How Bears were sunk by Velus Jones Jr.’s fumble, offense’s goal-to-go failures
Ava Arnold CHICAGO — Late in the second quarter Thursday night, Bears rookie Velus Jones Jr. signaled for a fair catch on a punt, but he saw there was a lot of space in front of him. So when he got a shot in the fourth quarter with his team up by one point, he wanted to make a play.
Instead, he muffed the punt — his second fourth-quarter lost fumble in three weeks. The Commanders recovered and took the lead for good two plays later.
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“Rookie mistake,” Jones said after the game. “Just because it was a look then doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a look the next time. That’s one I should’ve definitely let go.”
Jones acknowledged he was “trying to do too much.” It was a ball he should’ve let go into the end zone, especially considering the situation. There was 8:18 left in the game. The Bears had just forced a three-and-out, thanks in part to a clutch tackle by linebacker Nicholas Morrow. They were going to get the ball back with the lead.
“We know that was a devastating blow,” Jones said. “I own up to my mistakes. We wouldn’t be in that situation if that punt wasn’t muffed.”
The @Commanders recover the fumble and take over in great field position!#WASvsCHI on Prime Video
Also available on NFL+— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2022
That’s not the singular reason the Bears fell to 2-4 with a 12-7 loss to Washington. They were inches away from victory despite Jones’ error, as wide receiver Darnell Mooney failed to finish his catch across the goal line on fourth down, the team’s third miss in a goal-to-go situation on the evening.
But the Bears have a minuscule margin of error with this roster. They were a nationally televised laughingstock again in the first half when they scored zero points. They finally had the crowd into it after quarterback Justin Fields’ 40-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver Dante Pettis, and then Jones’ fumble turned the game in an instant.
“Wasn’t a smart play,” Jones said. “Should’ve let it be a touchback.”
Goal-to-go misery
Sometimes the Bears find new ways to have things fall apart, like when the quarterback’s pass goes off a defender’s helmet and turns into an interception.
In the second quarter, they had another shot — fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Running back Khalil Herbert was stuffed.
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“We’ve got to finish with our men in the end zone,” center Sam Mustipher said. “That’s what it comes down to. I think a linebacker was able to come over the top. That’s really what it comes down to. All of us finishing with our feet in the end zone and normally we’ll score if that’s the case.”
The @Commanders defense comes up with a goal line stop!#WASvsCHI on Prime Video
Also available on NFL+— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2022
NFL teams are actually 4-for-10 this season scoring touchdowns on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Bears have two of those misses, with the other coming in Green Bay.
What’s startling — or maybe not — is how bad the Bears have been for two decades in this situation. According to Stathead, the Bears are 4-for-18 when it’s fourth-and-goal from the opponent’s 1-yard line dating to the 2008 season.
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The failure to score wasted Herbert’s 64-yard run. The Bears began the series with a first-and-goal at the 3 — four chances to score and zero points to show for it. It led to the team’s second scoreless first half of the season, and eighth since 2019.
“The summary of it all is we didn’t finish,” Fields said.
How Fields stacked up
Fields rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries, the second most of his career and tied with Bobby Douglass for the sixth most in a game by a Bears quarterback since at least 1950.
He completed only 51.8 percent of his passes, the fourth game this season in which he failed to hit at least 52 percent. He is in last place in the NFL among qualifying quarterbacks with a completion percentage of 54.8.
With three 20-plus-yard completions, Fields has 15 on the season, tied for 12th in the NFL.
Fields and Carson Wentz entered the game as two of the most sacked quarterbacks in football. They left the game tied for the league lead, each having been sacked 23 times this season. Fields, though, has been sacked 23 times on only 172 dropbacks (13.4 percent) compared with Wentz’s 266 (8.6 percent).
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According to TruMedia, Fields is up to 34 scrambles on the season — 10 more than any other quarterback. His scramble percentage of 19.8 leads the NFL.
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From the locker room
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson returned from a quad injury that kept him out the past three games and finally started getting the ball thrown his way.
Late in the second quarter, he was penalized for pass interference, a call he didn’t agree with.
Did the official give him an explanation?
“No, he was ducking me,” Johnson said. “He wasn’t trying to talk to me.”
Five plays later, Washington had a third-and-6 from the Bears’ 20-yard line. Wentz went deep for his top playmaker, wide receiver Terry McLaurin, with a ball in the back corner of the end zone. Johnson broke up the pass, forcing the Commanders to settle for a field goal.
“One-on-one, I saw him look, I knew we were man-to-man and they knew that as well,” he said. “They tried their best guy and I was fortunate enough to make a game.”
McLaurin had only four targets, catching three passes for 41 yards. Wentz passed for 99 yards.
“It’s a skill you’ve got to learn to be patient,” Johnson said about making that play with his back to the ball. “You’ve got to track the ball through his eyes. That just comes with repetition and being confident and comfortable in a situation like that with my back turned. Just something I’ve done for a long time. There was no panic in that situation.”
The defense did its part, limiting the Commanders to six points before Jones’ muffed punt. Wentz’s 66.3 passer rating was the lowest for a quarterback who defeated the Bears since 2018 when Eli Manning had a 54.3 in a Giants win. He’s the second quarterback in three weeks to beat the Bears without throwing for more than 100 yards, joining the Giants’ Daniel Jones.
The Bears defense also held Washington to a 2-for-11 rate on third down. Since 1991, this is the 13th time a team was 18.2 percent or worse on third down and still beat the Bears, the most recent occasion coming in 2020 (the Saints were 2-for-13).
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Snap count observations
Week 6 snap counts (offense)
• The Bears ran 72 plays on offense, nine more than any other game this season.
• According to Pro Football Focus, Fields was pressured 17 times on Thursday night to go along with the five sacks. That’s the most pressures the Bears have allowed — keep in mind they’re still historically low on pass attempts.
• Left tackle Braxton Jones allowed five pressures. He came into the game having allowed eight in the previous five games.
• Lucas Patrick, who missed three snaps while being evaluated for a concussion, was marked for allowing three pressures.
• Teven Jenkins was on the sideline without his helmet to start a drive, with Michael Schofield manning the right guard spot. No injury had been announced at the time, but when Patrick had to leave the game, Jenkins grabbed his helmet and came back on — replacing Riley Reiff, who first entered the field. Then we found out Jenkins had a shoulder injury.
• Tight end Cole Kmet led skill players in snaps, but what stood out to me was the snap he wasn’t on the field for — the overthrow of Ryan Griffin. A second-and-goal situation should include Kmet.
• Speaking of Kmet as a potential red zone threat, he was pass blocking on the final play of the game.
• Mooney had a season-high 12 targets and finished with seven catches for 68 yards, but it’ll be the catch he didn’t make that understandably lingers.
• David Montgomery had a quiet 67 yards rushing on 15 carries, a respectable 4.5-yard average. He wasn’t as used in the passing game with only one reception.
• While Equanimeous St. Brown was second among receivers in snaps, it was lower than his usual amount, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette was the one on the field for the final drive. We’ll have to see if that was injury- or skill-related. St. Brown wasn’t targeted all night.
• Smith-Marsette had the one drop on fourth down — not that it likely would’ve converted the first. He also had an end-around go for a loss.
• Pettis had seven targets and four catches, including the 40-yard touchdown catch. Pettis and Mooney combined for 19 targets, while the rest of the team had seven.
• Considering Herbert’s success, you’d like to see a way for him to be on the field more than 22 percent of the time.
• Trevon Wesco, claimed off waivers before the season, has become the No. 2 tight end based on playing time. Most of his snaps came in the first half.
• It was a season-low in participation for fullback Khari Blasingame. The Bears gained 33 yards on his six snaps.
• Jones had a career-high in snaps, too, quadrupling his participation in Minnesota. He had only two touches on 12 snaps, but they went for 18 yards, a sign that the Bears have to get him the ball more often — at least on offense.
Week 6 snap counts (defense)
• It was a season low for the defense in snaps with 57. Sometimes that can be a bad thing if an opponent is scoring at will, but in this case, it showed how well the defense played.
• Linebacker Roquan Smith had 12 tackles and a sack, but his night will be most remembered for being blocked to the ground by Wentz.
• Morrow had nine tackles, and his stop on running back Antonio Gibson short of the sticks in the fourth quarter should have been a more important play had Jones not fumbled the ensuing punt.
• Safety Eddie Jackson had another game in which he was pretty noticeable for his tackling. He finished with five stops. His almost tackle for loss of Curtis Samuel helped limit the Commanders’ receiver to 3 yards on an end-around.
• Defensive tackle Armon Watts started for the second week in a row and led defensive linemen with six tackles. He also had a pressure of Wentz on the Commanders’ failed two-point conversion. Despite the start, Angelo Blackson still out-snapped Watts by four.
• Al-Quadin Muhammad had his first sack as a Bear, but he had no other QB hits.
• Defensive end Robert Quinn has to get going. He had one tackle and zero quarterback hits. He has seven tackles, one sack and two quarterback hits this season. That doesn’t help his trade value, either.
• Defensive tackle Justin Jones led the defensive front in playing time. He didn’t have a tackle, but he did knock down a pass on third-and-goal, forcing Washington to settle for a field goal.
• Cornerbacks Kindle Vildor and Kyler Gordon each had an impressive pass defensed. Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker had his second sack.
• Defensive ends Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson were held without a quarterback hit on their combined 42 snaps. The only three QB hits for the Bears in the box score came on the three sacks.
(Top photo of Darnell Mooney: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
