The Chicago Bears picked up their first win since Oct. 24, 2022 on Thursday night. Thanks to impressive performances by Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, and the team’s defense, Chicago was able to take down the Washington Commanders, 40-20.
The Bears raced out to a 27-3 halftime lead, which drew the ire of one member of Washington’s new ownership group. In a tweet he posted after the game, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Magic Johnson called out the team, saying they lacked “intensity or fire” in the first half, “didn’t compete” in the game’s opening half hour, and cost themselves a chance to win by digging too deep of a hole.
Tonight the Commanders played with no intensity or fire. We didn’t compete in the first half and got down 27-3 heading into halftime. It was too big of a hole to climb out of and that is why we ended up losing 40-20.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) October 6, 2023
Johnson is normally a pretty jovial presence on Twitter, and when he is critical of stuff, he doesn’t always go this far. It says quite a bit about how much that performance irked him, but as it turns out, that sentiment was shared by members of the locker room. Per John Keim of ESPN:
“I’d probably say that’s pretty fair,” Washington receiver Terry McLaurin said.
“Definitely,” defensive end Montez Sweat said. “We came out flat.”
The Commanders will look to bounce back — and, by extension, make Johnson a lot happier — when the team travels to Atlanta to take on the Falcons next week.
