There was no Hail Mary this time.
The Washington Commanders are kicking themselves for blowing a chance to move into a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles atop the NFC East, falling at home, 25-24, to the Chicago Bears.
A cavalcade of errors, including two turnovers, on Monday night led to an early 13-0 hole. Washington dug itself out with a 24-3 run to take the lead. But the defense allowed an explosive play, and quarterback Jayden Daniels fumbled on the final possession to let Chicago escape on a Jake Moody field goal.
After falling to 3-3, coach Dan Quinn lamented the mistakes that cost his club.
“We’ve continued that slow start, and we’ve become way too accustomed to digging ourselves out of holes,” Quinn said, via the Washington Post. “All three phases dug the hole, and all three phases helped get out, but we didn’t create enough takeaways. To finish minus-three, you really don’t deserve to win many games in that space. … We just honestly didn’t perform well enough.”
The three turnovers were the story of the game for the Washington offense, which moved the ball down the field most of the night, punting once in nine possessions.
On the opening drive, Washington drove deep into Chicago territory, but Daniels was late on a pass down the seam and picked off near the goal line. On the next possession, rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt fumbled on the first play. After clawing its way to a 2-point lead, Washington had a shot to ice the game, but Daniels lost the ball, allowing the Bears to recover to set up the game-winning field goal
“I just lost the ball. Completely my fault,” Daniels said. “Didn’t give Bill a chance. It’s my fault.
Daniels said the streaking rain at the time of the fumble wasn’t an excuse.
“I’m not [going to] sit up here and blame it on the elements,” Daniels said. “At the end of the day, I got to focus. I get paid to go out there and focus, play in and play out. I had a lack of focus right there, and it cost us the game.”
Daniels went 19-of-26 passing for 211 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, with an interception for a 119.2 passer rating. It marked the second-year QB’s highest passer rating in a loss in his career.
The turnovers blew a winnable game, but all three phases played a role. The defense got shredded for long stretches, allowing 381 total yards. A 55-yard touchdown pass on a dump-off to running back D’Andre Swift shouldn’t happen. And Quinn’s defense couldn’t create a negative play after Daniels’ fumble. The special teams chipped in to the dismal night with a Matt Gay missed field goal, which clanged off the upright in the second quarter.
