Washington won its first NFL title with rookie Sammy Baugh throwing three touchdown passes against the Bears in the 1937 NFL Championship Game — a spectacular feat in those days.
The Bears responded by getting an all-time great of their own, with Sid Luckman leading them to four championships in seven seasons in the 1940s, including a 73-0 rout of Washington in the 1940 NFL championship that is arguably the greatest revenge game in sports history.
But since then, getting the quarterback right has not been as fruitful, or in some cases, as necessary for these two venerable franchises.
Washington had Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgenson but never won a playoff game with him at quarterback. The team won three Super Bowls under Joe Gibbs with three quarterbacks, none of whom are close to the Hall of Fame — Joe Theismann in 1982, Doug Williams in 1987 and Mark Rypien in 1991. (Gibbs doesn’t get nearly as much credit as he deserves for that accomplishment.) The Bears’ post-Luckman NFL titles also came with a non-Hall of Famer at quarterback — Bill Wade in 1963 and Jim McMahon in 1985.
And as the two proud franchises have struggled to recapture past glory over the last 31 seasons — since the Bears fired Mike Ditka and Gibbs retired in 1992 — getting the quarterback right has been extremely problematic.
The Bears have whiffed time and again, most notably when they traded up one spot to draft North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky No. 2 overall in 2017 — passing on Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes.
And Washington has its own quarterback-search ignominy. In 2012, it traded three first-round draft picks to the Rams for the No. 2 overall pick and took Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. Not only did Griffin falter less than two seasons after winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award (under a coaching staff that included Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur), but Washington allowed Kirk Cousins to leave in free agency in 2018.
Since then, the Commanders’ starting quarterbacks until this season were Alex Smith, Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez, Josh Johnson, Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith again, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Taylor Heinicke, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz, Heinicke again and Sam Howell.
The Bears’ dreary quarterback history needs no introduction. A year ago, the Justin Fields era reached a peak when he threw four touchdown passes in a 40-20 victory over the Commanders at FedEx Field. He became the second Bears quarterback in franchise history to throw four touchdowns in back-to-back games.
A week later, he was mired in familiar difficulties against the Vikings, suffered a dislocated thumb when he was sacked — after holding on to the ball too long — and missed the next four games. It was the beginning of the end for Fields in Chicago.
A year later, the Bears return to the former FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in Landover, Maryland, to face the Commanders. Suddenly, both teams have been rejuvenated — by rookie quarterbacks drafted No. 1 and No. 2 overall.
The Bears’ Caleb Williams and the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels have looked like the real deal — quarterbacks who learn and adjust quickly. Williams has a 122.8 passer rating in his last three games (seven touchdowns, one interception, 229 yards per game). Daniels’ 107.0 passer rating is seventh in the NFL. In his third NFL game, he went toe-to-toe with Joe Burrow and won — going 21-for-23 for 254 yards and two touchdowns for a 141.7 passer rating (to Burrow’s 127.5).
Daniels’ status for Sunday’s game is in question because he has bruised ribs. But both quarterbacks and both teams have plenty to prove. Neither has beaten a winning team this season. But fans of both the Bears and Commanders go into this one thinking the same thing about that elusive search for a franchise quarterback: This is their best chance yet.