Fans are not far away from the Week 6 finale between the Washington Commanders and the Chicago Bears, with the picks starting to roll in.
Bleacher Report has its panel of experts make their predictions on who will win the game. To the surprise of many, four of the seven NFL experts picked the Bears to top the Commanders and get their revenge from the Hail Mary game last year.
"The Commanders did look sharp against the Chargers in Week 5—they spotted the Bolts 10 points and then dominated them. They have also won both games at home decisively.
Washington's home wins came against struggling teams, but the Bears present a stronger challenge under Ben Johnson.
The Chicago head coach had an extra week to prep. And Washington's defense is decent. The Bears will move the ball and score plenty, but then lose late on a field goal."
Bears have a chance to make a statement against the Commanders
It might be too early to call a game a "must-win," but Chicago certainly would benefit from having a win against the Commanders. There is the perspective that the Bears can only beat weaker teams (Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys) compared to more vigorous opponents (Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions).
That's a fair critique to an extent, as the league is only in its sixth week, so a lot can change. Bears fans know this better than anyone after starting the 2024 season 4-2 before going 5-12 to end it.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams can use signature wins in their careers, as they haven't had that. Williams only got five wins last year, and Johnson is just four games into his head coaching career.
The key to the Bears winning this game will be to stop the Commanders' number-one rushing offense in the NFL. Chicago is ranked 31st against the run, so they need to find a way to slow it down and force Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to throw it.
Read more: Bears' first Week 6 injury report reads more like a novel with 2 new injuries
This will be Chicago's toughest matchup of the year, but they have more talent than they did last year. So, they have a shot to win this game and make a loud statement to the NFL.