It took 346 days, but the Chicago Bears finally won a football game. On Thursday Night Football, the Bears defeated the Washington Commanders 40-20 to win their first game of the season, snapping their 14 game losing streak. So, was the Bears’s first win in over 11 months a fluke or a sign of things to come?
Game Synopsis
The Bears had a 24-point lead going into halftime, thanks to the play of Justin Fields and DJ Moore. At the end of the first half, Fields had amassed 189 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Moore had 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns. An interception by Greg Stroman Jr set up a touchdown for Cole Kmet. Lucas Patrick and Roschon Johnson were diagnosed with concussions in the second quarter and did not return.
The second half started with a long touchdown drive by the Commanders, cutting the Bears lead to 16 points. Khalil Herbert injured his ankle on the Bears’ first drive of the second half, and the Bears were forced to punt. On Washington’s next drive, tight end Logan Thomas tried to step out of bounds, but before he could do so, he had the ball stripped from his hands by rookie Terell Smith. Smith recovered the fumble, but the Bears were forced to punt again. Both teams then traded field goals after Moore was ruled to have stepped out of bounds on what could have been a 53-yard touchdown. Instead, the Bears led 30-14 with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Washington then proceeded to march down the field once again. Curtis Samuel was left wide open in the end zone for a three-yard touchdown. Thankfully, Sam Howell was sacked on the two-point conversion. The Bears offense punted for a third time in the second half. Then, Commanders’ placekicker Joey Slye missed a 46-yard field goal. The Bears responded with a 56-yard catch and run by DJ Moore for a touchdown on third and three. Matt Eberflus’ defense came up big on the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs thanks to sacks by DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green. The Bears capped the game off with a field goal. The Bears scored 13 points in the fourth quarter despite fullback Khari Blasingame being their only available ball carrier.
Fields finished the game, completing 51.7 percent of his passes for 282 yards, three touchdowns, and a passer rating of 125.3. Fields also ran the ball 11 times for 57 yards, his highest mark of the season since week one.
Numbers that define the Bears’ first win of the season:
0– A big part of the Bears’ first victory of the season was the complete lack of turnovers. The Bears’ offense turned the ball over zero times last Thursday night. The last time the Bears turned the ball over zero times was November 6th, 2022, against the Miami Dolphins.
3– DJ Moore had a career-high three touchdowns against the Commanders. In addition to Moore finding the endzone, the Bears’ offense successfully converted three “Tush Pushes.” The “Tush Push,” or the “Brotherly Shove,” is the name given to the almost unstoppable quarterback sneak invented by the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Before week five, the Bears tried multiple ways to convert a quarterback sneak, including putting Cole Kmet under center. The fact that the Bears were able to pick up three first downs with the “Tush Push” indicates that Luke Getsy can adapt his offense to an always-changing league.
4– Justin Fields threw four touchdowns last Thursday. Before October 1st of this year, Fields had never thrown for more than three touchdowns in a game. He has now thrown four touchdown passes in two straight games.
5– Finally, a statistic from the defensive side of the ball. The Bears’ defense racked up five sacks on Sam Howell. Those sacks came from TJ Edwards, Greg Stroman Jr, Yannick Ngakoue, DeMarcus Walker, and Rasheem Green. Before Thursday, the Bears’ defense had compiled two sacks in four games this season.
7– The Bears’ offense averaged seven yards per play against the Commanders. That is their highest mark of the season through five games. The last time the Bears averaged seven yards or more per play was on December 4th, 2022, when they averaged 8.2 yards per play in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.
20– The Bears’ defense held the Commanders to only 20 points on Thursday night. That marked the first time since October 24th, 2022, when the Bears held an opponent to under 25 points in a game. The last time the Bears accomplished this feat was when they held the New England Patriots to 14 points in Chicago’s last win before their 14 game losing streak.
27– Greg Stroman Jr, who wears number 27 for the Bears, had a monster night in the secondary. He was filling in once again for the injured Kyler Gordon. Stroman had seven tackles (one for loss), a sack, a pass deflection, and an interception.
40– The Bears put up 40 points on the Commanders defense. That is the most points scored in a game by the Bears under Matt Eberflus. The Bears’ previous mark was 33 points against, you guessed it, the New England Patriots.
230– To go along with his three touchdowns, Moore also had a whopping 230 receiving yards on the night. He accomplished this feat on only eight catches.
How has the offensive line fared?
The Bears used three players at left guard last Thursday: Cody Whiteahir, Ja’Tyre Carter, and Teven Jenkins. Jenkins returned from IR and played in his first game of the season. According to PFF, Jenkins posted a player grade of 81.2, allowing zero pressures and zero sacks on 37 snaps. Aside from Jenkins, Darnell Wright was also great. According to PFF, Wright posted a player grade of 75.4, and allowed one sack on only four pressures against Washington. Nate Davis has been solid since returning to the Bears after dealing with a death in his family. Cody Whitehair struggled earlier in the season but only allowed one pressure all game on Thursday night.
Justin Fields was sacked 13 times in the season’s first three games. He has only been sacked seven times in the previous two games of the season. The Bears’ offensive line is headed in the right direction.
Has the coaching improved?
The Bears’ offense averaged 15.66 points per game in the first three games of this season. In their last two games, the offense averaged 34 points per game. The Bears’ defense gave up an average of 35.44 points in the first three games of this season. The defense has only given up 25.5 points per game in their last two games. The improvement of the offense and defense is a testament to the coaching done behind the scenes.
According to teamrankings.com, Chicago is committing 6.2 penalties per game this season, which is tied for the 14th-best mark in the NFL. Before Thursday’s victory, the Bears were committing seven penalties per game. The Bears committed a season-low three penalties against Washington.
Last week, many people were critical of the coaching job done by Matt Eberflus and Luke Getsy in their loss to the Denver Broncos. In the last two weeks, their offense has exploded, and the defense has made steady improvements to their defense with multiple starters injured. Eberflus and Getsy have silenced the critics for the time being.
How has the offensive line fared?
The Bears used three players at left guard last Thursday: Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, and Ja’Tyre Carter. Jenkins returned from IR and played in his first game of the season. According to PFF, Jenkins posted a player grade of 81.2, allowing zero pressures and zero sacks on 37 snaps. Cody Whitehair struggled earlier in the season but only allowed one pressure all game on Thursday night. Although PFF ranks Carter very poorly, he has only one sack in 114 snaps this season. That’s pretty good for a former seventh-round pick. Nate Davis has played well since returning to the Bears after dealing with a death in his family.
Rookie Darnell Wright has been playing great. According to PFF, Wright posted a player grade of 75.4, and allowed one sack on only four pressures against Washington. Even though Wright has allowed four total sacks so far this season, he has only committed three penalties across 313 snaps.
Justin Fields was sacked 13 times in the season’s first three games. He has only been sacked seven times in the previous two games of the season. The Bears’ offensive line is headed in the right direction.
So, did the Bears improve?
The answer is yes! The Chicago Bears put together a complete team performance in their victory against Washington. After a disappointing month of football filled with defeats, cryptic comments by Justin Fields, and the abrupt resignation of now-former defensive coordinator Alan Williams, the Bears are headed in the right direction. Chicago also eliminated a major distraction when they shipped Chase Claypool to Miami.
The next two games on the Bears’ schedule are the Minnesota Vikings and the Las Vegas Raiders. The Bears have the talent to win both of those games. If they don’t, their playoff hopes are gone for good.
