Troubles continued for the Redskins as the Bears, now on the rise as a dominant team, embarrased Washington on both sides of the ball. Early in the game, it looked like the Skins could be set to take revenge for their playoff loss the previous year, opening up a 10-0 lead. But a 99 yard kickoff return by Willie Gault sparked an outburst of Bears points in the second quarter, and the score had swung to 31-10 by halftime. All of the Bears' key players participated, most notably on a trick-play TD pass from Walter Payton to QB Jim McMahon. The Bears added a pair of TDs in the second half to pad their point total.

This game featured a memorable low point for the Redskins. Punter Jeff Hayes was injured chasing Gault on his scoring kickoff return. Hayes was not able to return, and Joe Theismann was forced to fill in as a punter. With the Skins already pinned back at their 13 yard line, Theismann's punt went sideways and out of bounds at the 14, netting 1 yard. Needless to say, this set the Bears up in easy field position to follow up with another TD.