The Bears Are a National Embarrassment
This matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders, originally scheduled for the morning slate, was flexed into the national afternoon slot on CBS, featuring Jim Nantz and Tony Romo in the broadcast booth.
The Bears are 4-2, coming off a bye week, led by 1st overall pick Caleb Williams, versus the surprise 5-2 Washington Commanders, led by the man taken 2nd overall, Jayden Daniels.
It should be an exciting one, right!?
This game, practically until the final 30 seconds of the 4th quarter, was nothing short of a disaster. Bad pre + post-snap penalties, constant pushing, and shoving derived from frustrations of both offenses being allergic to scoring a touchdown. Caleb Williams is struggling to make basic completions through the first 3 quarters. Tony Romo says, “This is a huge play, Jim,” every five seconds. It just felt like a clown show that truly would never end.
The Commanders held a 12-0 lead until D’Andre Swift broke out for a massive 56-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. Before the Swift run, the first SEVEN drives for the Bears offense went as follows: Punt, Punt, Punt, Turnover on Downs, Punt, Punt, Punt. In all seriousness, for the Bears to have such little offensive production for over 44 in-game minutes yet heading into the 4th quarter down 12-7 with a legitimate chance to win was absolutely astonishing. On the following Commanders’ possession, the Bears’ defense held its own once again – forcing a missed field goal by Commanders kicker Seibert.
With 10:28 left in the fourth quarter, the Bears got the ball back down 12-7 after the defense forced another Commanders punt. Shockingly, the Bears were able to move the ball fairly well on this drive, started off by two solid runs by Swift for a total of 29 yards. Caleb Williams completed two passes to Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet before launching a spectacular throw to DJ Moore for 27 yards, making it 1st and Goal at the 8-yard line.
This is where the headaches begin.
The Bears have invested a LOT in this offense. Two top-10 picks in Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. $50+ million extension for Cole Kmet, $100+ million extension for DJ Moore. $8 million a year for D’Andre Swift. They traded a 4th rounder for Keenan Allen, another $20 million on the books. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that when the Bears are sitting on the goal line for the first time in this entire game needing a touchdown – they hand the ball off…..to backup center Doug Kramer. Doug. Freaking. Kramer.
Yeah, he fumbled. It’s okay, Shane Waldron, that was a great play call! I’m so shocked that it didn’t work! We’ll get them next time, haha! xD
Jokes aside for a moment, give Caleb Williams some credit. Despite the difficulties through the first three quarters, he led two TD-worthy drives and allowed the Bears to win a game they had no business doing. Under pressure all day, receivers took too much time to get open. Maybe it’s a low bar, but the emotional maturity shown by Caleb in this game was impressive.
With 25 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Roschon Johnson capped off a 4-minute drive with a touchdown, giving the Bears their first lead. The Bears ran the classic Andy Reid Mahomes-Kelce shovel pass, especially for the 2pt conversion, and it was a beauty.
The Commanders had only one timeout and 25 seconds to try and at least get in field goal range to send the game into OT. Jayden Daniels completed a pass to TE Zach Ertz for 11 yards, and the timeout burned. The ball on Washington’s 35-yard line with 6 seconds left meant the opportunity for a field goal was gone, but it was too far to get a Hail Mary into the endzone. Matt Eberflus knew this was a difficult spot for the Commanders, so he decided out of good sportsmanship to give them a free 13-yard pass to McLaurin to get them just a bit closer.
On the final play, Tyrique Stevenson has his back turned, taunting fans while the ball is already snapped. Stevenson turns around, realizes, “Oh golly gee, the play is happening,” sprints over, and leaps up into the crowd of players, hoping to catch a prayer. He tips the ball, which then lands in the lap of Commanders’ receiver Noah Brown.
Every Bears defender in that endzone was boxing out a Washington Commander, except Tyrique Stevenson. Who was Tyrique Stevenson’s assignment? The world may never know.
It is the perfect ending to a Chicago Bears national disaster.
PHOTO: Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
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