LANDOVER, Md. — It would’ve been a small step almost anywhere else, but this was big for the Bears.

They finally won a game, beating the Commanders 40-20 on Thursday to snap a franchise-long 14-game losing streak that lasted almost a year. Quarterback Justin Fields hit a rough patch in the second half, but finished with a flourish to and end any thought of the Bears collapsing for the second game in a row.

He still has a long way to go, especially after his mostly quiet second half allowed the Commanders to creep back into the game, but he’s officially trending upwardly.

The Bears got the victory shortly after learning of the death of iconic linebacker Dick Butkus at 80. The Commanders held a moment of silence for the Hall of Famer before kickoff.

Rarely in his young career has Fields done more than give a sporadic impressive performance, and this season likely is his last chance to prove he can do it consistently. It’s just two games — and against just the Broncos and Commanders — but in a span of five days, Fields delivered the strongest back-to-back games of his career.

He completed 15 of 29 passes for 282 yards with four touchdown passes and no turnovers for a 125.3 passer rating. That’s good, but as the Commanders crept back into the game, he went 3 of 9 for 93 yards in the second half.

He went to Moore all night, which is exactly what the Bears have needed him to do, and Moore accounted for 230 of Fields’ passing yardage on eight catches and three of his touchdown passes.