Commanders Defense Pulls Out Washington Win vs. Bears
The Washington Commanders are heading back to the nation's capital happy after a hard-fought 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football at Soldier Field.
The score is indicative of the excitement the game gave ... not much, at least until the end.
The first points on the board came with 46 seconds left in the first half on a Joey Slye field goal to grant the Commanders a 3-0 lead going into halftime. However, the shutout the defense pitched in the first half came with a few major plays.
The Bears found themselves in the red zone twice on goal-to-go situations, but the Commanders stopped any scoring attempts. In the first quarter, the ball was batted in the air by the defensive line and intercepted by Jonathan Allen. In the second quarter, after allowing a massive run to Bears running back Khalil Herbert, the Commanders drew a goal line stand to prevent any points from going on the board.
In the second half, the Bears found the Commanders at a weakness, and quarterback Justin Fields heaved a 40-yard touchdown to wide receiver Dante Pettis to put Chicago back in front.
The Commanders needed a spark that the offense couldn't provide, so special teams had to step up. With eight minutes left in the game, rookie return specialist Velus Jones Jr. muffed the punt and the Commanders recovered inside the 10-yard line. Two plays later, rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. scored his first NFL touchdown less than two months after being shot in the knee. Robinson ran the ball 17 times for 60 yards on the day.
Kicker Joey Slye had the chance to put the team up eight points, but missed the 48-yard field goal, giving Chicago one final chance to win the game. Fields ran the ball on a 39-yard gain to get the Bears all the way inside the 10-yard line but cornerback Benjamin St-Juste stopped wide receiver Darnell Mooney on the 1-yard line on 4th down to turn the ball over once again and clinch the win for Washington.
Despite Carson Wentz's struggles (12/22, 99 yards), he picks up the win and improves to 7-0 on Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Commanders improve to 2-4 on the season, snapping a four-game losing streak and keeping their small hopes to become relevant during the season alive.
The Commanders are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 23 against the Green Bay Packers at home.
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