Bears’ weak run defense faces big challenge vs. Commanders

The Chicago Bears should be fresh coming off their bye week, but they’ll need all the extra energy they can get if they want to slow down the Washington Commanders in Week 6.

Sure, it’s a rematch of last year’s epic tilt that ended with a crushing Hail Mary touchdown throw from Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to beat the Bears on the final play, but the toughest matchup for Chicago on paper in this year’s version will be on the ground.

Looking at the numbers through the first five weeks of the season, the Commanders bring one of the league’s best rushing attacks into this game, while the Bears have struggled mightily to stop the run:

The Bears will have to deal with the dual-threat skills of Daniels, who poses a massive threat as a runner, even as he works his way back from a sprained knee that forced him to miss two games prior to his Week 5 return. Washington also has an upstart rookie in seventh-round pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt, a do-it-all weapon in his own right, who racked up 150 total yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Commanders’ 27-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Heading into this game, most of the talk will be about the quarterback matchup between Daniels and Caleb Williams, or the rematch of last year’s dramatic game. But this time around, the contest is likely to be won and lost in the trenches, and if the Bears want to come out on the right side of things, they’ll need their rush defense to step up in a big way.