LANDOVER, Md. — The Bears nearly stole the ugliest of road wins Sunday against the Commanders before falling on what might prove to be the most unbelievable play of the NFL season.
After taking their first lead in the final minute, they lost 18-15 in the final second as Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels launched a desperate heave into a crowd at the goal and it bounced to wide receiver Noah Brown for a 52-yard game-winning touchdown pass.
It’s a painful way to lose, and they’ll have to relive it for a long time because that highlight is not going away anytime soon.
But don’t get distracted by the viral video of the Commanders storming the field to celebrate a shocking finish. The Bears spent all afternoon losing that game. While they misplayed their Hail Mary defense at the end, there was plenty wrong in the first 59 minutes.
As quarterback Caleb Williams watched Daniels’ pass take flight, he rode a wave from elation to devastation, but he wasn’t hung up on the Commanders beating the Bears on a prayer.
“There’s frustration because I could’ve played better,” he said. “We could’ve played better offensively throughout the whole game to put ourselves in better position. And we will.”
That’s a big promise, and it might eventually be true. But for now, these are the real Bears.
They’re a team still under construction on both lines of scrimmage, and their rookie quarterback isn’t yet good enough to compensate for their shortcomings. It was fun for them to pretend the last three games, when they rolled some of the NFL’s worst teams, but they left the shallow end Sunday and immediately sunk.
They came out of their bye week sloppy and got exposed by the coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback they bypassed over the last few years: Dan Quinn, Kliff Kingsbury and Daniels.
They allowed 481 yards to the Commanders and gave up 6.7 yards per carry. They couldn’t contain Daniels, who threw for 326 yards and ran for 65. There were significant lapses, and the Bears rescued some shaky drives with timely stops on third down.
The offense was nonexistent most of the game, went backward in squandering a few scoring opportunities and didn’t reach the red zone until midway through the fourth quarter. Williams completed just 10 of 24 passes for 131 yards and had a 59.5 passer rating. The Bears went 2 for 12 on third downs.
“To obsess over the result is a little immature,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “There’s a lot that we can get better at.”
The defeat dredged up so many things the Bears wanted to believe they’d move past, and the most crushing recurrence was that of offensive Shane Waldron’s perplexing play calling.
For all their failures, they had a golden opportunity to take the lead with six minutes left on a third-and-goal from the Commanders’ 1-yard line. Waldron called for a handoff to backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer, who was lined up at fullback, and he and Williams fumbled the exchange for a deadly turnover.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of questions about the Doug Kramer play,” coach Matt Eberflus said.
Thousands, starting with, “Why?”
Why when the Bears are paying nearly $50 million for Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, D’Andre Swift and Kmet and have two top-10 picks in Williams and Rome Odunze are they giving the ball to an offensive lineman with the game on the line?
Why aren’t there 10 better choices?
Why didn’t Eberflus veto it when he heard it in his headset?
“It’s a one-yard play,” he said. “We felt a big guy like that taking a dive could do that.”
Turned out to be a pretty important yard. What’s Daniels’ Hail Mary worth if he’s down 10?
It’s scary if this is what the Bears will look like against good opponents. They’ve got a ton of them coming up. It’ll take tremendous and unforeseen improvement to keep the Bears afloat this season.
That could come from Williams, though he certainly regressed Sunday. It’s hard to discern exactly how much of a step backward it was given how unreliable the Bears’ offensive line was, but he criticized his own throwing accuracy and Eberflus said he strayed from his progressions.
The Bears are counting on him to become a transcendent quarterback who can make up for anything they’re missing, but that’s not who he is seven games into his career. That’s a ton to ask of a rookie, and the Bears didn’t plan on needing that right away. General manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus believed they’d put everything in place to give Williams margin as he grows.
That’s always how it feels going into training camp. Everything looks good on paper, and a lot of teams hit the grass with playoff dreams.
The season has a way of testing those theories. The wins and losses put them in their tiers, and all the Bears can say at this point is they’re better than the bottom feeders. It’s a huge step from there into actual contention, and they aren’t ready.