Game Notes: Redskins at Bears 2015

Game Notes: Washington Redskins at Chicago Bears



· The Washington Redskins earned a 24-21 victory against the Chicago Bears in front of an announced crowd of 61,026 people at Soldier Field on Sunday.

· The Redskins snapped a nine-game road losing streak and earned their first road victory since Week 8 last season at Dallas.

· Quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 24-of-31 passes for 300 yards with one touchdown and one interception, finishing the game with a passer rating of 104.2. Cousins also tied a career high with four rushing attempts, gaining 13 yards with a rushing touchdown.

· The 300-yard passing performance was Cousins’ fifth of the season, adding to his career high and tying a franchise record set three times previously (Sonny Jurgensen in 1967, Jay Schroeder in 1986 and Mark Rypien in 1989).

· Cousins extended his career-long streak of games with a touchdown pass to 13. He is the first Redskins quarterback to open a season with a touchdown in 13 consecutive games since Pro Football Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen in 1967.

· Cousins (13) moved into sole possession of the third-longest streak of games with a passing touchdown in team history, trailing only Jurgensen (23 from 1966-68) and Joe Theismann (15 from 1984-85).

· Cousins entered the game as one of four NFL quarterbacks to have thrown a touchdown in every game this season (Blake Bortles, Tom Brady and Russell Wilson).

· Cousins has now recorded a passer rating of 100.0 or better in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

· With his 24 receptions on the day, Cousins (554) moved past No. 12 Norm Snead (531), No. 11 Eddie LeBaron (529), No. 10 Mark Brunell (542) and No. 9 Brad Johnson (544) for ninth-most career completions in franchise history.

· Cousins (314) exceeded the 300-completion mark for the season, the fourth 300-completion season in team history, joining Jason Campbell (315 in 2008 and 327 in 2009) and Brad Johnson (316 in 1999).

· Cousins has recorded a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in a single game on four occasions this season. Entering Sunday, Cousins was tied for second-most such games among NFL players this season, trailing only Carolina’s Cam Newton (six, entering Sunday).

· Tight end Jordan Reed led the Redskins with nine receptions for 120 yards with a touchdown.

· The 100-yard receiving game was the third of Reed’s career and his first of the season. It was the first 100-yard receiving game by a non-running back for the Redskins since Week 16 last season (DeSean Jackson vs. Philadelphia).

· In two career games against Chicago, Reed has now caught 18 passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns, exceeding the 100-yard mark in both contests.

· Reed scored on a five-yard touchdown pass from Cousins in the third quarter. The touchdown was Reed’s seventh of the season and 10th of his career.

· Cousins added a three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and of his career.

· The Redskins opened the game with a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive, culminating in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Morris.

· The touchdown was Morris’ first of the season and the 29th of his career.

· The 15-play drive was the Redskins’ longest opening drive of the season, surpassing a 10-play touchdown drive to open their Week 10 win vs. New Orleans.

· The 15-play drive was the Redskins’ longest opening drive since a 16-play drive vs. San Diego on Nov. 3, 2015.

· The drive lasted 8:30 of game time, the team’s third-longest scoring drive of the season behind a 9:33 field goal drive in Week 10 vs. New Orleans and an 8:49 touchdown drive in Week 1 vs. Miami.

· The Redskins gained seven first downs on their opening drive alone. In the previous 12 games, the Redskins had only gained seven or more first downs in the entire first quarter once (eight vs. New Orleans).

· Washington’s 11 first-quarter first downs were the most by the team in an opening quarter in records available dating back to 1991.

· Nose tackle Terrance Knighton registered his first full sack as a member of the Redskins, dropping Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for a seven-yard loss in the first quarter.

· Linebacker Trent Murphy pushed his sack total to a career-high 3.5 sacks this season. On the play, he forced and recovered a fumble, his first forced fumble of the season and his second fumble recovery of the season.

· Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan pushed his sack total this season to 7.5 with a sack on the Bears’ opening drive of the second half.

· Punter Tress Way unleashed a season-long 64-yard punt in the second quarter, the third-longest punt of his career.

· Running back Pierre Thomas made his Redskins debut, catching one pass for 12 yards.

· The Redskins scored a touchdown on both their opening drive of the game and their opening drive of the second half, marking the first time the team had scored an opening-drive touchdown in both halves since Nov. 29, 2009 at Philadelphia.

· The Redskins scored multiple rushing touchdowns for the second time this season (Week 2 vs. St. Louis, two).

· The Redskins gained a season-high 10 rushing first downs, the team’s most since Week 2 last season vs. Jacksonville (12).

· The Redskins held a 34:22-25:38 advantage in time of possession. The Redskins are 4-1 this season when possessing the ball for at least 34 minutes.

· The Redskins pushed their all-time record against the Bears to 25-23-1, including postseason play.

· The Redskins now hold a 21-20-1 all-time regular season advantage against Chicago.

· The Redskins evened their all-time road record against the Bears at 11-11.

· The Redskins extended their current winning streak against the Bears to six games, Washington’s longest active streak against any opponent.

· The Redskins have won seven of their last eight games in Chicago (including postseason play), dating back to 1987.

· The victory was Washington’s 598th all-time, including postseason play.