Commanders trapped in a recurring nightmare they can’t escape

That play summed up the Commanders’ defensive efforts so far this year. A whiffed tackle, a lack of urgency from Marshon Lattimore, and a defense that continues to beat itself.

After the game, Swift was asked if he was surprised that third-year safety Quan Martin missed the tackle, and with no hesitation, he said, "No."

Swift alone accounted for 46 percent of the Bears' total offense after looking washed throughout the first quarter of the year. Not only did he run all over the defense, but according to Next Gen Stats, he had nine carries for 87 yards against loaded boxes. This means when the defense was actively trying to stop the run, he averaged 9.67 yards per carry.

That's unacceptable.

What could be worse than that? How about the run defense on the Bears' game-winning drive?

After Jayden Daniels fumbled the ball in a mistimed handoff to Jacory Croskey-Merritt, the Bears got the ball back at their own 44-yard line. Chicago went with a heavy dose of the run, carving up significant yardage to set up the game-winning field goal.

Watching the game, one would have thought the Commanders had the second-worst run defense and not the Bears. But this is nothing new for Washington.

In last year's match-up, Swift racked up 129 rush yards and a touchdown, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. After this encore performance, he was asked what it was about him and the Commanders, and he just shrugged and said, “Opportunity, I guess.”

If Washington doesn’t fix its run defense soon, every running back on their schedule will be looking forward to that same opportunity.