Bears coordinators Dennis Allen (defense), Declan Doyle (offense) and Richard Hightower (special teams) spoke to the media Thursday at Halas Hall. Here are five things we learned from those sessions:

(1) Allen felt that the run defense's improved performance Monday night against the Commanders was a result of employing better fundamentals and techniques.

The Bears limited the NFL's No. 1-ranked rushing attack to 124 yards—32 yards below its average. The defense held rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt to 61 yards on 17 carries, a 3.6-yard average. Croskey Merritt's 6.6-yard average entering the game was tops among all 40 NFL running backs who had rushed for at least 135 yards.

"Our guys did a really good job going out and executing the plan," Allen said. "Run defense is not as complicated as a lot of people might think it is. It gets down to, really, fundamentals. It gets down to being able to strike blocks, being able to get off a block, linebackers coming downhill, secondary guys getting off blocks, keeping the ball inside. All those kinds of things are important, so it really was more about us playing with our fundamentals and our technique. Our guys did a good job of that last week."

(2) The rash of takeaways that Allen's defense has generated is the byproduct of hard work in practice and swarming the ballcarrier.

The Bears rank second in the NFL with 12 takeaways and eight interceptions and lead the league with an average of 2.4 turnovers forced per game.

"It comes from preparation; that's the first thing," Allen said. "You're looking for your opportunities, where you have an opportunity to make plays. You have to look for tactical clues that tell you where your opportunities might come to make a play. And when those opportunities present themselves, you've got to be able to take advantage of it.

"You have to create population around the ball. It's hard to take the ball away if you don't have guys around it. It's things we talk about each and every week. It's a big focus for us in terms of taking the ball away. One of the big determining factors in winning and losing ballgames is the turnover-takeaway ratio. That's probably been what we've done best, and we need to continue to do that."

During their current three-game winning streak, the Bears have a plus-10 turnover ratio with 11 takeaways and one giveaway.

(3) Doyle was thrilled to see D'Andre Swift deliver a breakout performance.

The veteran running back generated a season-high 175 yards from scrimmage, rushing for 108 yards on 14 carries and catching two passes for 67 yards, highlighted by a momentum-swinging 55-yard TD. It was the first time in Swift's six-year NFL career that he topped 100 yards rushing and 60 yards receiving in a game.

"He's certainly received a little bit of scrutiny, just from the outside," Doyle said. "And for him to stick with it and continue to battle, it was awesome to see him go do what he did, making a number of huge plays that were really important for us to get the win."

When the Bears took over at their own 31 trailing 24-22 with 3:07 remaining, they opted to rely on Swift and the running game to get in field-goal position. Swift responded with runs of 10 and 15 yards to set up Jake Moody's 38-yard winning kick.

"I think Ben [Johnson] said it over the headset, he was kind of like, 'Hey, here we go. We're going to lean on the run game a little bit here in this last drive and they're going to take us to a win,'" Doyle said. "To be able to say that and then go do it and execute it in crunch time when the game is on the line and fall back on the details and all those things that we have talked about ad nauseum as we've talked about the run game here early in the season … was awesome."

(4) Doyle felt that the success of the running game was due to "just the details." As a team, the Bears ran for a season-high 145 yards.

"It was every little part of it," Doyle said. "There are shots on tape and you're looking at it and the O-line is running off the ball, we're hitting blocks and we're affecting the second level."

One lineman who stood out was first-year pro Theo Benedet, who made his first start at left tackle after opening the previous game at right tackle.

"Theo's athletic," Doyle said. "He is a guy that, I think Ben said it, he plays in this game and it's not too big for him. You don't really notice that he's out there, and that's one of the best compliments you can have as a tackle, especially when you're dealing with edge rushers and you're on an island sometimes. I appreciated the way he went out and played, and you know he's going to continue to work to grow."

(5) Hightower lauded the Bears' personnel department for signing kicker Jake Moody to their practice squad Sept. 12, three days after he had been released by the 49ers.

When it was determined that Cairo Santos would be unable to kick against the Commanders due to a thigh injury, the Bears already had a replacement in Moody who had been with the team for a month.

Elevated from the practice squad earlier in the day, Moody made 4 of 5 field-goal attempts, including the game winner in wet and windy conditions.

"Kudos to our personnel department for having Jake in early enough for him to have an opportunity to get some familiarity so that when his number was called, he was ready to deliver," Hightower said. "Most of the time when that happens, you get called in and you're flying on a plane, and then the next day you're kicking and you're trying to figure out what the snapper or holder's name is and how he holds the ball."