10 things we learned from the Patriots’ win over the Bears

There is still considerable room for improvement, but the arrow is undoubtably pointing up for the New England Patriots . On Sunday, the team of first-year head coach Jerod Mayo and rookie quarterback Drake Maye won its second game in the last three weeks to improve to 3-7 on the year: visiting Soldier Field, they beat the Chicago Bears with a final score of 19-3.

The game as a whole was the Patriots' most complete effort since their opening day upset over the Cincinnati Bengals . Given the changes of personnel that happened in between those two contests, Sunday's win and the fashion in which it happened certainly will have the Patriots feel good about where they are headed.

For the moment, however, let's stay in the here and now and clean out the notebook from the game.

Patriots exorcise some demons in the run game on offense... Following last week's loss to the Tennessee Titans , Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt lamented a two-play stretch in the late first half that saw his unit fail to pick up a single yard on back-to-back runs. Against Chicago, New England again found itself in some crucial short-yardage situations.

This time around, Van Pelt's crew delivered.

The first big play in that regard came on New England's second possession of the day. Facing a 4th-and-1 at the Chicago 18-yard line, the offensive line was able to generate a good push on the right, allowing Rhamondre Stevenson to reach the sticks for the conversion.

That play was a confidence-builder for the run offense. As a consequence, it was able to build off of it later in the first half.

Facing a situation similar to last week's, the Patriots were unable to convert on 2nd-and-1 from the Bears 4-yard line. One play later, they tried again: this time, Stevenson showing some impressive contact balance behind guard-turned-fullback Sidy Sow created a conversion. On the very next snap the game's only touchdown followed.

"The linemen took on the challenge and just made it a point to move the down guys this week," Stevenson said of the run game after the contest was over. "They did a good job with that, and just all being on the same page — me and all the backs trying to get downhill, trying to get some positive yards."

In total, the Patriots finished with 145 rushing yards on 34 non-kneel-down carries.

"Anytime you're able to run the football on first down, I think that was the big thing today," added quarterback Drake Maye. "Credit to those guys up front. Our guys, they played their butts off, in run blocking and pass pro. I think being able to run the football, seeing some first downs and some big yardage on first downs, kind of helped us throughout the day."

...and on defense Entering Sunday, the Patriots defense had given up 100-plus rushing yards in seven straight games. Versus Chicago, however, they kept that number to 73 on 20 carries for an average of only 3.6 yards per run.

"When we say Patriots standard football, that's what we have to do: stop the run," said defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. after the game. "Good teams stop the run. This was a good game to get back on track stopping the run. ...

"We challenged ourselves to have a better game. Guys like Tanielu [Ekuale], Davon Godchaux, [Jaquelin] Roy were really big in the run game. We wanted to stop them to run the ball, make them one-dimensional. And they did a great job."

New England finally being able to stop the bleeding on the ground was a big step in the right direction. One key piece of that was New England simply playing better on the edge, as Keion White explained.

"We did a good job stopping the run," he said. "They were trying to be aggressive early. They key was the edge; I feel like our edge played better — nothing outside."

Tight end-heavy packages pay off Even though Hunter Henry had a comparatively quiet day finishing with just one 14-yard catch, the Patriots' tight end position as a whole was productive. Austin Hooper, the team's nominal TE2, finished with three catches for a team-leading 64 yards.

The Patriots relied heavily on Hooper on Sunday, using him for a season-high 41 snaps. He made the most out of them, and credited both offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterback Drake Maye with getting him the football afterwards.

"AVP dialed it up, and when you have a guy like Drake he's going to throw you open," he said about one particular play, a 28-yard connection in the first quarter.

The Patriots relying on multi-tight end packages at an increased rate did not come as a surprise. Chicago's defense, after all, had struggled defending two-tight end looks out of its base defense last week versus Arizona; Van Pelt picked up on that and the results showed.

Third down defense rises to the occasion The Patriots defense made life hard on the Bears and their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams throughout the day, and managed to keep themselves one step ahead at all times. One statistic illustrates this quite well: Chicago went a mere 1-of-14 on third down for a conversion rate of just 7 percent.

The work on those particular plays was noteworthy, but so was New England playing stout football on early downs. The Bears, after all, had to travel an average of 8.6 yards to move the sticks on third down.

That proved itself too challenging a position for the home team, with the lone conversion coming on a relatively manageable 3rd-and-3 midway throughout he third quarter.

Some surprise contributors step up The Patriots' starters on the defensive side of the ball included a surprise name: rookie Curtis Jacobs, who previously had played just 13 non-special teams snaps this season, was part of the starting lineup. He ended up playing only six snaps on the day, but his early inclusion with the ones was a sign of things to come.

All game, New England relied on surprise contributors to make plays. Whether it was Jacobs, Brenden Schooler seeing his most extensive action to date — as part of the newly-introduced "Longhorn" package — or Dell Pettus taking on a bigger role as a starter-caliber safety, the Patriots were able to get decent work out of some under-the-radar players.

Special teams a mixed bag Kicker Joey Slye received a game ball after going 4-of-4 on field goals and also splitting the uprights on his lone point after attempt; contributing 13 of New England's 19 points on the day. He was not the only special teamer to looks good, with punt returner Marcus Jones averaging 15.0 yards on his three runbacks and punter Bryce Baringer putting up a gross of 57.0 yards per punt with a net of 41.4.

However, not all was bad. The team also gave up a 38-yard punt and 35-yard kickoff return to former Patriot DeAndre Carter, and at one point violated the new landing zone by having Slye kick off short; the ball was placed on the Chicago 40 as a result.

While special teams was somewhat of a mixed bag on Sunday, the positives did outweigh the negatives.

Patriots defense makes good of its pregame goal The Patriots wanted to make first overall draft pick Caleb Williams uncomfortable, and they did so by keeping him in the pocket and successfully matching up their coverage and puss rush to relentlessly pressure him. From that perspective, the team managed to achieve one of its big pregame goals.

"Our man focus was just to get to the quarterback," said defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. "Dial up pressures, beat them on the edge, contain them, shut down the run, and make this team one-dimensional, and get them out of the game early."

Williams did gain 15 yards on two scrambles, but on the whole had a far worse day than his rookie counterpart, Drake Maye.

DeMario Douglas gets some run-after-catch opportunities The Patriots' usage of second-year wideout DeMario Douglas has been inconsistent over the first nine weeks of the season. On Sunday, he also only played 42 percent of snaps — third on the team behind Kayshon Boutte and K.J. Osborn. However, he did look good and finished with four catches for 50 yards.

A significant portion of that production came via run-after-the-catch opportunities. Douglas feasted upon the Bears defense on short tosses and screen plays, quickly shifting into another gear with the ball in his hand and charging into the secondary at full speed.

His shiftiness and ability to accelerate make Douglas a unique player in New England's offense. Sunday's game showed that once again.

Defense deserves credit for early-game play Due to a pair of late fourth down stops, the Patriots ended the game with a better starting field position than Chicago; New England's average drive started at its own 33 compared to the Bears opening at their own 32.

However, those numbers do not tell the whole story. Chicago's first three possessions, after all, began at the New England 47 (long punt return), the Chicago 40 (penalty on kickoff), and the Chicago 48 (interception).

The Patriots put themselves in a difficult position early on, but credit where credit is due: their defense came to play. The unit gave up only 27 total yards and two first downs from those starting spots, and the Bears had to punt the ball away on all three series. Sure, Chicago's offensive ineptitude also contributed, but coordinator DeMarcus Covington had his defense ready right out of the gate.

Christian Gonzalez sets the tone Speaking of the Patriots defense, Christian Gonzalez again shined. The star cornerback played a big part in New England limiting the Bears' impressive starting wide receiver trio — D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen — to only 11 catches for 91 yards.

His play on the field set the tone, and he at one point had Moore visibly frustrated.

After the game, Gonzalez's tone-setting continued. Taking the podium as the first play — his usual spot in the media rotation after David Andrews' season-ending shoulder injury — the sophomore defender made sure to remind everybody that the victory over Chicago was just one step.

"Anytime you can hold an NFL team to not being able to score a touchdown is a good showing," he said. "I mean, we got to stack on it. We can enjoy it today, enjoy it on the ride back, but we have to learn how to stack on this."