Just when you thought the Chicago Bears' 2023 season was over, they pulled off an impressive 40-20 victory over the Washington Commanders in Week 5 in primetime on Thursday Night Football.
It was an impressive performance by a Bears offense that's been otherwise dormant for most of the season. Chicago's passing game came alive in Week 4's loss to the Denver Broncos, but skeptical Bears fans hesitated to believe in Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy until they proved they can consistently produce at a high level.
Fields and Getsy did that on Thursday night, and while there's still hesitation to buy all the way in on the offense, it was great to see such a productive showcase of high-end talent in Chicago.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Thursday night's victory.
The lights may be on for Justin Fields
Justin Fields has now stacked two fantastic games in a row. He set a career-high in passing yards and touchdowns in Week 4 when he threw for 335 yards and four scores against the Broncos, but the fact the Bears lost that game left fans with a bitter taste.
Against the Commanders, Fields passed for 289 yards and another four touchdowns and added 57 yards on 11 carries.
Fields threw with confidence, timing, accuracy, and, most of all, he was clutch late in the game. It was the first time Fields proved he could finish off a team with no right clawing back in the fourth quarter.
The most encouraging thing from Justin Fields' performance was his increased level of trust in wide receiver DJ Moore. He targeted the star wideout even when he appeared covered; he trusted his best playmaker to make a play, and Moore turned that trust into a career night of his own.
The Chicago Bears will enter this mini-bye feeling really good about the direction of this team because of the play of Fields. True franchise quarterbacks level up the talent around them. Fields did that against the Washington Commanders in Week 5.
DJ Moore is HIM
Eight catches, 230 yards, four touchdowns.
That's usually a good month of production for a Chicago Bears receiver. For DJ Moore, it was another Thursday night at the office.
The Bears' biggest offseason decision came when GM Ryan Poles traded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft to the Carolina Panthers for a haul of selections and Moore, who was viewed as the missing piece for Fields and Chicago's passing game. The theory was he'd do for Fields what Stefon Diggs has done for Josh Allen in Buffalo and what AJ Brown is doing for Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia.
Moore's beginning to turn that theory into an on-field reality.
Check out his last two games: 19 targets, 16 catches, 361 yards, and four touchdowns.
That production is, in a word, ridiculous.
Moore is currently on pace to top 1,800 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns on more than 90 catches. He's the most talented Bears receiver since Brandon Marshall. He might already be the best pass-catcher in team history, and he's only been with the club for five games.
DJ Moore is unlocking Justin Fields and the Bears' passing game. He's a remarkable player who Bears fans should appreciate the opportunity to cheer for.
Bears' offensive line did its job
It was great to see Teven Jenkins back on the field, and at one point, 4/5 of the projected Chicago Bears starting offensive line was intact. The only player missing was left tackle Braxton Jones.
The biggest matchup in the run-up to the Bears-Commanders game was Chicago's offensive line against Washington's vaunted defensive line, and the Bears won. Sure, Justin Fields was harassed at times, but he threw from an otherwise clean pocket and had time to connect with DJ Moore downfield.
The running game was humming before Khalil Herbert's injury, too. The Bears' interior moved defenders off their landmarks and gave Herbert some big holes to scoot through.
Much of the post-game focus will be on the play of Fields, Moore, and the other skill players on offense, but none of it would've been possible without a strong performance by the offensive line.
The only concern from Thursday night was the snaps by center Cody Whitehair. He was off-target several times, and if it wasn't for Fields' athletic ability, some of Whitehair's misses could've been fatal.
Chicago Bears defense was better, but still worrisome
I don't think there were a lot of Bears fans who trusted the defense to protect Chicago's lead late in the game Thursday night. Remember: we're still suffering from the post-traumatic stress of surrendering a 21-point lead to the lowly Broncos in Week 4. It began to feel like Sam Howell and the Commanders would march back in Week 5, too.
But the defense did do its job. The pass rush finally came alive, and the patchwork secondary played well enough to halt Washington's comeback effort.
Even though there was growth on defense all around, it still felt like there weren't enough impact plays from key starters, namely Tremaine Edmunds.
Edmunds signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Bears in free agency, but he hasn't done anything noteworthy in the first five games he's been with Chicago. He does have 48 tackles, including nine against the Commanders, but most of them are several yards downfield and in recovery mode rather than in hot pursuit at or near the line of scrimmage.
I don't think it's time to panic about Edmunds being an overpaid player whose contract will eventually become a problem. But he has to step up and make a bigger impact in the middle of Chicago's defense. The Bears have high standards at inside linebacker, and Edmunds isn't meeting them yet.
Matt Eberflus still has the locker room believing
We've all jumped on Matt Eberflus over the last few weeks. It's what happens when nearly a calendar year between wins and 14-straight losses are on a head coach's resume. But Eberflus continued saying throughout the losing streak that the players inside the locker room are working, trusting the process and bonding.
We saw what he meant on Thursday night.
The Bears played with more energy and passion than the Washington Commanders. They rallied to the ball on defense and were sharp on offense. They looked like a well-coached team.
Perhaps Thursday night is a great lesson in patience. Eberflus has only been on the job for 22 games. His program needs time to develop; maybe that time is now.
Maybe that's just the morning-after-a-win high talking, but it was good to see Eberflus get the proverbial monkey off his back and break the losing streak. Now, he has to prove it wasn't a fluke and that his team -- his Chicago Bears -- can compete with any team every week.