Because of how they were deployed, Lamarr Houston and Willlie Young have been included as parts of the defensive line, since they were de facto ends throughout most of Sunday’s game. And while those two distinguished themselves, the rest of the linebacker group did not.
Jonathan Anderson and Shea McClellin allowed tight end Jordan Reed to take an easy short toss from Kirk Cousins and split the defense for 32 yards in the third quarter. McClellin missed more than one tackle while in position for a stop to prevent significant gains and was not stout at the point against too many Washington runs.
Washington averaged only 3.0 yards per carry, yet was able to pick up 10 first downs rushing.
[SHOP BEARS: Get your Bears gear right here]
Additionally, McClellin allowed Reed to get free on a crossing route in the end zone for the third Washington touchdown. Reed finished with 120 yards, catching all nine of the passes thrown to him by Cousins.
McClellin and Christian Jones were credited with seven and six tackles, respectively, but none of the 13 was for a loss and too many were at the second level instead of in assigned gaps in time to stuff a mediocre run game. The Redskins averaged just 3.0 yards per carry but ran the football 29 times between Matt Jones (18 for 64 yards) and Alfred Morris (11 for 24).
Moon's Grade: D