Commander Country

Commanders Defense Pulls Out Washington Win vs. Bears

The Washington Commanders didn't win pretty, but they snap their losing streak against the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.

Jeremy Brener

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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.

You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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