The Chicago Bears snapped the longest active losing streak in the NFL on Thursday night, as they defeated the Washington Commanders, 40-20. This was Chicago's first win in 15 games, as the Bears' last victory came on Oct. 24 of last year against the New England Patriots. D.J. Moore was the star of the show, as he caught eight passes for a career-high 230 yards and three touchdowns.
Much like last week against the Denver Broncos, the Bears jumped out to a huge lead early. This time, however, they were able to hang on. Chicago scored the first 17 points of the game, and established a 27-3 lead at the halftime break thanks to two touchdowns from Moore. The Commanders did put together a 17-3 run in the second half behind an impressive bounce-back from quarterback Sam Howell, but a Joey Slye missed field goal from 46 yards out with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter sealed Washington's fate.
Coming off of what was statistically a career performance, Fields registered another impressive outing in Week 5. The third-year signal-caller completed 15 of 29 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns while adding 57 yards on the ground. Howell had a career-night as well, as the UNC product completed 37 of 51 passes for 388 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also led Washington in rushing with 19 yards.
Let's take a look at what went down in Washington on Thursday night.
Why the Bears won
The Bears did not look like a team that hadn't won a game in nearly a year. They didn't look like a team that blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter just four days earlier, or a team with a defense that ranked in the bottom five of nearly every category. The Bears instead looked like an improved team with a dynamic duo on offense.
There are two reasons why the Bears won on Thursday night: Justin Fields and D.J. Moore.
Fields' 282 passing yards are the fourth-most he's recorded in a game, while his four passing touchdowns tied a career high. When's the last time Fields threw four touchdowns in a game you ask? It was four days ago against the Broncos.
For the second straight week, Fields threw three touchdowns in the first half. Per CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso, Fields has completed 28 of 37 passes (75.6%) for 420 yards (11.3 yards per attempt) 6 touchdowns and zero interceptions with a 152.0 rating over the last two first halves. Maybe he's not exactly taking on the San Francisco 49ers' defense, but talk about a turnaround for the young kid. I know the other teams haven't played yet in Week 5, but as it stands entering NFL Sunday, Fields is tied for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns with 11.
As for Moore, he was incredible. His 230 receiving yards were obviously a career high, as were his three receiving touchdowns. Per Next Gen Stats, Moore gained 221 of his 230 receiving yards on hitches and go routes, the most yards on those two routes in a game over the last six seasons. He recorded +141 receiving yards over expected, the second-most in a game since 2018.
Why the Commanders lost
You look at the Commanders defense on paper, and they have way too many former first-round picks and way too much money invested in these players to be giving up 451 total yards of offense and 40 points at home on a national stage to a previously winless team.
On Fields' first three passing attempts of the night, he had wideouts running wiiiiide open down the field. I guess that was a harbinger of things to come. The secondary struggled to contain Moore, and first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes was actually benched at one point after a couple of bad plays. Washington's defense was incredibly disappointing on Thursday night.
Turning point
Trailing by 10 points with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter, the Commanders were in the middle of a long drive. Washington had scored 10 points on its previous two possessions, and points this time around would have made it a one-possession game.
On a second-and-10, Howell attempted a pass to running back Brian Robinson Jr. in the backfield. With defenders closing in, Howell threw the ball behind Robinson, as an incompletion would have not only saved Washington yards, but also stopped the clock. Instead, Robinson made a one-handed catch, and lost five yards. Two plays later, Slye missed a 46-yard field goal.
That miss gave the Bears the ball at their own 36-yard line. Three plays later, this happened:
Play of the game
What's next
The Bears return home next week, where they will host the rival Minnesota Vikings, who currently sit at 1-3. As for the Commanders, they hit the road to take on Desmond Ridder and the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons.