The Chicago Bears avenged the loss that sent their franchise into a spiral Rohan NadkarniOctober 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM 2 Jake Moody celebrates with Tory Taylor after kicking the gamewinning field goal.
- - The Chicago Bears avenged the loss that sent their franchise into a spiral
Rohan NadkarniOctober 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
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Jake Moody celebrates with Tory Taylor after kicking the game-winning field goal. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
Last October, the Washington Commanders defeated the Chicago Bears on a Hail Mary as time expired, a shocking finish that sent the teams in opposite directions.
The Commanders, led by rookie Jayden Daniels (the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft), lost only three more games in the regular season and made it all the way to the NFC championship game.
The Bears, led by fellow rookie Caleb Williams (who was selected first), lost nine straight games after the loss to Washington. Chicago fired head coach Matt Eberflus amid the 10-game losing streak — the first time the franchise let go of a coach midseason — and ultimately finished the season 5-12.
On Monday, the two teams met again, and this time the result was the opposite. Williams led the Bears to a 25-24 win on a rainy night in Maryland, and it was Chicago who won as time expired.
"It says a lot about our locker room right now," Bears coach Ben Johnson said postgame. "They're not just believing, but now they're starting to understand, if this thing is close in the fourth quarter, someone is going to step up and make a play for us."
He added: "I think these wins, sometimes, can go a longer way for your program than those blowouts do."
Johnson, who was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions from 2022 to 2024, was hired in part to kickstart Williams's career after a disappointing rookie season. He was also brought in to change the culture of a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since 2010.
Chicago still has a long way to go to achieve those goals, but Monday's win was a sign of progress 351 days removed from a deeply embarrassing loss.
After last year's team crumbled against the Commanders, this year's version of the Bears overcame several mistakes to find a way to win. It certainly wasn't a clean game for Chicago, which had a field goal blocked, turned the ball over on downs and struggled in the red zone.
But for the second straight week, Williams — who finished with 252 yards passing and two total touchdowns — was called upon to deliver a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, and he delivered.
"I think being able to stay strong in those moments mentally is most important and that's what I did, that's what we did," Williams said postgame about keeping his emotions in check in the fourth quarter. "We stayed steady through all the ups and downs that we had and adversity that we had throughout this game. We stayed steady as a team mentally. We didn't flinch and we kept going."
Williams hasn't done it alone in the team's the last couple wins.
In what was also a 25-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4, the Bears' special teams blocked a potential game-winning field goal late in the fourth.
Against Washington, the defense forced two turnovers and also scooped up a fumbled handoff by Daniels that set up the game-winning kick. Doing the kicking for Chicago was Jake Moody, who was playing in his first game for the team after he signed with the practice squad in September.
While the whole franchise seemingly never recovered from the Hail Mary last year, Monday's win had to be especially sweet for Williams.
Last season, Daniels outshined and outplayed Williams, leading many to question if the Bears picked the wrong quarterback with the top pick.
So far this season, Williams is averaging more passing yards per game, and he has thrown for and rushed for more touchdowns than Daniels, all while his team has a better record.
"You play versus great players, you want to have those games, have those moments, where you're playing versus somebody else on the opposite side, where you're going to have a battle," Williams said. "[Daniels] knows that. I know that."
After an 0-2 start, Chicago has won three straight to improve to 3-2. The Bears were actually in a similar spot last season, entering the now-infamous loss against the Commanders with a 4-2 record.
Unlike last year, though, Chicago didn't leave Washington with a crushing defeat. Now, with a new coach and Williams beginning to realize his potential, it's the Bears who appear to be finally on the right track.
Source: "AOL Sports"
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