The Patriots’ win over the Bears might best be described as a reminder.

Of how they want to play.

Of how they can play.

Jahlani Tavai admitted as much post-game, after his defense held the Bears to a single third-down conversion and dropped Caleb Williams for nine sacks. Of course, those numbers are a reflection of Chicago’s discombobulated offense and disastrous offensive line as much as the Patriots’ defense. But the Pats’ plan — clogging Williams’ scrambling lanes and playing 71% man coverage on passing downs — was sound, and their execution near flawless Sunday.

Williams finished with 69 net passing yards. The Bears had zero explosive plays. The Pats missed two tackles, and nothing else.

Offensively, Drake Maye and Co. reaffirmed their identity. They pounded out five yards, then five more yards, six yards and five yards again on their opening run plays. They rushed for 144 yards total. Maye also ripped deep completions off play-action, and hit another play-action throw for a touchdown.

That is the offense that was promised.

Lately, the Patriots appear to be turning a corner by returning to the same wells. Three weekends ago, the Pats toughed out another win by playing a ton of man coverage, running the ball and out-coaching the Jets in-game. Were it not for a lost overtime period in Tennessee, we’re talking about a three-game win streak.

Now, there’s no question the Patriots’ level of competition has cratered during this stretch. The Jets, Titans and Bears might all join them in the top 10 of the draft next April. But it’s no accident the Pats are playing their best while playing this way.

Sunday’s 16-point margin of victory was by far their largest this season and marked progress. Real progress, with no promise of anything beyond last Sunday, but a sure sign of something new. And that, for a once 1-6 football team, can be celebrated.

Here’s what else the film revealed about the Patriots’ latest win:

15-of-25 for 184 yards, TD, INT

Accurate throw percentage: 71.4%

Under pressure: 3-of-10 for 21 yards, sack

Against the blitz: 4-of-6 for 33 yards, TD

Behind the line: 3-of-3, 27 yards

0-9 yards downfield: 8-of-9 for 71 yards, TD

10-19 yards downfield: 3-of-6 for 59 yards, INT

20+ yards downfield: 1-of-3 for 28 yards

Notes: Maye continues to test the limits of his talent, which cut both ways against the Bears.

He ripped a pinpoint 28-yard completion to Austin Hooper on a blanketed corner route to start the Patriots’ second drive and would have capped that series with a highlight-reel touchdown to K.J. Osborn had Osborn not stepped out of bounds first.

On the next possession, rolling right, Maye got caught trying to thread a sideline throw to Hooper for his only interception; a mindless pick that should have been a throwaway.

Later, Maye launched multiple deep incompletions while off-platform and fired behind Hunter Henry in the end zone for a dropped pick in the fourth quarter. He must protect the ball better. A sharper defense would have made Maye pay for risking a turnover on roughly one of every 10 dropbacks. Alas, these are not the Monsters of the Midway anymore.

On the positive side, Maye’s 23-yard frozen rope to Kayshon Boutte before halftime was essentially worth three points, as it set up a field goal try with one second left. That was his best throw of the day, and one few quarterbacks can make in a tight spot against tight coverage.

And in stark contrast to fellow rookie Caleb Williams, Maye handled pressure well pre- and post-snap. Despite facing a near identical pressure rate, Maye took eight fewer sacks, beat multiple blitzes with quick throws and finished with a pressure-to-sack ratio of 9.1; meaning he hardly let bad situations get worse. One other plus: his execution on play-action. Maye’s fakes and footwork on these plays are getting cleaner and cleaner, which helped him go 5-of-7 for 78 yards, a touchdown and an interception off play-action.

Turnovers: Patriots 1, Bears  0

Explosive play rate: Patriots 6.5%, Bears 0%

Success rate: Patriots 50%, Bears 32.2%

Red-zone efficiency: Patriots 1-5, Bears 0-1

Defensive pressure rate: Patriots 36.5%, Bears 37.9%

Personnel breakdown: 47% of snaps in 11 personnel, 43% of snaps in 12 personnel, 8% of snaps in 13 personnel, 2% of snaps in 23 personnel.***

Personnel production: 46.4% success rate in 11 personnel, 53.8% success rate in 12 personnel, 80% success rate in 13 personnel, 100% success rate in 23 personnel.

First-down down play-calls: 68% run (70.5% success rate), 32% pass (37.5% success rate)

Play-action rate: 21.4%

The Pats hammered Chicago with a run-first game plan built around outside zone and a few complementary counters, including inside zone and pin-and-pull. Off of those runs, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt dialed up a higher rate of play-action than he had in most games this season. Most of the Pats’ play-action passes came out of two-tight end personnel, which also produced a 64% success rate on run plays.

That rushing success sharpened their play-action fakes and helped generate explosive plays. The Patriots’ two longest pass plays — 28-yard and 24-yard completions to tight end Austin Hooper — were both play-action throws from two-tight end personnel. Between their steady run game and downfield passing attack in that group, Sunday underscored what’s been clear about this offense for most of the year: when they’re bigger, they’re better.

(Not to mention, when they got inside the 5-yard line, Van Pelt played exclusively through multi-tight end personnel, something he also did at the end of regulation in Tennessee.)

Van Pelt also seemed to sense Chicago’s defense lacked eye discipline. The Pats threw a trick play, two screens, seven play-action passes and a delayed route for a touchdown against them in the tight red zone, where Ja’Lynn Polk confirmed the staff believed that was a Bears weakness.

Broken tackles: RB Rhamondre Stevenson 3, RB Antonio Gibson 2, RB JaMycal Hasty 2

Pressure allowed: LT Vederian Lowe 3 (QB hit, 2 hurries), RT Demontrey Jacobs 3 (3 hurries), RG Mike Onwenu 2 (2 hurries), LG Michael Jordan (hurry), QB Drake Maye (QB hit), Team (hurry)

Run stuffs allowed: Team 3, Jacobs

Drops: N/A

Personnel breakdown: 46% base defense, 33% dime, 13% three-corner nickel package, 8% quarter.****

Coverage breakdown: 71% man, 29% zone

Blitz rate: 31.7%

Blitz efficacy: 7.7% offensive success rate and 0.07 yards per play allowed

Two words: man up.

The Patriots were completely unafraid of Chicago’s weapons, blitzing on almost one-third of passing downs and playing one of their highest rates of man-to-man coverage in years. Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington had his unit living out of Cover 1, a man-to-man defense with one safety deep. Covington called several variations of Cover 1, sometimes bringing five-man pressures, doubling Bears receiver D.J. Moore and/or leaving linebackers hovering over the middle in short zone.

Unlike most games this season, star cornerback Christian Gonzalez did not shadow any Bears receiver, but instead parked himself in the boundary (or short side of the field) and often worked in isolation. The Patriots even let inexperienced safeties Dell Pettus and Marte Mapu work against Cole Kmet, a good tight end, who went without a catch in the first half.

Credit also belongs to the defensive front for strong rush discipline against Williams. The Pats blitzed at an above-average rate, but never let Williams do damage as a scrambler, saving for one fourth-down conversion in the first half. Ultimately, Williams did himself in by refusing to check the ball down or throw it away, tendencies the Patriots banked on with their do-or-die game plan that yielded their most impressive performance of the season.

A hat tip to core special teamer Brenden Schooler, as well. Schooler served as a quarterback spy within the Patriots’ “Longhorn” package featuring seven defensive backs, a nod to the University of Texas, Schooler’s alma mater. Schooler finished with a sack and a quarterback hit in five snaps.

Pressure: OLB Anfernee Jennings 4 (2 sacks, QB hit, hurry), DL Keion White 3 (sack, QB hit, hurry), DL Deatrich Wise (2 sacks), S Brenden Schooler 2 (sack, QB hit), LB Jahlani Tavai (sack), DL Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (sack), S Dell Pettus (sack), LB Joe Giles-Harris (QB hit)

Run stuffs: Team 2, DL Jaquelin Roy, Pharms Jr.

Pass deflections: DB Marcus Jones, Tavai, White, Wise, Pettus

Missed tackles: DL Keion White, CB Marco Wilson

Pass rush

It’s not right to single out one pass-rusher when seven of them collect sacks. This was a complete team effort, from coaches to defensive linemen, linebackers and even safeties, with Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler both collecting sacks in the second half.

Cornerbacks

Again, it’s hard to highlight one player. Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones allowed four catches combined in man-to-man coverage on a day when that’s basically all the Patriots played.

DL Jeremiah Pharms Jr.

The little-known defensive tackle disrupted the interior of Chicago’s line with a sack and a team-high two run stuffs. He had the best all-around game of any Patriots defender, with Jahlani Tavai a close second.

RT Demontrey Jcaobs

The Pats’ new starting right tackle got beat for a team-worst three hurries and one run stuff. Left tackle Vederian Lowe here was a close runner-up, allowing one QB hit and a couple hurries.

*Explosive plays are defined as runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards. 

**Success rate is an efficiency metric measuring how often an offense stays on schedule. A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.

***11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one running back, three tight ends; 23 = two halfbacks, three tight ends.

****Base defense = four defensive backs; nickel = five; dime = six; quarter defense = seven.