The bears best positioned to inflict damage on commanders

The Bears haven’t won a road game yet this year, meaning Caleb Williams hasn’t won a road game.

It’s an additional factor weighing on the Bears’ starting quarterback this week as he tries to extend the team’s winning streak to four and its hot passing streak to five in Washington.

Just because the Bears haven’t done this with Williams doesn’t mean they can’t.

“We’re talking about a small sample size here. Early in his career,” said coach Matt Eberflus.

After all, it’s only been two road games and those were in Weeks 2 and 3. A lot has changed in the last three games as Williams has learned the offense and gotten teammates involved in the passing attack. The running game has also come to life.

“I would say he is where he is now and he wants to improve every week,” Eberflus added. “This week is no different. Really just an overall improvement, a quarterback leading the team. That’s what he’s going to do this week.”

Eberflus had to admit those back-to-back losses to the Texans and Colts on the road as a distant memory after recent success.

“That’s true, that’s what it feels like,” he said. “It’s week to week and each week feels like it lasts about four weeks. It seems like a long time ago.

“You put a lot of work and preparation every week into preparing for that particular opponent, getting our team ready, the guys coming together and putting the game plan together. It’s a lot of work every week and he’s still a few weeks away from that now .” He’s in a good place.’

Williams’ success in his hot streak occurred as he learned the offense and his own weapons within it. It’s not the same offense that left Indianapolis in frustration. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has learned what works well with his group and the play-calling has also improved.

These are the Bears who can give Washington the most trouble in Sunday’s 3:25 PM game at Northwest Stadium, and it shouldn’t be surprising to see most of them on offense, as Washington’s strength is when it has the ball.

1. QB Caleb Williams

2. RB D’André Swift

Even though the Commanders rank only five teams, the average yards per carry is worse than the Commanders’ 4.9, and it’s not like the Bears have to pick and choose where to send Swift because it’s been porous at and down in the defensive line. The loss of Jonathan Allen didn’t really help their defensive front, even though they have former Illini Johnny Newton to fill in for him. The Commanders rank 23rd in run stopping from the left tackle, 25th behind the left guard, 26th at center, 21st above the right guard and 20th behind the right tackle. The best they’ve done is allow 4.38 yards per run behind one of those holes on the line, according to NFLGSIS.com. Fast, with patience, can be a real problem for the Commanders, even if Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner plays linebacker.

3. WR DJ Moore

He did it last year with eight catches, 230 yards and three touchdowns, but he never had a problem making receptions against them. Moore is averaging 90.2 yards per game and 5.6 catches through five games against the Commanders, and 16.1 yards per catch. Washington now has a different defense, but hasn’t had enough time to adapt its personnel to the scheme and is experiencing issues throughout the secondary. Targeting cornerback Benjamin St-Juste is one way to repeat this success. His passer rating is 114.3 and he has allowed three touchdown passes.

4. WR Keenan Allen

He got a taste of it in the last game, but Allen is capable of so much more than the two TD passes and third-down catches he made. Confidence in the new offense and the new QB is increasing. Allen will face slot cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, who has a 101.5 passer rating and has given up two touchdowns, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. Igbinoghene only gives up 5.2 yards per target, but he does give up the catch. Allen could be the go-to guy.

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5. WR Rome Odunze

If Odunze can find the deep route and challenge Washington free safety Quan Martin, or if any of the receivers can, they can cause damage. Martin has a 118.7 passer rating and his five completions allowed are good for 24.2 yards per catch. A big play receiver challenging the secondary depth when there are already too many threats to cover is not what the secondary should see.

6. THE Montez sweat

The Commanders have each line position firmly locked down, but the Bears might find themselves liking either tackle matchup for their top pass rusher. Coming from the left side of the offense, he will face former Bears tackle Cornelius Lucas. Now on his fifth team, Lucas appears to have found a home in Washington and has the Commanders’ best blocking grade, but stopping his former teammate won’t be easy. On the other hand, he would face Andrew Wylie, the former Chiefs tackle who left in free agency last year.

7. CB Jaylon Johnson

Terry McLaurin is getting a healthy dose of the sixth-ranked cornerback in the league, the best cornerback last year according to Pro Football Focus. Stathead has Johnson’s passer rating of 27.3 this year. He has given up 50% completions and 5.6 yards per completion, numbers that do not benefit any offense. McLaurin had four catches for 49 yards against the Bears last year, but had just one catch for 3 yards in the first half as the Commanders trailed 27-3.

8. T. Darnell Wright

Now ranked seventh in the league in run-block win percentage according to ESPN, the second-year Bears right tackle will be at his best as a run blocker against Dorance Armstrong. While Armstrong is a true pass rush force, he ranks 98th out of 112 edge players against Pro Football Focus’ lead. Wright is coming off strong after a somewhat slow start and is now also making progress as a pass blocker. One of his better games last year and perhaps his first big game was against the Commanders.

Twitter: BearsOnSI