Will the Washington Commanders snap a two-game losing streak? Or will the Chicago Bears pick up their first win of 2023?
The Commanders and Bears meet in the Week 5 edition of Thursday Night Football, in a rematch from their Week 6 game from a year ago — also on Thursday night. That game was ugly, coming down to the wire before the Commanders held on for a 12-7 win.
Buy Commanders TicketsWill the rematch be as ugly as the 2022 version?
The Commanders enter the game as favorites. That doesn’t happen often, and when it does, Washington seems to struggle. Can the Commanders reverse that trend against the Bears?
We here at Commanders Wire make our picks for the Week 5 game between the Commanders and Bears.
Bryan Manning
Everything tells you this is a game the Commanders should finally win handily. Well, if you’ve covered or rooted for Washington long enough, you know that almost never happens. While I don’t think this year’s version will be as ugly as last year’s, I do believe this is a close game that comes down to the wire in the fourth quarter. That’s all the Commanders know under Ron Rivera, right?
Unlike last year, though, there will be more offense. In this one, I think Sam Howell outplays Justin Fields, and the Commanders score late to cover the spread.
Commanders 27, Bears 17
Ivan Lambert
The Commanders are 2-2, having lost two consecutive games. With the exception of the Bills game, they have played to the level of their competition. If that trend continues, the Commanders, like last year, will make this game closer than it most likely should be.
The story of this team last year was there were so many nail-biters that they would somehow pull out for their wins. The Bears game last year was just such a game. Perhaps the most boring and frustrating offensive game of the year, but in the end, it was a bobbled pass in the end zone that was then caught at one-yard line, saving the Commanders from a last-second defeat.
Yet, this year’s team might be a bit different. This year’s team has a quarterback who has more ability, and when he is playing well, the offense has scored over 30 points twice. Incidentally, they have not scored 30 points in consecutive games since Kirk Cousins was the quarterback here.
Ron Rivera needs his team to step up and not play to the level of competition. The defense must maintain a pass rush gap integrity, or Justin Fields will make them look as bad as he did last year when he rushed for 88 yards. Chicago blew a 28-7 lead over the Broncos Sunday, losing 31-28. So, what happens tonight?
Commanders 24, Bears 17
Sammy Mansfield
Coming off a short week, tonight’s primetime game against Chicago is a pivotal one for the Commanders and their season-long outlook. The team cannot let Sunday’s loss carry over into tonight’s contest against an abysmal Bears team that has lost a historic 14 games in a row dating back to last season.
Last year’s matchup (also a Thursday night game) between these two teams was an uninspired 12-7 victory for the Commanders and the beginning of the end for Carson Wentz in DC. If this year’s team wants to prove they are different from years past, they need to come out firing and put this one away early. Sam Howell had an outstanding bounce-back game against Philly, leading the offense 64 yards in the final minute and a half to force overtime. He will need to start stacking up strong performances and building off his early success if this team wants to make the postseason this year.
Justin Fields had a breakout game last week against Denver, but we now know the Broncos are one of the worst defenses in the league under Sean Payton. Washington should be able to put pressure on Fields all night and force a few turnovers, while the Commanders’ offense faces little resistance against a bottom-five defense giving up just over 34 points a game.
Commanders 27, Bears 13
