The 2025 NFL schedule release is only a few days away, which will provide the final puzzle piece ahead of the upcoming season.

For the Chicago Bears, a number of intriguing matchups await them this fall, including a game against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. But if there is one Bears game the rest of the league is looking forward to seeing, it’s against a different NFC East team—one that provided the worst moment Bears fans have experienced in quite a while.

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NFL.com senior news writer Kevin Patra recently released a list of his top 10 games of the 2025 season across the league. Naturally, his list was dominated by playoff rematches (Eagles vs. Chiefs) and growing rivals (Bengals vs. Bills), but he listed the Bears’ rematch against the Washington Commanders at No. 6. Patra explained his reasoning:

Last year’s iteration wasn’t a pretty game, but it had the most memorable outcome with Jayden Daniels’ ridiculous Hail Mary. It was a touchstone tilt for both squads. The Bears spiraled into the depths, losing 10 straight, firing their coach, and starting over again. The win helped catapult Washington to the postseason and eventually the NFC Championship Game. I’m anticipating a better bout in 2025. The Commanders added Deebo Samuel to the mix and upgraded the offensive line, including trading for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Bears hired the best play-caller available in Ben Johnson, fortified the offensive line and added additional playmakers in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III. Caleb Williams v. Jayden Daniels 2.0 should be much more than a Hail Mary highlight.

Every Bears fan knows exactly where they were sitting or standing when Daniels’ pass bounced off Tyrique Stevenson’s hand and into the arms of Noah Brown in the end zone to win the game for the Commanders 18-15. It’s a memory that has been seared into everyone’s minds, with nearly 25 million people watching, and set the course for both teams the rest of the season.

Aside from the memorable ending, the game was billed as one of the best matchups of the first half of the 2024 season in the days leading up to kickoff. Both teams were coming on strong with excellent play from their rookie quarterbacks and looked poised to remain in the playoff hunt for the rest of the year.

The game itself was a dogfight that featured hard-nosed defense and a wild fourth quarter in general, even before the Hail Mary. Who could forget the infamous handoff to Doug Kramer on the goal line that he proceeded to fumble away?

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Seeing as both teams have made significant upgrades, the 2025 matchup should once again be very competitive. For everyone’s sake, however, let’s hope it doesn’t come down to another Hail Mary attempt with time expiring.

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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Commanders among NFL’s most anticipated matchups of 2025