The Magnificent 7

Seven players who made the biggest difference in the Bears' 25-24 victory over the Commanders on Monday night at Northwest Stadium:

1. D'Andre Swift

He's the Edwin Jackson of the Bears — it seems like every time critics write him off for disappointing performances, he comes up with a big game that makes you think he's a keeper after all. With a lot of help from a determined offensive line, Swift came up with his biggest game with the Bears at a critical time — 14 carries for 108 yards rushing and two receptions for 67 yards — including a 55-yard touchdown off a short pass from Caleb Williams that got the Bears within 24-22 with 10:26 left in the fourth quarter. Swift's 175 total yards are the second most of his NFL career (181 with the Eagles against the Vikings in 2023.

2. Jake Moody

A late sub for Cairo Santos, Moody made 4-of-5 field goal attempts, including a 38-yard game-winner as time expired that was no sure thing given the conditions, his previous kick being blocked and just the Bears being the Bears. Moody, who started the season with the 49ers before he was cut after Week 1 when he missed two field goal attempts (a 27-yarder that hit the upright; a 36-yarder that was blocked, also hit from 47, 48 and 41 yards. When his low-trajectory 48-yard attempt that would have given the Bears a 19-17 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter was blocked, it looked ominous. But he got another chance and made the most of it.

3. Jayden Daniels

A year after he threw a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play to beat the Bears 18-15, Daniels found out just how fickle the football gods can be. With the Commanders' fate again in his hands with 3:10 to play, leading 24-22, Daniels this time was victimized by a play that rarely happens with the game on the line. Daniels lost control of a shotgun snap, leading to a botched handoff and fumble that Bears cornerback Nashon Wright recovered at the Bears' 44-yard line to set up the Bears' game-winning drive. Until then, Daniels again was the hero, overcoming an early pick to throw three touchdown passes that gave the Commanders a 24-16 lead with 11:27 left in the fourth quarter. He finished 19-of-26 for 211 yards and a 119.2 passer rating. This time, though, he never got a chance for another miracle.

4. Caleb Williams

A supremely talented quarterback with a knack for avoiding Cutler moments and being in the right place at the right time is tougher than it looks in the NFL, but Williams has shown he have all three of those qualities. His biggest play came on a pass that went four yards past the line of scrimmage (and was snapped at 0 on the play clock, according to the TV broadcast) — with Swift turning it into a 55-yard touchdown. He finished 17 of 29 for 252 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 98.6 passer rating. In a second battle between quarterbacks taken 1-2 overall in the 2024 draft, Williams on this night only passed Daniels in good fortune, but that made all the difference.

5. Theo Benedet

The offensive line came through after Ben Johnson pointedly blamed blocking as the primary culprit for the Bears' subpar running game — and Benedet is a fitting representative to take a bow. In his second NFL start and first at left tackle, the 2024 undrafted free agent held his own and then some in a credible performance as blocking — even to the naked eye — was an obvious factor in the improved run game (27 carries, 145 yards, 5.4 avg., one touchdown). Benedet was called for an illegal formation that nullified an 11-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze when he cheated off the line a bit — an offense proven tackles get away with routinely in today's NFL. But overall, Benedet's first start at left tackle was encouraging and a factor in the Bears' victory.

6. Jaquan Brisker

The fourth-year safety typified the kind of night it was for several Bears players who made a big play and a bad one but came out on top. Brisker's interception to stop the Commanders' opening drive — stepping in front of Deebo Samuel at the Bears' 2-yard line — was an early tone-setter. He was called for roughing the passer when he went a little too low on a quarterback hit on Daniels on a third-and-five incompletion with 8:52 left in the fourth quarter and the Bears trailing 24-22. But just as Brisker bailed out Montez Sweat after a roughing the passer penalty with his first-quarter interception, Sweat bailed out Brisker with a pressure on Daniels that led to an incompletion to force a punt. It – ultimately — was that kind of night for the Bears.

7. Alex Moore

The game's referee and his crew had one of those nights where there were few easy calls and a lot of difficult, nuanced ones (and that was without a single offensive-holding call in the game), which was bound to make one side unhappy and probably both. The Bears got the short end of it — Montez Sweat's roughing the passer penalty, Colston Loveland's "push off," Theo Benedet's illegal formation. But the way the officials were calling it, D'Andre Swift could have been called for holding on Caleb Williams' touchdown run. And they might have missed a delay-of-game penalty on Williams' 55-yard touchdown pass to Swift. Bears fans weren't happy. But the Bears had a penalty differential of minus-44 yards and still won — that's how the good teams handle those situations, and ultimately turn them in their favor.

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