Bear Digest

Bears and Commanders Week 8: TV, Radio and Betting Trends

Key information, betting trends and lines as well as how to listen to and watch Sunday's Bears game in Washington against the Commanders.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore celebrates after one of his three TD catches against the Commanders in last year's 40-20 Bears win.
DJ Moore celebrates after one of his three TD catches against the Commanders in last year's 40-20 Bears win. / Brad Mills-Imagn Images
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Chicago Bears (4-2) at Washington Commanders (5-2)

Kickoff: 3:25 p.m., Sunday

Where: Northwest Stadium, Landover, Md.

TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)

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Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Compass (Chris Carrino, Brian Baldinger)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: Bear by 2 1/2, over/under 44.

The Series: The 54th meeting, with Washington leading 27-25-1. The Bears have won their last two in Washington and scored 30 or more in both. They won 40-20 in Washington last year. The Bears have won two of the last three but before that had lost seven straight to Washington.

The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 14-26 in his third season and 1-0 against the Commanders. The Bears are 3-16 under Eberflus in road games and 1-1 under Eberflus following byes.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn is in his first season with the Commanders and is 51-46 in six NFL seasons overall. His Falcons teams were 1-1 against the Bears. He was coach of the Falcons from 2015-2020 and led them to Super Bowl LI. was a finalist for the Bears job along with Jim Caldwell and Matt Eberflus in 2022 before Eberflus got the job. Quinn was defensive coordinator for the Seahawks when they had the Legion of Boom team and won the Super Bowl in 2012 and also was Dallas defensive coordinator 2021-2023.

Last Week: The Bears had a bye but the week before scored a 35-16 win in London over the Jacksonville Jaguars as Caleb Williams threw for four touchdowns with one interception and completed 23 of 29 for 226 yards. He hit Cole Kmet twice for TDs and Keenan Allen twice. The Bears defense took the ball away with a Josh Blackwell interception and Elijah Hicks fumble recovery.

The Commanders blew out Carolina 40-7 but QB Jayden Daniels had to leave after 10 plays due to a rib injury and is described as "week to week," by Quinn. With Daniels out, QB Marcus Mariota led the way by completing 19 of 26 for 203 yards with two touchdown passes while rushing for 34 yards. Washington had a pick-6 in the game from Dante Fowler to start the scoring and Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for 71 yards and a TD.

The Matchup: If Daniels can play, it's the No. 1 draft pick this year, Caleb Williams, against Daniels, who was No. 2. If Daniels doesn't play, it's Marcus Mariota, who has won two starts against the Bears. Daniels is leading the NFL in completion percentage (75.6%) on 127 of 168 for 1,410 yards with six TDs and two interceptions. Williams got off to a slow start but has come on strong over four games. For the year he is 130 of 199 (65.3%) for 1,317 yards with nine TDs and five interceptions. All nine TDs came in the last four games. D'Andre Swift and the Bears running game have also surged as he had 68 yards the first three games and has 257 in the last three. He has 147 yards receiving on 13 catches in those three games. It's the first game for Bears DE Montez Sweat against his old team, after the Commanders traded him to the Bears last year before the trading deadline for a second-round pick.

Of Note: When the Bears won last year's game in Washington 40-20, DJ Moore had three TD catches out of his eight receptions and gained a career-high 230 yards. ... Quinn was a finalist for the Bears coaching job along with Jim Caldwell and Eberflus in 2022 before Eberflus got the job. ... Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was an assistant coach at USC helping Caleb Williams last year, and Kingsbury was interviewed for the Bears offensive coordinator position that Shane Waldron got. ... If Williams gets a 100 passer rating again he'll be the first rookie to do this four straight games since Deshaun Watson in 2017 and first Bears QB to do it since Jay Cutler did it over the 2009-2010 seasons. No Bears quarterback has done it within a season since the AFL-NFL merger. ... Williams needs three TD passes to break the Bears rookie record of 11 in a season. ... TE Cole Kmet needs one TD catch to move into third all time for the Bears in tight end TD catches. ... WR DJ Moore has more receiving yards (6,879) than any player who has come into the league since 2018. ... A 6-2 start would be Washington's best since 2008. ... WR Terry McLaurin needs two catches to pass Ricky Sanders (414) for seventh in franchise history. ... Daniels has more rushing yards (372) than any rookie QB in NFL history through seven games. ... Washington RB Austin Ekeler is tied wit Derrick Henry for most TDs from scrimmage by a back since 2021 (45).\

Next Week: The Bears are at Arizona in a Sunday, Nov. 3 game at 3 p.m. while the Commanders have a road game at noon against the Giants.

Bears vs. Commanders Betting Trends

  • The Bears are 9-3-1 against the spread in their last 13 games
  • The Bears are 8-4 straight up in their last 12.
  • Washington is 12-4 in its last 16 vs the Bears against the spread
  • Washington is 8-2 in the last 10 straight up against the Bears
  • The last five Bears road games have been under the total
  • It's been over the total in six of the last seven Bears road games against Washington
  • The Bears are 7-1 ATS in their last eight against NFC opponents
  • The Bears are 1-4 in their last five vs. NFC East teams straight up

-Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

-If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.