How about these cardiac Chicago Bears? In their last two games, not only have they won both games by the same score of 25-24, but this time over the Washington Commanders, they find a way to do it in the most dramatic way possible. Jake Moody, who had been cut by the San Francisco 49ers early this year after being a third-round pick in 2023, had to come in for the injured Cairo Santos and went 4/5 on his field goal attempts, including the game-winning one as time expired.
Yet, almost none of that would’ve been possible without running back D’Andre Swift having arguably his best game as a Bear in his 22 career games with the franchise so far. Swift ran for his second 100-yard rushing game in his Bears career (he ran for 129 last year against Washington), totaling 108 on the ground, and another 67 yards receiving, including that clutch 55-yard receiving touchdown.
“He was huge, this is the best, the most efficient we’ve ran the ball all year,” head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. “(You) really felt an attitude with him; he did a great job finding a little crease and stepping on the gas as we talked about. (He) played a physical style, not only that, the catch was really a game-changer for us. That was a time in the game when we needed a spark. We were faltering a bit as a team, and all it takes is one guy to make a big play to really ignite us again. I think it’s who I really thought he was going to be going into the season, we’re looking for guys who can elevate the people around them, and he did that here tonight.”
As a team, the Bears had their best rushing game of the season by far, with 145 yards on the ground, which even included the first carry of the season for Roschon Johnson, who got six yards on his one carry. As a team, they averaged 5.4 yards per carry, with Swift leading the way at a whopping 7.7 YPC on his 14 carries on Monday Night. Brendan Sugrue of Bears Wire posted on Twitter/X that this was the highest YPC for Swift in over two years, when Swift had 8.1 YPC (18 carries for 130 yards) when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 back in Week 3.
D'Andre Swift rushed 14 times for 108 yards, averaging 7.7 YPC.
That's his highest average in a game since Week 3 of the 2023 season when he was with the Eagles (16 for 130, 8.1).
— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) October 14, 2025
What really helped unlock the Bears’ run game was their game plan of running on the perimeter against this Commanders defense. The toss plays to Swift in particular worked well, with the Bears running it to the right side, setting up Moody’s game-winning field goal. According to Next Gen Stats, all but one of his runs that went outside the hashes went for five yards or less. According to the chart, every single run play that went up the middle went for 0-to-5 yards for Swift.
Ben Johnson found the secret sauce of how to get D’Andre Swift going: run the ball outside the hashes. pic.twitter.com/PQsxdp4kzv
— Jackson Gross (@JGrossReporter) October 14, 2025
Swift had been criticised heavily by fans and media for his performances throughout his entire tenure in Chicago. A fair clip of those criticisms was warranted, especially when All-Pro running backs Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs were available in that same free agency class. When he finds open space, Swift is a dynamic runner with great speed and acceleration, allowing him to run past defenders. The problem with him has always been his vision, even going back to his days with the Detroit Lions and Eagles. Yet, last night he was able to find the right creases and had some big runs to get the Bears moving. Swift will have to show that this isn’t a one-week wonder from him with the New York Giants’ defensive line coming up in a few weeks. Yet, at least for last night, Swift had himself a ball game and jump-started the Bears’ rushing attack when they needed it badly.
“I love D’Andre, man. This is my second year with him, and he’s such a character for us as a team. So, being able to get him going is really important for us, and I couldn’t be more happy for him,” quarterback Caleb Williams said. “When you have moments like this, it does lift a little weight off your chest and shoulders. We wanna keep the run game going, but we wouldn’t be able to have, and Swift and I know this, what we have without the wide receivers blocking on the edge and obviously the offensive linemen and tight ends in the box being able to spring runs like that for him.”
Not a VIP subscriber to the Bear Report? Sign up now to get access to everything publisher Zack Pearson and the entire Bear Report team have to offer on all things Chicago Bears and access to the No. 1 site covering the team!