Coming into their match up against the Chicago Bears, the Washington Redskins looked to change their luck. Having come into Sunday’s game 0-5 on the road so far this year, they needed to win an away game. With a very tight battle for the NFC East title on the line today, a road victory could prove to be the difference-maker for this team.
Chicago would win the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. On the other side, Washington wanted to come out and set a tone on offense. Redskins’ offensive coordinator Sean McVay made the choice to come out and do what this team continuously preaches and run the football with its workhorse, RB Alfred Morris. On the first drive, he rushed for 17 yards total even as McVay put together a creative drive with a great combination of pass and run.
Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins led the team right down the field on a 15-play, 80-yard drive, using up 8:30 on the drive. Morris capped it off, grabbing his first rushing touchdown on the season.
On their next series, the Redskins defense picked up right where they left off last Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The unit played physically in the trenches and put together a solid defensive series. The entire squad swarmed to the ball and got to Bears QB Jay Cutler early, only allowing eight yards on five plays on Chicago’s first drive. They eventually forced a Bears punt.
Washington would once again take the ball right down the field with surgical precision on an eight-play, 93-yard drive that had a good mix of passes and runs. Rookie running back Matt Jones took advantage of his opportunity to get involved and made a difference. Tight end Jordan Reed was a key focal point in the offense with Cousins finding him early in the game. Cousins hit pay dirt off a read-option play and the Redskins went up on the Bears 14-0.
Washington’s defense was relentless in its pass rush in the first half and came up with another turnover from a sack-fumble, getting ball back for the offense. Unfortunately though, the Redskins offense once again squandered away a chance to get points on a turnover that had them in excellent field position.
Much of this part of the game was owned by the Redskins. Even so, they did give up one late touchdown before the half when their defense struggled a bit. It gave Cutler all the time in the world at one point to put together a five-play drive that took all of 52 seconds on the clock and resulted in a Bears wide out Alshon Jeffery 20-yard touchdown. This brought the Bears to within seven points of Washington just before the half.
Chicago received the ball in the second half and tried to play off the touchdown momentum from the first half. But the Redskins defense continued with the pressure they’d had in the first half and forced Cutler to make some bad throws. Washington got a sack in the second half, forcing a three-and-out.
Now the Redskins needed to come out and establish the same dominance they’d had at the beginning of the first half.
Reed would be the go-to guy again to spark the offense on its first second-half drive, taking the ball 32 yards on the second play from scrimmage. Jones would be the next guy featured and he had four rushes for 12 yards and big third-down run for two yards in the series. The Redskins offense finished the drive with a five-yard pass to Reed, capping off a 10-play, 62-yard drive that knocked 5:35 seconds off the clock.
The Bears though would not die or lay down on their next drive however. They once again found a bit of a rhythm in the running game, using rookie running back Jeremy Langford and mixing his runs up with play-action. They marched right down the field on a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Chicago hogged the ball for 4:18, capping the drive off with a pass to TE Zach Miller and closing the gap to seven points.
It was now imperative for Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden’s team to continue to slow down the momentum being gained by the Bears.
Cousins would have been interception-free in all of his last six weeks had he not picked the wrong time and area on the field to throw a ball to WR Pierre Garçon that Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller jumped. His interception gave Chicago the ball inside the Washington 21-yard line.
The Bears took the ball right to the Redskins defense, pounding the rock with running back Matt Forte on three consecutive plays. He found the end zone, capping off a three-play, 21-yard drive that tightened the game up to 21-All.
At this point, Chicago looked like a totally different squad from the one from the first half, bringing a lot of energy and physicality after the initial three-and-out.
This game was shaping up to be one of those games that the Redskins had played in a time or two in the not-so-distant past… one that they might just lose… especially after the huge 50-yard pass-and-catch from Cutler to Jeffery that seemingly put the Bears in position to work the ball into the end zone. But Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s defense found a way to make a stand, holding Chicago to a 50-yard field goal attempt by kicker Robbie Gould. Gould has been struggling as of late and these struggles continued as he missed the attempt wide right.
Matt Jones put the nail in the coffin by muscling his way for eight years and a first down late in the fourth quarter when Washington — now ahead by only three points — needed to use up the clock to keep Chicago from getting the ball back. The first down sealed the deal for the Redskins and they were able to use up the time.
Cousins finished the game by completing 24 of 31 passes for 300 yards, one touchdown and on interception. Reed had amazing performance of nine catches for 120 yards and one touchdown.
The guys in the Redskins locker room continue to fight and work hard and it certainly paid off against the Bears. This victory keeps hope alive in the team’s run for the NFC East title.
The resilience and “never-say-die” attitude displayed seemed to be a factor in the victory. Coming out on the plus side of this close, on-the-road matchup should be a huge confidence-builder as the team takes another step in this 2015 season journey.
Next week the Redskins will face the Buffalo Bills at FedEx Field.