Series history
These two teams have a long history of competition that dates back to a 7-7 tie in the burgundy & gold’s first year of existence as an NFL team, back when they were known as the Boston Braves.
The Washington / Chicago rivalry has been played out on the field 54 times (including 7 postseason games), with Washington winning 28 games and the Chicago Bears winning 25 games. They have also, as mentioned, tied one time.
- 2025 is the 4th consecutive year the two teams have played, with Washington winning 2 out of 3 from ‘22 to ‘24.
- Washington leads 9-2 since 2004; the burgundy & gold have a 9-4 in this century.
- The Redskins closed out the 20th century by winning 6 straight, and 8 of 9 between ‘87 & ‘99.
- The Redskins and Bears played each other in 4 league championship games, splitting 2-2
- They also played each other in 3 NFC playoff games, with Washington winning 2 out of 3.
Both teams competed regularly for championships in the late 30s and 40s. Both were consistent
playoff teams in the 80s and early 90s. Both have had sporadic success this century (Chicago more so than Washington) amidst a lot of losing seasons, with neither team winning a playoff game between 2011 and 2023.
Washington has enjoyed more immediate success since the 2024 draft, but both fan bases feel a sense of optimism that comes with new coaching staffs and exciting young quarterbacks.
Week 5
Washington went on the road to Los Angeles and came home with a victory that not many NFL fans predicted, 27-10 over the Chargers. It was not a perfect game by the Commanders, but it was the first time in the 2025 season when the offense and defense looked. for significant chunks of the game, like the team that won 2 playoff games against two division winning teams in January.
The Bears enjoyed a BYE week, but they went into it riding a 2-game winning streak (after opening the season 0-2).
Common opponents
The Commanders will have to play, at some point in the 2025 season, every team that the Bears played in the first four weeks of the season, but the only one that both the Bears and Commanders have already faced is the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Bears beat the Raiders in Week 4, just before going on their bye week. Chicago closed out that 25-24 win with a blocked 54-yard field goal attempt with about 30 seconds left in the game.
Washington had beaten the Raiders a week earlier, with Marcus Mariota at quarterback, by a score of 41-24.
Running the ball
Based on a few basic metrics, it seems like an obvious game plan would be for the Commanders to plan on running the ball a lot on Monday night.
The Commanders lead the NFL in rushing yards per game and yards per attempt. Unlike last season, the rushing success is not due to Jayden Daniels’ scrambling; rather, it is based on strong rushing performances by all of the Commanders’ running backs, but especially Bill Croskey-Merritt, who, so far, has averaged 6.6 yards per carry on 43 carries.
The Bears defense ranks 31st in rushing yards allowed per game and dead-last in yards per attempt allowed to opposing runners, at 6.1 ypc. Chicago will be without DL Grady Jarrett on Monday night, which won’t’ make it any easier for the Bears defense to improve on this season-long trend.
When the Bears are on offense, they rank 24th in rushing yards. The Commanders defense is ranked 12th against the run.
The passing game
On offense, Chicago ranks 13th in passing yards per game; Washington ranks 25th. Caleb Williams averages 7.1 yards per attempt; Jayden Daniels averages 6.8.
Defensively, the Bears give up 215 yards per game while the Commanders have given up 235 yards per game.
The Commanders will be without their top receiver, Terry McLaurin, for the 3rd straight game. Likewise, Noah Brown, another top receiver for Washington, will miss is 4th consecutive game. Their absences will only magnify the difficulty of producing more in the passing game than they have to date against a statistically better-than-average Bears pass defense.
The numbers that seem to favor the Bears in the passing game extend to sack numbers (Jayden, 8 sacks in 3 games; Caleb, 7 sacks in 4 games), but not interceptions (Jaydan, 0 INTs; Caleb, 2 INTs in 4 games).
Turnovers
Chicago is succeeding at doing what Joe Whitt and Dan Quinn say they are always striving for: forcing turnovers. The Bears defense has forced 9 turnovers in 4 games (2.25 per game avg), and the Bears have a +5 margin on the year.
The Commanders defense has forced just 3 turnovers on the season, and the offense has given away 3 turnovers (2 charged to Marcus Mariota in his two starts).
Washington can make it much harder for the Bears to win tonight by taking care of the ball on offense — one of Jayden Daniels’ strengths — and forcing one or more turnovers when playing defense. That will require breaking the trends established in the first 4 or 5 games of the season.
Standings
Washington
With a win, the Commanders will achieve the same 4-2 overall record as the Eagles, but would take at least temporary possession of 1st place by virtue of being undefeated in division play, while Philly lost to the Giants on Sunday.
A Washington loss would leave the Commanders in second place in the division at 3-3.
With the Cowboys up next on Washington’s schedule in Week 7, a loss against the Bear wouldn’t be catastrophic by any means, but a win tonight sets up a situation where the Commanders could remain in first place in the East and open a 2.5-game lead over the Cowboys in the division by putting together back-to-back victories vs Chicago and Dallas.
Chicago
A loss on Monday night would drive the Bears further into last place in the NFC North and mire them at the bottom of the NFC with the 5 other teams with 2 or fewer wins, leaving them with a big hole to dig out of, but a surprising opportunity with the Saints, Ravens, and Bengals on tap in Weeks 7 to 9. What appeared to be a brutal pair of games back in August now looks like part of a very winnable set of games for Chicago.
A win tonight, then, would keep the Bears competitive in the NFC North at 3-2, just a half-game behind the Packers, with a 3- or 4-game stretch in front of them that provide the opportunity to build some mid-season momentum before resuming divisional play against the Vikings in Week 11.
The point spread
Fan Duel has the Commanders as 5.5- point favorites. The Bears look vulnerable in the run game (on both offense and defense) and the Bears’ opponents in their two wins (Cowboys and Raiders) sport a combined record of 4-7-1, and a combined point differential of -56 for the season.
I thought Bears fans might see this as a bit of slap in the face to a team on a 2-game win streak coming off a bye week, but I listened to a Bears beat writer on a podcast this week who said that he thought Chicago’s ceiling was likely to be 8 wins — maybe 9 if they got lucky with Lamar Jackson’s injury in two weeks. He scoffed at the idea that the Bears would be a playoff team this year.
In the end, the Commanders are a year further along on their rebuil…er recalibration, and the Commanders are at home and coming off a good win against the Chargers. Most importantly, Jayden Daniels is healthy and has a career record of 16-7 as an NFL starting QB. There’s a lot for Commanders fans to be confident about heading into tonight’s game.
First Quarter
The Bears got the ball first on a cool, rainy night, starting at their own 30-yard line with a massive din of noise from the raucous home crowd making the stadium deafening.
Former Commander, Olamide Zaccheaus got the initial first-down of the game on a 10-yard reception. D’andre Swift got the second one, putting the ball across midfield on a 7-yard pass. The third came on a 12-yard run by Swift. Two plays later, the Bears faced their fist 3rd-down of the game, 3rd & 4 just inside the WAS 30-yard line. An incomplete pass brought the Bears kicker on the field for a 47-yard attempt, which he drilled to give the Bears the early lead, 3-0. The 9-play drive covered 41 yards in 4:19, and looked quite efficient until the failed 1st down.
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense started their initial offensive drive at the 35-yard line following a touchback and wearing their ’battle black’ uniforms.
A false start penalty didn’t matter when Chris Moore (he didn’t drop this one!) pulled in a 13-yard reception for Washington’s initial first-down of the game. A roughing the passer called against Montez Sweat, who hit Jayden’s facemask, gave the Commanders another fresh set of downs. Two plays later, the Commanders faced 3rd & 3 at their own 32-yard line. Deebo Samuel broke a tackle on a screen pass to reach the line to gain — a tough run by Deebo.
On an end-zone shot by Jayden from the 21-yard line, Daniels suffered his first interception of the 2025 season!
The Bears look like the better team so far. With 6 minutes left in the opening quarter, Caleb Williams and his offense will start their 2nd offensive drive at their 34-yard line with a chance to pad their lead on the scoreboard.
The Bears went deep to Odunze on 1st down, a ball played well by Quan Martin.
DJ Moore got the 1st down on a catch & run on the next play to reach the 47-yard line. Two plays later, Moore caught a pass at Washington’s 31-yard line. The Bears offense is ticking along.
An offensive pass interference penalty pushed the ball back to the 43-yard line, 2nd & 20, with the crowd roaring. On 3rd & 20, DJ Moore was tackled 8 yards short of the line to gain, and Jake Moody came out for his second field goal attempt, this one from 48 yards. It was good to make the score 6-0 with 2:27 left in the quarter.
Moore went to the medical tent.
It’s been all Bears so far, but thanks to not breaking after bending (twice) a good drive here could give Washington the lead.
Washington’s offense took the field at the 30-yard line following McCaffey’s return. That became the 35-yard line following a defensive penalty.
On the subsequent play, Bill Croskey-Merritt fumbled the ball at the line of scrimmage and the Bears came up with it — the second turnover in two drives! The Bears take over on the WAS 35-yard line. Montez Sweat was credited with the forced fumble; TJ Edwards got the recovery.
On 2nd down, D’andre Swift broke off a 12-yard run to set up 1st & goal at the 7-yard line as the quarter came to an end.
Second Quarter
On 2nd down from the 1-yard line, Caleb Williams ran right on a called QB run and scored the game’s first TD.
Following the PAT, the Bears led by 13 points against a Commanders team whose offense has given the ball away twice in two possessions.
The third possession needs to be very different. It begins at the 35-yard line. So far, the Bears have out-gained the Commanders 122 yards to 34 yards. First downs: CHI 8, WAS 4.
Dan Quinn sticks with Bill at running back. He gained 2 yards on 1st down and then was replaced by Jeremy McNichols. On the 2nd down play, Chris Moore got his 2nd catch of the game, this for 11 yards.
A reverse to Jaylin Lane got the ball to the CHI 45-yard line, but a Daniels run lost 3 yards to bring up 3rd & 6 near midfield. A defensive penalty (facemask) on 3rd down gave Washington the ball, 1st & 10, at the 38-yard line.
A Daniels run followed by a McNichols carry earned another 1st down at the 22-yard line. McNichols stayed in the game.
On the next play, Daniels dropped the ball while scrambling, but it bounced right back into his hands; he got back to the line of scrimmage.
On the next play, Jayden Daniels hit Chris Moore for a beautiful TD catch near the sideline on the left side of the end zone for a huge touchdown that they badly needed. Fans who have been calling for Chris Moore’s release for the past couple of weeks were suddenly hailing his fantastic catch!
The score stands at 13-7 with 9:28 to play in the half. The scoring drive covered 65 yards in 8 plays with a couple of big defensive penalties helping the cause.
The Bears started the next drive at the 21-yard line following good coverage by Washington’s kickoff coverage team.
On 2nd down, Swift ran for 19 yards through a gigantic hole on the right side. The Bears have run for over 70 yards already.
Two plays later, it was 3rd & 3 at the WAS 44-yard line. Caleb Williams kept it himself to run for the 1st down — Bears now have 76 rush yards; Washington has 30.
(The pass was ruled incomplete)
On 3rd & 10 from the 40-yard line, a toss play to Swift went for 9 yards, and Ben Johnson kept his offense on the field for 4th down in front of a deafening crowd. Caleb dropped back to pass and had great protection, but Frankie Luvu, playing coverage in the middle of the field, got both hands on the pass.
The incompletion gave the ball to Washington with 5:30 on the clock and 70 yards of green grass between Jayden Daniels and a Commanders lead on the scoreboard.
Bears defender Noah Sewell was injured on the 1st down play, a 7-yard reception by Bill Croskey-Merritt.
Sewell walked off the field under his own power and later went to the locker room.
The “Bill! Bill! Bill!” song was audible when he ran for the 1st down on the next play. He added 12 yards with another carry, giving him 30 rushing yards for the game (3.8 per carry so far).
Two plays later, Washington faced 3rd & 8 at the 45-yard line. On 3rd down, Zach Ertz got his first target and first catch of the game at the CHI 35-yard line. Washington is threatening, 1st & 10, as the game reaches the 2-minutes warning.
Following the time out, the Commanders gained 1 yard on 2 passes to bring up 3rd & 9 at the 34-yard line with 80 seconds on the clock. The Bears called time out to try to leave time for a drive if the Commanders score here.
The 3rd consecutive passing play — a checkdown to McNichols — earns just 2 yards.
On 4th & 7, Matt Gay came on the field to attempt a 50-yard field goal, which ‘doinked’ off the left upright. Matt Gay, who had just gotten back in the ‘good books’ with Washington fans, is now on the ‘bad’ list again.
Trey Amos does a great job to break up a downfield pass on firs down. A short gain on 2nd brings up 3rd & 5 at the 45-yard line. On 3rd down, Caleb broke out of an apparent sack by Quan Martin, scrambles, and then get wholloped by Luvu for a 7-yard sack at the sideline with 24 seconds left. The Commanders will get the ball back.
Starting at their own 8-yard line, Daniels takes a knee to end the half with the score Chicago 13 – Washington 7.
Two turnovers and a missed field goal are the story of the first half.
Washington will get the ball to open the 3rd quarter.
Halftime Stats
Statistics via ESPN
Third Quarter
Washington’s offense opens the second half with the ball at the 40-yard line after a good return by Luke McCaffrey trailing by 6 points and (another) chance to take the lead despite the many things that went wrong in the first 30 minutes of play.
Bill was on the field for 1st down – a 9-yard pass to Zach Ertz in the middle of the field. Bill juked the defender out of his socks behind the line on 2nd down to run for 6 yards.
Two plays later, Daniels was under pressure after a play-action fake; he squirted through the defense and ran for 15 yards to the CHI 29-yard line — his longest run of the ‘25 season.
On the next play, under pressure in the pocket, Daniels was flagged for intentional grounding to bring up 3rd & 16 at the 35-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Jeremy McNichols dropped a pass in the middle of the field.
Matt Gay came out for a 53-yard field goal attempt, which went right down the middle to cut the Chicago lead to 3 points with about 12 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Gay is now 4 of 7 attempts from 50+ yards and is tentatively off the sh*t list.
The Bears started their first offensive drive of the second half at the 15-yard line after a penalty against the Bears on the return. This offers an opportunity to Washington’s defense.
The Commanders get pressure on 1st and 2nd down, but defensive penalty gives the Bears a fresh set of downs at the 20-yard line.
Kyle Monangai is in the game at RB for the Bears, but it’s Rome Odunze who gets the big play — 21 yards to the 48-yard line. On 2nd down, Williams has all day to survey the field and hits Luther Burden for a 37-yard gain on a deep crosser downfield. 1st & 10 at Washington’s 15-yard line after a pair of lightning quick strikes by Williams in the passing game.
On 2nd down, Mikey Sainristil looked like he had another interception inside the 5 yard line, but it hit the grass to give the Bears life with a 3rd & 6 play that looked like a touchdown to Odunze — nullified by an illegal formation penalty because the left tackle was too far off the line of scrimmage.
On the subsequent play, Dorance Armstrong got his 6th sack of the season as Caleb Williams held the ball for several seconds looking for an open receiver.
Moody came out and restored the 6-point lead with a 41-yard field goal. The drive covered 62 yards in 8 plays, and the Commanders benefited from a somewhat sketchy penalty flag that took a touchdown off the board.
With 8 minutes left in the quarter, the Commanders took the field at the 16-yard line. McCaffrey returned the ball to the 44-yard line, but Magee was flagged for an illegal blindside block that may have affected the return.
Croskey-Merritt is starting to heat up; he gains 8 yards on 1st down and then reaches the line to gain on 2nd down. He now has 52 yards on 12 carries.
Jayden did what Jayden does with a new longest run of the year with an 18-yard scramble on 1st down.
After 2 passes to Deebo, the Commanders faced 3rd & 2 at the CHI 47-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Daniels’ pass went through Chris Moore’s hands at the sideline.
Washington’s offense stayed on the field on 4th down, which turned out to be an easy pitch and catch with Jeremy McNichols for 13 yards on the left sideline.
As the clock ticked down to 3 minutes, Jayden found Luke McCaffrey standing all by himself near the 10-yard line. Luke simply turned and trotted into the end zone for the go-ahead score. Blown coverage.
Following the PAT, Commanders held a 17-16 lead. The scoring drive covered 84 yards in 9 plays — including an 18-yard run, a 13-yard pass, and the 28-yard TD to finish the drive.
The Bears start their next drive at the 23-yard line after good coverage by the Commanders. The ball hit the grass on the return, but Chicago retained possession.
D’andre Swift broke off a 14-yard run, and then a screen pass to Monangai went for 25 yards. Just like that, the Bears had 1st & 10 at Washington’s 34-yard line!
Two plays later, on 3rd & 1 at the 25-yard line, the shotgun snap went through Caleb William’s hands. He regained control quickly, but the Washington pass rush overwhelmed him for a critical loss of 5 yards!
Fourth Quarter
To open the 4th quarter, facing 4th down, the Bears attempted a 48-yard field goal, which was blocked by Daron Payne!!!
This is the massive play the Commanders needed to have the opportunity to take control of the game in the final stanza.
Washington quickly moves the ball across midfield.
On 2nd & 6, Jaylin Lane broke open downfield, where Jayden Daniels found him for 37 yards to the Chicago 7-yard line — 1st & goal!!
On 2nd down, Daniels threw a laser to the back of the end zone to TE Zach Ertz, who had a quiet week last Sunday, but scores a huge touchdown here.
After the PAT, Washington led by 8 points, 24-16 with 11 1/2 minutes remaining in the game. The scoring drive covered 63 yards in 6 plays.
The momentum swing in the 3rd quarter has been huge, but the Bears can tie the score with a big drive. The Commanders defense needs to feed on the energy of the crowd to shut down the Chicago offense again.
The Bears drive starts at their 39-yard line following a penalty against Washington on the kickoff.
Caleb aired out the ball, throwing into double coverage inside the 5-yard line. Easily broken up by Washington’s defenders to force 3rd & 4 at the CHI 45-yard line.
Following that play, a short pass goes to D’andre Swift, who breaks a Quan Martin tackle and goes 55 yards for a touchdown. Unbelievable!
The two-point try failed, and Washington held onto a 24-22 lead with 10 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Washington’s next drive of the game started at the 40-yard line after a good return by Luke McCaffrey.
A pair of Jayden scrambles brings up 3rd & 5 as the clock moves past the 9 min mark. On the 3rd down play, Daniels was hit low on his left leg (the one with the brace) while in the pocket, drawing a roughing flag to extend the drive. That was the 4th 1st-down by penalty for Washington in this game.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 10 at the 39-yard line, Daniels, under pressure, threw the ball away.
Tress Way came out for his first punt of the game. It was a good one to the 9-yard line.
With about 8 minutes to play, the Bears can re-take the lead with a field goal.
A pre-snap penalty on the Bears turned it into 1st & 14 inside the 5-yard line. Monangai got buried for a 1-yad loss on first down. Zaccheaus did a solid for his old team by dropping a pass in the middle of the field when he was WIDE open to force 3rd & 16 from the 3-yard line.
OZ caught the 3rd down pass, but was stopped 2 yards short of the line to gain.
The drop by Zacchaeaus on 2nd down leads to a punt by the Bears.
Washington ends up with the ball on their own 39-yard line with 6 minutes on the clock and a chance to ice the game.
Washington quickly faces 3rd & 13. On the 3rd down play, McNichols takes a checkdown pass in the middle of the field and bulls his way to a desperately-needed first-down. Great play by No 26 to get 15 yards and keep the drive alive.
A 8-yard scramble on 2nd down by Jayden brought up 3rd & 1 at the CHI 40-yard line with 2:58 on the clock. A first-down on this play would be huge.
On the 3rd down play, from a heavy formation in the rain, Daniels muffed the handoff to Bill. The ball hit the grass — fumble — and the Bears recovered it for their 3rd defensive takeaway of the game! This is a potential game-losing mistake.
It’s a 4-down situation for the Bears as the 2-minute warning approaches.
Following the 2-minute timeout, on 3rd & 5 at the CHI 49-yard line, Williams hit a 6-yard pass to move inside the 45-yard line.
The Commanders start calling time outs as they contemplate a likely Chicago score. The Bears want to score a touchdown in the rain because their regular kicker is not playing in this game, and Jake Moody has already had one low kick blocked.
The Bears get another first down at the 31-yard line; things are looking grim. Washington’s defense needs a turnover of its own.
The Commanders use their final time out with 74 seconds remaining in the game.
With a run to the 18-yard line for another 1st down, the Bears let the clock run before taking a time out with 31 seconds on the clock. The Bears need to score to win, so the fat lady hasn’t sung yet, but she is warming up her voice.
Williams kneels down at the 20-yard line; Ben Johnson calls time out with 3 seconds on the clock.
This field goal attempt will determine the game. It will either be a 1-point loss or a 2-point win for Washington.
The 38-yard field goal attempt goes right down the middle.
Bears win.
Full Game Stats
Statistics via ESPN
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