on defense. For any quarterback, let alone a first-year starter, it’s a tall order.
Most teams, no matter how prolific the offense is, will struggle to win games so long as the defense is giving up 30+ per game as the Commanders have.
It’s all eyes on the defensive minded Head Coach Ron Rivera and his Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio to get it fixed.
The mini-bye before the next game on October 15 @ Atlanta should provide adequate time to make adjustments.
At this point, I’ll unfortunately have to believe it when I see it in terms of the Commanders turning things around on defense.