Muffed punt, Robinson TD give Commanders victory

CHICAGO >> Christian Holmes recovered a muffed punt by Velus Jones deep in Chicago territory to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Brian Robinson midway through the fourth quarter, and the Washington Commanders stopped a four-game losing streak, hanging on to beat the Bears 12-7 Thursday night.

This one might not have been quite as ugly as the Colts-Broncos yawner that had famed play-by-play announcer Al Michaels launching zingers and creating a buzz on social media. There were plenty of bad reads, tipped balls, overthrown passes and sloppy play in general. But there was also no shortage of drama down the stretch.

The Commanders (2-4) took advantage of two turnovers after taking the ball away just once in the first five games in winning for the first time since beating Jacksonville in the opener. Jonathan Allen intercepted

Justin Fields deep in Washington territory in the first half. Benjamin St-Juste stopped Darnell Mooney just shy of the end zone in the closing minute of the game, and the Bears (2-4) lost their third in a row.

Washington caught a huge break when it punted on fourth down at its 36. Jones had trouble tracking the ball, then let it hit off his arms.

Holmes recovered it in a big pile at the 6, and Robinson scored two plays later, making it 12-7 with 7:21 remaining.

Carson Wentz overthrew Curtis Samuel in the back of the end zone on the 2-point conversion attempt, and Joey Slye missed a 48-yard field goal wide left with 1:48 remaining.

Chicago’s Justin Fields then broke off a 39-yard run to the 5. Dante Pettis was unable to hang onto a third-down pass in the end zone with Darrick Forrest all over him. A leaping Mooney got knocked out of bounds by St-Juste inches shy of the goal line.