Washington Commanders beat Chicago Bears 12-7 to snap four-game losing streak | Bears QB Justin Fields injures shoulder in loss
Brian Robinson scores game-winning touchdown for Washington Commanders just six weeks on from having been shot twice in the knee; watch the NFL live on Sky Sports on Sundays at 6pm - Week Six triple-header kicks off with 49ers @ Falcons, followed by Bills @ Chiefs and Cowboys @ Eagles
Monday 17 October 2022 00:50, UK
The Washington Commanders snapped a four-game losing streak as they hung on to beat the Chicago Bears 12-7 in another low-scoring Thursday night clash.
Story of the Game
Exactly a week on from the Indianapolis Colts' 12-9 overtime win over the Denver Broncos, the action in Chicago similarly struggled to spark into life, with a Joey Slye goal for Washington - with 46 seconds left of the first half - the only points scored before the break.
Justin Fields connected with Dante Pettis midway through the third quarter for a 40-yard touchdown to finally see the Bears on the board and ahead in the game. But a further Slye field goal in the fourth quarter and a first touchdown in the NFL for rookie third-round draft pick Brian Robinson saw the Commanders (2-4) ultimately come away with a crucial victory.
Christian Holmes recovered a muffed punt by Velus Jones deep in Chicago territory to set up Robinson's goal-line game winning score. It marks an incredible turnaround for the running back, six weeks on from being shot twice in the knee when the victim of an attempted robbery or carjacking in Washington.
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The loss for the Bears (2-4) is their third in a row on the season. Second-year QB Fields, who said after the game that he re-aggravated an injury to his left shoulder, was intercepted by Jonathan Allen when deep into Washington territory in the first half.
The Commanders defense also forced Chicago to turn the ball over on downs three times in the game, and twice from down near the goal-line - the most crucial of those was a clutch stop just shy of the endzone in the closing minute of the game as the Bears looked to regain the lead, Benjamin St-Juste stopping Darnell Mooney from scoring a potential game-winner.
Washington quarterback Carson Wentz had earlier overthrown Curtis Samuel on a two-point conversion play following Robinson's TD, while Slye missed with a 48-yard field goal with just under two minutes left that would have added to the Commanders' lead and seen them avoid such drama late on.
Rivera angrily defends his quarterback
Wentz completed only 12 of 22 passes in the game for just 99 yards, having come in for criticism earlier this week - including, seemingly, from his own head coach.
Ron Rivera, when asked earlier this week why other NFC East teams (all 4-1 or better) are ahead of Washington in the division at this point, he responded: "Quarterback."
Rivera later apologised for his comments, and then launched into a passionate defence of his QB and the rest of the team after Thursday night's win, saying: "When you lose four games in a row, everybody wants to get on you.
"Honestly, it has been really hard. They've played their asses off - they come in, they show up, they work hard, don't complain. They hear all of the stuff, and they've got to deal with it - I respect them for that.
"And everybody says I don't want anything to do with Carson. Well, b*******. I'm the f****** guy that looked at the analytics, watched the tape. That's what p**** me off because the young man doesn't deserve to have that all the time."
Rivera then stormed out of the post-match press conference.
Stats leaders
Commanders- Passing: Carson Wentz, 12/22, 99 yards
- Rushing: Brian Robinson, 17 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: Terry McLaurin, three catches, 41 yards
Bears
- Passing: Justin Fields, 14/27, 190 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Rushing: Justin Fields, 12 carries, 88 yards
- Receiving: Dante Pettis, four catches, 84 yards, 1 TD
Scoring Summary
Coach Rivera is 'awesome' | Fields 'tired of being this close'
Commanders quarterback, Carson Wentz: "Coach Rivera, he's awesome.
"It's definitely special [his post-match defence of the QB]. He's going to speak his mind and be very direct to the point. In this business, that means a lot.
"I think guys love that about him and he's going to be straight-up, very motivational and [we] respond to him very well. I have a lot of respect for him and appreciative of what he's done for me."
Bears quarterback, Justin Fields: "We always get told that we're almost there, we're almost there, Me personally, I'm tired of being almost there.
"I'm tired of being just this close. I feel like I've been hearing it for so long now."
[On shoulder injury]: "I'm hurting. Hurting pretty good. I've got a long weekend, so I'll have some extra time to heal up."
"I hurt it a while back, so it kind of just reaggravated it"
What's next?
Two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, go head-to-head on Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs (4-1) host the Buffalo Bills (4-1), live on Sky Sports NFL from 9.25pm.
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Prior to that, the triple-header of NFL Sunday action gets under way with the San Francisco 49ers (3-2) travelling to the Atlanta Falcons (2-3) - kick-off at 6pm.
Neil Reynolds will be joined in the studio by Jason Bell and a pair of Super Bowl winners in Torry Holt and Will Blackmon, while we'll also be hearing from Phoebe Schecter and Sky Sports News' Danyal Khan at a 49ers fan event in Leeds where former Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford and San Francisco player Joe Nedney will be among those in attendance.
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And, following on from Mahomes and Allen's latest epic encounter, we join our friends at NBC for Football Night in America for a classic Sunday Night Football matchup, as the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles (5-0) host their bitter NFC East rivals, the Dallas Cowboys (4-1), who come into the contest fresh from their own four-game win streak - kick-off is at 1.20am early on Monday morning.
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