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Courtney Cronin
LANDOVER, Md. — Jake Moody had been on the Chicago Bears’ active roster for all of seven hours by the time he kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Washington Commanders 25-24 on Monday night.
Moody was elevated from the practice squad earlier in the day while Bears kicker Cairo Santos is dealing with an injury to his right thigh. Santos was injured during Chicago’s Week 4 win at Las Vegas and was a full participant in practice during the week.
“We made it through the week and we just said, ‘Hey, [Santos] wasn’t feeling it, and we went ahead and made the change,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said.
Moody, who has been with the Bears since Sept. 13, became the first Bears kicker to boot a walk-off field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter in his debut with the franchise. The 25-year-old was mobbed by teammates as his game-winner sailed through the uprights at Northwest Stadium. He was then carried off the field in celebration.
“It’s a pretty cool series of events,” Moody said. “A couple days ago, I didn’t know I was playing and to get lifted up by my teammates, it’s an amazing feeling. I’m really glad I got to share that moment with them.”
Moody began the season with San Francisco, the team that drafted him in the third round in 2023. He was cut following the Niners’ season opener against the Seahawks after missing two field goals and signed to the Bears practice squad days ahead of Week 2.
Given his limited time with the franchise, several Bears players were still getting to know their teammate as of kickoff. Running back D’Andre Swift introduced himself to Moody on the sideline during Monday’s game.
“First time I’ve spoken to him,” Swift said. “He did a great job. I don’t know when he found out what his role was going to be today, but just coming in, resilient. Just proud of him. Happy to have him on the team, too.”
Moody went 4-for-5 against the Commanders in wet and windy conditions Monday. He connected on field goals of 47, 48 and 41 yards before he kicked the winner with three seconds remaining.
Moody said Santos was an invaluable resource for him during the game.
“Very, very glad that we did travel with him,” Moody said. “He kicked here a fair among and he was able to kind of help me with the wind, with the field surface, all that stuff. So I was very glad to have an extra set of hands on hand.”
At the start of the fourth quarter, Moody had a 48-yard field goal blocked that put the Commanders at their own 37-yard line. Washington, which held a one-point lead at the time, found the end zone seven plays later when Jayden Daniels connected with Zach Ertz for a touchdown.
The Bears cut Washington’s lead to 24-22 on their next drive when Swift took a short pass 55 yards for a touchdown. After a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Chicago found itself in position to win after Daniels fumbled his exchange with rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt near midfield.
The Bears had 3:07 to work with late in the game and leaned on Swift and the ground game. After a slow start to the season, Swift finally broke through with 175 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.
Near the two-minute warning, Moody was shown on the jumbotron warming up for his chance to help Chicago earn its second straight win in walk-off fashion.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Johnson said. “We’ve seen him in practice now for a number of weeks. That’s one. And then, we also knew what he was capable of. He’s made big kicks in big games over the course of his career so far. So none of that was surprising. I think that’s who he is, and I think that change of scenery was really good for him.”
The Bears say that wide receiver DJ Moore will stay in the DC-area for “precautionary medical evaluation” after he left the stadium in an ambulance. Moore was on the field for all but one play (a kneel down to set up Moody’s game-winning field goal) during Chicago’s final drive.
It’s not clear how the receiver was injured, though he was shown on the broadcast during the second quarter in visible discomfort after taking a hit to his midsection. Moore finished with three catches for 42 yards and two rushing attempts for 10 yards.
