Monday night will treat NFL fans to a matchup between the top two picks from the 2024 draft. Jayden Daniels and the Commanders will host Caleb Williams and the Bears at Northwest Stadium for a showdown in prime time.
When these two teams met last October, the game was decided on a last-second, 52-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Noah Brown, sealing an 18–15 victory for Washington. Before that play, neither Daniels nor Williams had thrown a touchdown pass in the game. They’ve come a long way since then, and things figure to be plenty different this time around. Heading into Monday night, both teams have top-10 scoring offenses, with the Commanders averaging 26.8 points per game and the Bears averaging 25.3.
The Commanders are 3–2 coming off a win over the Chargers in Daniels’s return from missing two games with an ankle injury. They’ll be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season and move into a deadlock with the Eagles atop the NFC East. As for Chicago, it had an early bye in Week 5 and will enter play on Monday at 2–2 and winners of its last two games.
Here are a few bold predictions for Monday night’s clash.
Jayden Daniels will run rampant on Bears’ defense
The Bears have struggled to stop the run all year long, surrendering a league-worst 6.1 yards per carry. That bodes well for Daniels, who runs almost nine times per game.
Now two weeks removed from the ankle injury that sidelined him for two games, Daniels likely won’t hesitate to tuck the ball and run if he sees an opening. Chicago’s defense has given up 164.5 rushing yards per game, second-worst in the NFL. In Week 4, the Bears’ defense surrendered 240 rushing yards to the Raiders. Although the Bears have yet to come up against a mobile quarterback like Daniels this season, I’m expecting they will have a tough time trying to contain him.
Whether it’s a designed run or a scramble, Daniels will be looking to make plays with his legs, and I’m expecting him to have plenty of success when he does. I’m predicting Daniels will rush for a season-high 75 yards and score his first rushing touchdown of the year. – Karl Rasmussen
Commanders’ pass rush will get after Caleb Williams for three-plus sacks
One of the main criticisms of Williams as a quarterback is that he holds onto the football for too long in hopes of making a big play. Williams has the second-slowest time to throw among qualified quarterbacks this season, per Next Gen Stats, taking an average of 3.3 seconds from snap to pass.
The Commanders have one of the NFL’s best pass rushes, averaging 3.0 sacks per game. They had five sacks last week against the Chargers, including two from defensive end Dorance Armstrong.
Although Chicago’s offensive line has improved since last year when Williams was sacked 68 times, I’m expecting it will be on the wrong side of the battle in the trenches Monday night. Williams has already had one game in which he was sacked four times this year, and I’m anticipating Monday night will be a similar experience. Expect Williams to be under duress in the pocket and wind up getting sacked no less than three times by Washington’s defense. – Rasmussen
Jacory Croskey-Merritt will haul in first touchdown catch in two years
Jacory Croskey-Merritt—Bill, for short—is a runner, not a pass catcher. Though he’s rushed for 283 yards on a team-high 43 carries (6.6 YPC) to begin his career with the Commanders, the rookie running back has caught just five passes on seven targets out of the backfield through five games.
On top of this, the 24-year-old missed all but one game in his final college season at Arizona—and as such, he hasn’t caught a touchdown in nearly two years, since back when he was playing with the New Mexico Lobos in 2023.
The Bears, however, have surrendered three receiving touchdowns to running backs in four games this season, the second most in the NFL behind the Bengals. Look for Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to exploit this weakness and dial up a play that will give Bill a chance to find paydirt through the air Monday night. – Mike Kadlick
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bears vs. Commanders: Three Bold Predictions for 'Monday Night Football' in Week 6.
