The Bears finally snapped their 14-game losing streak on Thursday night with a victory over the Commanders. This victory was not only important for the team but also for the city of Chicago. As it gives fans renewed hope that the Bears are not a complete dumpster fire. In fact the Bears look to be getting things back on track. Here are three aspects of the game that looked better in the victory against the Commanders.

Justin Fields Balls out!

Justin Fields has been under a lot of scrutiny for his play this season. Even after having the best game of his career last week, the Bears came up short of a victory due to his two fourth quarter turnovers. This week against the Commanders was different. Fields played a complete game without turning the ball over. He ended the game 15 of 29 passing for 282 yards and four touchdowns. While Fields may have missed some deep throws and touchdowns, he still made a lot of big plays. These past two weeks, Fields has shown good improvement in his passing, which is exciting.

Even though Fields' success passing the ball is exciting, he is still a potent runner. He showed that against the Commanders by having his second best rushing game of the season, accumulating 57 yards on 11 carries. If the Bears keep using Fields as a runner and he continues having good passing days, it will be difficult to move on from him in the draft.

Defense produces sacks

One of the biggest questions going into this week was whether the Bears would be able to sack Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. Entering this game, Howell had been sacked 24 times. That is the most any quarterback has been sacked this season. However, the Bears’ defense has not been good at sacking opposing quarterbacks in the past 21 games. So, there were no expectations of a multi-sack game. Yet, the Bears’ defense proved everyone wrong by being the Commanders backfield consistently and gathering five sacks on Howell. Players who recorded sacks include T.J. Edwards, Greg Storwman Jr., DeMarcus Walkers, Yannick Ngakoue, and Rasheem Green. Seeing the defense finally create pressure was refreshing. Going forward, these players need to build off the momentum they had in this game and play better throughout the rest of the season.

 
Fewer Penalties taken

The Bears entered their matchup against the Commanders as one of the most penalized teams in the league, with 28 penalties. That means they average at least five penalties a game. These penalties have come at inopportune times, putting the offense behind the sticks or forcing the defense to stay on the field longer. These penalties show the Bears need to be more disciplined on both sides of the ball. Thankfully, they showed a little improvement against the Commanders, only committing three penalties. However, all three of the penalties were in big moments. The Bears had both a false start and a defensive offsides on third down. They also had a 25-yard pass interference that put the Commanders on the two-yard line. Even though the Bears limited the penalties they took this week, they need to ensure penalties do not occur in important moments like third down.