It’s been a couple of days since the Chicago Bears’ triumphant victory over the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football, and victory has never tasted sweeter.
Quarterback Justin Fields now has a two-game sample size of elite play, the offense is firing on all cylinders, and the defense actually stood its ground and didn’t allow a miraculous comeback victory two weeks in a row. The Chicago faithful now get to enjoy a full slate of football knowing that their team has done its job.
Buy Bears TicketsBefore all the exciting action kicks off tomorrow, let’s wax poetic about what the Bears did right in Week 5, and where they can improve with the extra time off this week.
Let’s break down the good, bad and ugly in the Bears Week 5 win over the Commanders.
The Good
Justin Fields: What a turnaround Chicago’s young quarterback has had. Fields got off to the same horrendous start that the rest of the team had, only throwing three touchdowns through the first three games. Fields has now finally taken his first major strides in becoming a superstar quarterback, throwing eight touchdowns in the last two weeks and leaping past the competition to be the NFL’s touchdown pass leader this season, sharing the number one spot with the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins (ahead of the rest of Week 5 action). Fields was simply magical on Thursday night, throwing with precision and rhythm in a four-touchdown effort. The scariest part of it all is that he still has room to grow, and I dread to think of the damage he has yet to do to the league this season.
Luke Getsy: Never in a million years and we’re all stiff and cold in the ground did I think Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy would land in “the good” section of our list, but he’s more than earned that right after his major improvements as a playcaller in Week 5. Getsy made the difficult decision of parting ways with his infamous screen-centric call sheet and instead curated it to have a focus on the vertical pass game and a dynamic run game, and it paid off in spades. Fields tossed daggers into the hearts of the Commanders defense and the running attack once again was successful in its assault, producing over 170 yards total. The fans rolled their eyes when Getsy assured them that special things were coming, and Thursday night was a taste of what’s hopefully to come.
Offensive line: One of the biggest concerns Chicago had going into Washington was how their middling but rebuilt offensive line would do against an ultra-talented Commanders defensive line. The offensive line proceeded to be the most pleasant surprise of the game, dominating at the point of attack through 60 minutes. With the unfortunate exception of backup left tackle Larry Borom, the offensive line’s play was stellar. Assignments were rarely missed, Fields had ample time to throw for large swaths of the game and the trench guys manhandled the Commanders front on run plays. Guards Nate Davis and Teven Jenkins, as well as right tackle Darnell Wright, were particularly impressed, with the latter having a highlight play in which he pulled from his spot on a run and erased a Commanders defender from existence on a huge hit. The Bears line played at near full strength, and the group should only get stronger as they work through the mini-bye week.
DJ Moore: When is the last time a Bears wide receiver absolutely wrecked shop in a game? It’s a phenomenon that has scarcely happened, but I can definitely get used to it. Moore was a man on a destruction path this week in prime time, hauling in eight catches for an astounding 230 yards and three touchdowns, extracting the wind from the Commanders’ sails early. Moore was brought in this offseason to be the key that unlocks the Bears offense, and he has kicked that door in in the early goings of the season.
Backup defenders making big plays: While the Commanders second-half resurgence had fans freezing in fear because of what happened the previous week, the defense actually did a solid job of keeping the game out of reach. A big reason for that if Chicago finally taking the ball away in big moments, and it wasn’t the usual suspects who changed the tide of certain drives. Greg Stroman Jr. made an instinctive play on a late pass over the middle, snagging the interception and making sure the Commanders would remain without a touchdown going into halftime, and rookie cornerback Terrell Smith made the great Charles Tillman proud by ripping the ball from the grasp of Commanders tight end Logan Thomas and recovering the fumble. The defense needed playmakers to step up in the absence of Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Eddie Jackson; Stroman and Smith rose to the occasion.
The Bad
Injuries: Though it’s no fault of the players in question, the injuries sustained in this game were a damper on an otherwise joyous night. The headline injuries were the entirety of the running back group having to step to the sideline or go to the locker room due to various ailments, with fullback Khari Blasingame having to get major touches in their absence. Center Lucas Patrick also got banged up in the contest and guard Cody Whitehair had to fill in, resulting in Fields having to catch some flyball snaps in order to save a play. It remains to be seen how serious many of these injuries are, but it definitely affected Chicago’s performance as the game winded down.
Minimal impact from other receivers: Fields was locked in with Moore and hit his stride throwing him the football, but that means the rest of the receiving corps didn’t get their chance to shine. Fields’ misses to Darnell Mooney particularly hurt, as it seemed they were never on the same page. Fields missed Mooney a couple times when he managed to run free, but Mooney in return didn’t finish a few routes or plays that quite literally left points on the board. In the NFL, sometimes the one-two punch of a QB-WR tandem just can’t be disrupted, but it would benefit the offense for Mooney and the other receivers to get involved as well.
The Ugly
Total yards allowed by defense: It’s incredibly fortunate Fields and the offense are taking a major step in their play, because the defense is certainly not matching its stride. Head coach Matt Eberflus’s defense once again couldn’t stop anyone on Thursday night, as Sam Howell had free reign to air the ball out over the Bears defense with little to no resistance. The script was the same as it’s been for the last couple weeks: Chicago reverts to its vanilla Cover 2 shell, and the opposing offense proceeds to rip ball into the crack of the defense’s armor, or they dump the ball underneath for a first down. Eberflus deserves some credit in disguising coverages and sending blitzes in key moments, but the base coverage he installed is just too archaic. The head coach has mentioned he will be looking at bringing someone on to the defensive staff this week. Let’s hope that person is a more creative defensive playcaller than Eberflus is.
