Commanders win an ugly one in Chicago
The Commanders beat the bears 12-7 Thursday night. This was one of the ugliest games I’ve watched the Commanders play in awhile. The offense couldn’t move the ball at all. The longest drive the Commanders had was 65 yards and ended with a Joey Slye field goal. The defense had an okay game, but they did give up 238 yards on the ground. I don’t think this win will do anything for the Commanders and will probably just hurt them when it comes to the draft.
Offense
The Offense was terrible last night. They only managed to gain a total of 214 yards and gained less yards than the Bears ran for. Carson Wentz threw for 99 yards and was 12 for 22 on pass attempts. The best thing the offense did all game was protecting the ball and not turning it over for the first time this season. For the first time all season they won the turnover battle and was the reason they won this game.
This offense looks broken and the only way to fix it is at QB. Wentz does some good thing, but last night it was mostly bad. He missed open throws and missed open reads last night. Then anytime Commanders go empty he gets happy feet and misses throws. At some point in the next few games I expect to see a change at QB and maybe that happens next week. Either before the game or if he is playing bad at halftime against the Packers.
In the run game Brian Robinson lead the Commanders with 60 rushing yards. He also scored the game winning touchdown, which gave the commanders a 12-7 lead. It was Robinsons first NFL touchdown of his career and a remarkable comeback story after being shot twice less than two months ago. I liked that they tried to get Robinson going during this game and would like to see more of that as the season goes on.
Defense
The Defense played a bend but don’t break game last night. They gave up 392 total yards last night to the Bears, but held them to seven points. The Defense had three big red zones stops during the game. The first was forcing an interception on a batted ball that Jon Allen would catch. The second was stopping them on the goal line four times. Then the last one was to end the game and stopping them fours times, which gave them the win. The best thing the defense did all game was force a turnover, which they hadn’t done since week 1. The interception was an unusually one. The ball got deflected off Efe Obada’s helmet up into the air. Thankfully Jon Allen looked up at caught the ball or it would’ve fell harmlessly to the ground.
The worst thing the Defense did was give up big plays including the Touchdown. The defense once again gave up four plays of 20+ yards on the day. At this point I don’t know how Jack Del Rio still has a job. On the touchdown the Defense did give up looked terrible. They had 12 men on the field and still gave up a touchdown. Then Fuller looked like he was jogging the entire play and let receiver run by him. Also you couldn’t really see what happened because the broadcast was showing a replay mid play.
Special Teams
This is what won the Commanders the game. Tress Way punted midway through the 4th quarter. Jones of the Bears muffed the punt and the Commanders recovered the ball at the six yard line. Without this play the Commanders would’ve lost this game. The kicking game did have one error that could’ve put the Commanders up eight late in the 4th Quarter. Joey Slye would pull a 48 yard field goal attempt wide left and gave the Bears time to score. Thankfully the Defense came up with a big stop and the Commanders held on for a win.
Coaching
The coaching this game wasn’t great again. The Commanders had 12 men on the field multiply times during the game. Then on the last drive they only had 10 men on the field for a play. This can’t happen in the NFL especially when you are week 6 of the season. Then on the offensive side of the ball the play calling has been terrible. They keep running empty sets and Wentz isn’t good when they go empty. He will either make a mad decision or take a sack, which usually ends or kills a drive. They also called a read option with a slow QB on 2nd and goal, which basically wasted a down. These coaches need to figure it out or they will be looking for new jobs in January.
Looking Ahead
The Commanders will take on the Green Bay Packers in a little over a week. The Packers have a decent Defense, so expect another bad game from the offense next week. The Packers did allow the Giant to comeback to beat them last week, but I don’t see the Commanders doing that. I expect the Packers to come out strong and keep their foot on the pedal throughout the game. Hopefully a bad game against the Packers will bring changes to the Commanders.
