The Chicago Bears, fresh off an early bye week, begin a 13-week stretch to close out the 2025 regular season, preparing to take on the Washington Commanders.
A marquee matchup taking place on Monday Night Football will see two teams that have been tied together deeply due to their quarterbacks, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, and the Hail Mary victory that Washington had over Chicago last season. Losing to the Commanders kickstarted the downfall of the Bears last season, as they lost 10 straight games, which brought on an offseason full of roster and coaching changes.
Now, with the Bears back from their off week and winners of two straight, there’s still plenty of challenges to overcome as they look to right the ship. But here are the top three causes for concern as Chicago heads back to Washington for the second straight year.
Ghosts of 2024
One of the most important players to watch on the field come Monday night will be cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who is guaranteed to be featured in pregame storylines and video packages looking back at last year’s loss. Throughout the week, Stevenson has been asked about his involvement in last year’s Hail Mary loss and has looked to put it all behind him. Head coach Ben Johnson has been vocal about this being a new team compared to last year, and they’ll have to make sure they put the past behind them and focus on being present and continuing their winning streak.
Run defense
Washington, similar to Chicago this year, spent a seventh-round pick on a running back, selecting Jacory Croskett-Merritt while the Bears took Kyle Monangai. Croskett-Merritt has been a hidden gem for Washington’s offense and, in the wake of Austin Ekeler’s season-ending injury, became the star running back for the Commanders. He’s not alone however, as Washington also has Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols in their backfield, in addition to the threat of Jayden Daniels using his legs to gash the defense. Chicago’s run defense has been one of the worst in the NFL this year, and Washington’s top-ranked rushing attack has plenty of weapons to take advantage of it.
Bears’ recent bye-week struggles
Chicago has historically struggled coming off the bye week, and new head coach Ben Johnson will be looking to rewrite an ugly trend. The last four Bears head coaches don’t have a winning record coming off the bye week. Matt Eberflus went 1-2; Matt Nagy went 0-4; John Fox went 0-3; and Marc Trestman was 1-1. The last time a Bears head coach had success off the bye week was Lovie Smith, who went 6-3 in his nine-year tenure. Johnson has a limited sample size through the first quarter of the season, but the Bears are riding a two-game winning streak after starting the season 0-2 with divisional losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. Now, Johnson will be looking to keep his team’s momentum going on the prime-time stage, where Chicago last blew a fourth-quarter lead to Minnesota back in Week 1.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Commanders: 3 causes for concern in Week 6 matchup
