Seasons Greetings from historic Soldier Field, where Da Bears haven't been relevant since 1985 & the Redskins are slowly starting to rumble to become relevant. Biggest keys today are  for the Defense to find a way to stop Bears rookie running back Jordan Howard & just as importantly for the Offense to not come out flat as a pancake in the first quarter. This offense has struggled to get going since the Cardinals game. 

 

 

 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF INACTIVES

 

CHICAGO – The Washington Redskins have announced the following inactives and lineup changes for today’s game against the Chicago Bears:

 

The Redskins declared the following players as inactive:

o   No. 2 QB Nate Sudfeld

o   No. 31 RB Matt Jones

o   No. 36 S Su’a Cravens

o   No. 47 CB Quinton Dunbar

o   No. 60 OL Vinston Painter

o   No. 78 C Kory Lichtensteiger

o   No. 86 TE Jordan Reed 

 

No. 85 Vernon Davis is expected to start in place of Reed at tight end.

 

 

While not eliminated from the Playoffs, the Redskins no longer control their own destiny after another embarrassing loss earlier this week on Monday Night. A win today over the 3 win Bears will help, but at this point if the team still comes out flat, Redskins fans will feel like they just got a lump of coal in their stocking. That said, here's to a Redskins win to brighten all our holidays.

 

Da Bears win the toss & defer so now the Offense gets to start. Hopefully they come out blazing because I dont even want to think about another flat start. Stadium is about half empty here at the start. Skins start with a run followed by a Cousins scramble  they seemed committed to trying to establish the run for once, however a throwaway pass for Cousins & a missed pass to a wide open Crowder stalls out the opening drive.

Defense holds to a quick three n out. However, not sure if that's because Da Bears are that bad or if the D actually stopped them. 

Next offensive drive, Skins start with the run again but quickly turn to the fast passing game for chunks of yardage & seal off the drive returning to the run to end it with Chris Thompson in the end zone for the first score of the game. Skins up 7-0. Ho ho ho

Bears QB Matt Barkley starts off the Bears second drive looking rather blah. Skins D stops Howard for a loss of 8 then Barkley starts to get a little hot then the Bears fumble & the Redskins recover. A fumble gets reversed on the replay & Howard rips this defense for 23. On third down, Barkley looks lost out there, throws it out the back of the endzone. Bears go for 3 but it's blocked out of the back of the end zone & Skins takeover at the 20. 

So far, one thing is clear. The Bears need a QB upgrade. Also, my Fantasy team would love it Crowder would get involved this drive. Instead DJax with a 57 yard gain shows why someone is gonna pay him next year. On 3rd & 9 inside the 20 Cousins barely dumps it off in time to avoid a sack to Thompson. All he does is score. Skins up 14-0. And that's the end of the fist quarter. Ho ho ho

Start of the 2nd quarter has Breeland picking off Barkley in the end zone. After review, pick stands however the return yardage is nullified. Knee was down at the 1. Skins come out with a 99 yard March in front of them. Three plays later it's 3rd & 1 at the 38. 46 yard bomb to Garçon converts the third down & puts the Redskins in the Red Zone. Drive stalls out so the Skins take the 3. 17-0. Ho ho home. 

Its starting to look more like the Bears D is way worse then it was given credit for. The Offense so far has surprisingly been balanced. 12 runs to 14 passes. Redskins passing game has been clicking & the run game is showing it wants to be there as well.  On the flip side, for the Bears, They have Howard who is exceptional & Barkley who is, well....NOT. A penalty helps get the Bears drive to stay alive & end up with their first score. 17-7 Ho ho ehhh

Skins start off like they've been taking stupid pills. Holding on a Breeland return followed by another penalty omfor having 12 men on the field. Then Cousins overthrows DJax who had his man beat deep over the 50 yard line. Two plays later though Kirk connects with DJax for 29 yards. Another deep shot to DJax is incomplete but he gets a flag & it's an automatic first down. Skins FINALLY seem to be not playing down to the level of an inferior team. Inside the Two Minute Warning, Cousins runs it in this time from 9 yards out. It's 24-7 Skins. Ho Ho ho. 

Robert Kelley is Questionable to return with a knee injury. 

Barkley gets the moving downfield by going no huddle out of the shotgun & they get a TD with 34 seconds left in the Half. 24-14 Skins. Ho Ho ummm. 

End of the first half. 

The start of the second half has Howard get injured, a Preston Smith sack on Barkley, a Bears converted fake punt, & a Josh Norman pick. Welcome to Crazy Town. 

Funny how those "DJax wouldn't rule out a Philly return" rumors were going a few weeks ago & the last 3 games he's gotten more targets. Like the one that incomplete to start the Skins opening 2nd half drive. That was his 7th current target of the game. Which at that point lead the WRs as Garçon was next with 4 targets. 

 

Skins end another drive with a TD scored by Cousins on a QB sneak from the 1. Skins increase their lead to 31-14. The Bears next drive is stopped short as Breeland gets in on the INT game & picks off Barkley. Skins are rolling so hard we get a Mack Brown sighting at RB & Crowder gets a second target. Cousins doesn't connect with Davis in the end zone on 4th & 1. It's the type of ballsy call that you make when you're up by three scores. The Bears have Howard back in the game though down 17 expect them to abandon the run game. 

Start of the Fourth sees Barkley nearly picked off again in the corner end zone only to actually get picked off on the next play by Blackmon who returns it 79 yards. Skins takeover again at the Chicago 10 as Sabotage by the Beastie Boys blasts the stadium. Fitting song.  Mack Brown gets it to the 1 where a holding penalty halts this TD attempt & forces the Skins to kick. It's good & now 34-14 Skins. HO HO HO

Bears drive it to the 1 & Norman picks off Barkley. Again. Even though it's pretty much the equivalent of pulling the wings off a fly, this Redskins performance sure is enjoyable.