Ron Rivera and Washington are making a habit of shocking undefeated teams.
For the second time in three seasons, Rivera took a Washington team with a losing record on the road to hand an undefeated team its first loss of the season.
The Commanders, who entered the game with a 4-5 record, went to Philadelphia and handed the Eagles their first loss following an 8-0 start.
That 32-21 victory Monday night came two years after Rivera lead a 4-7 Washington team to a 23-17 victory at 11-0 Pittsburgh.
Only two of the other 29 teams in the Super Bowl era that started a season 8-0 or better lost their first game at home to a team with a losing record, with Houston (3-5) beating Cincinnati (8-0) in 2015 and the Rams (4-6) doing it at San Francisco (10-0) in 1990.
Five other teams that started 8-0 or better lost their first game to a team with a losing record on the road.
Rivera became the second coach in the Super Bowl era to hand two teams that started 8-0 or better their first loss. Don Coryell also did it, leading the Cardinals over the 8-0 Cowboys in 1977 and the Chargers over the 11-0 Dolphins in 1984.
FIELD DAY
Chicago’s Justin Fields is on a record-setting stretch in his first full season as starter.
Fields has rushed for 555 yards in the last five games — the most for any QB in a five-game span in the Super Bowl era. He needs just 458 yards rushing over the final seven games to break Lamar Jackson’s single-season record for quarterbacks of 1,206 set in 2019.
Fields threw for 167 yards and two TDs and ran for 147 yards and two TDs in a loss to Detroit on Sunday, becoming the second player in NFL history with at least 100 yards and two TDs on the ground and through the air in the same game. The only other player to do it was Colin Kaepernick in the playoffs following the 2012 season against Green Bay.
Fields is the fifth player in the Super Bowl era with at least one TD pass and one TD run in four straight games. He can tie Kyler Murray’s record from 2020 of doing it in five straight on Sunday at Atlanta.
Fields is also the only QB in the Super Bowl era with more than one TD run of at least 60 yards in the same season.
His work on the ground has helped the Bears become the first team in NFL history to rush for at least 225 yards in five straight games.
Fields’ production hasn’t meant success for the Bears, who have lost the last three games. They are the first team to lose three straight while scoring at least 29 points in each game in NFL history.
