Brian Robinson Jr’s first NFL touchdown weeks after shooting puts Commanders over Bears in sloppy affair

Last week’s Thursday night game was brutal but at least there were some touchdowns in this one.

It was sloppy from start to finish, but a late surge – and some help from the opposition – gave the Washington Commanders a 12-7 win in Chicago against the Bears.

Up 7-6 with just over 8 minutes to go, the Commanders were set to punt the ball away for the sixth time of the night. However, Velus Jones muffed the Commanders’ punt, and Washington recovered at the four-yard line, putting themselves in a perfect spot. 

On the second play of the abbreviated drive, Brian Robinson Jr., in his first NFL start less than two months after getting shot, scored from the two-yard line. Washington’s two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but they led 12-7 with 7:21 to go.

Chicago tried to drive down the field, but on 3rd and 11, Dante Pettis dropped a pass, a delay of game pushed them back, and then another pass went through the hands of Ihmir Smith-Marsette for a turnover on downs.

Washington had a chance to make it an eight-point game, but Tress Way missed a 48-yard field goal, giving the Bears life with 1:48 to go and no timeouts from their own 38-yard line.

And suddenly, they were revived with a 39-yard scramble by Justin Fields, putting them at the Commanders’ five-yard line, but they couldn’t punch it in.

Fields ran for just a yard on first down, his second down pass was batted down, and Pettis couldn’t hold on to a 50-50 ball in the end zone on third. On fourth down, he found Darnell Mooney right at the goal line, but he bobbled the ball and didn’t have possession of the ball beyond it – the refs marked him short, and Wentz took a knee at the one-yard line to clinch the win.

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The second half was a much better product than the first half, which isn’t saying much, but the first half was really something. The Bears had back-to-back trips inside the Washington 10-yard line in the first 19 minutes of the game. The first trip ended in an interception, and the next one wound up in a turnover on down after Khalil Herbert was stuffed at the goal line. 

The Commanders’ first four drives resulted in punts before they finally kicked a 38-yard field goal with 46 seconds left for the game’s first score. At the half, the Commanders had just 88 yards of offense, but they were the ones with the 3-0 heading into the locker room. Out of the 10 first-half drives, seven resulted in punts, and two were turnovers.

After the Commanders – you guessed it – punted on their first drive of the second half, the Bears were desperate. So Fields launched one downfield for Pettis, who tip-toed in the back of the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown. The ensuing PAT made it a 7-3 Bears lead. But that was their only score of the night – and just their ninth touchdown of the season, spanning now six games.

That touchdown apparently lit a fire under Washington – Carson Wentz finally moved the ball into the red zone and down to the five-yard line, but they had to settle for their second field goal of the night, pulling them to within one, but they sure took advantage when necessary, as per the aforementioned punt.

Wentz threw for just 99 yards, completing 12 of his 22 passes, while Robinson made the most of his first career start – along with his first touchdown, he put up 60 yards on 17 carries.

Fields threw for 190 with a touchdown and a pick on 14-for-27 passing. He also ran for 88 yards on 12 carries.

David Montgomery ran for 67 yards on 15 carries – Herbert had seven for 75, but 85 percent of that total came on one carry.

Both teams are now 2-4. The Commanders will welcome the Green Bay Packers in Week 7, while the Bears will head to New England for the Monday night affair that week.