Dreams are growing in Chicago. Playoff chatter is amplifying. With a recent stretch of quality play and wins over the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions over the last four games, the Bears are allowing themselves to imagine a storybook ending to their once-dispiriting season. Players and coaches know a microfocus will be needed, specifically toward Sunday’s game against the Browns, to keep such dreams alive. But hey, life has begun to feel more fun again at Halas Hall and around Chicago.

As we head for Week 15, here’s a snapshot look at 12 notable facts and figures.

12

Rank of the Bears defense, which has allowed 314.5 yards per game this season. That’s a major improvement from a year ago, when the Bears ranked 29th in total defense (375.9 ypg). Over the last five games, the Bears have climbed from 23rd to 12th in total defense and 13th to second in interceptions. They also own the No. 2 rushing defense, allowing 83.7 yards per game.

1

NFL rank of the Browns passing defense, which is allowing an average of 159.7 yards per game. The Browns have been particularly stingy at home, allowing 105.1 passing yards and 12.6 points per game. They lead the league in total defense (263 ypg) and third-down efficiency (29.0%). The Browns also rank fourth in interception rate (3.2%)and 10th in sacks (38).

1

Net passing yards by Bears quarterback Justin Fields in his first NFL start, a Week 3 game in 2021 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Fields was battered all afternoon in that contest. The Browns recorded nine sacks for 67 yards and hit the Bears rookie 15 times. Fields completed six of his 20 passes for 68 yards. The Bears squeezed a field goal out of their opening drive in that 26-6 loss. But over their final 10 possessions, they mustered only 23 yards of offense and five first downs.

3

Passing touchdowns from Fields during his last visit to Cleveland. Sure, that was in the 2022 preseason finale. But it was also a chance for Fields to vanquish some of the demons from that first start against the Browns as a rookie. In that preseason Bears victory, Fields completed 14 of 16 passes for 156 yards and threw touchdowns to Ryan Griffin, Dante Pettis and Cole Kmet as the Bears rolled up 198 total yards and 21 points before halftime.

93

Consecutive pass attempts without an interception by Fields, the longest streak of his career. Fields’ last pick came in the second quarter of a Week 6 loss to the Vikings, a pass that was redirected high into the air when Danielle Hunter hit the Bears quarterback after a protection miscommunication. In three starts since returning from a dislocated right thumb, Fields is 62-for-93 passing for 609 yards with two touchdown passes and a 92.1 rating. (For what it’s worth, the Bears record for consecutive passes without an interception is 205, set by Kyle Orton in 2008.)

4

Starting quarterbacks used by the Browns, who are on to 38-year-old veteran Joe Flacco. Flacco signed to the team’s practice squad Nov. 20 and has made two starts, including Sunday’s 31-27 defeat of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Flacco was 26-for-45 for 311 yards and had touchdown tosses of 34 and 30 yards to tight end David Njoku plus a 41-yard scoring strike to David Bell. The Browns were 5-1 in games started by Deshaun Watson this season, went 1-1 with short-time former Bear P.J. Walker starting and 1-2 behind rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Browns are one of just seven teams in the Super Bowl era to win at least one game with four starting quarterbacks, a fraternity that includes the 2015 Houston Texans, 2007 Panthers, 1998 Saints and the 1987, ‘88 and ‘89 Patriots.

4

Interceptions by cornerback Jaylon Johnson this season, all coming over the last seven games. Not only is that a career high, Johnson had only one interception in the 37 games he played over his first three seasons and was without a pick in the first four games he played this year. With his rookie contract due to expire in March, Johnson could be positioning himself for a top-of-the-market reward with his ball production. He is tied for fourth in the NFL in interceptions behind only DaRon Bland (eight), Geno Stone (six) and Jessie Bates (five). As a team, the Bears have nine interceptions over the last three games.

12

Quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Reference, recorded by Montez Sweat in the five games he has played since joining the Bears. Pressures, as defined by PFR, are plays on which a player records a sack, a hurry or a quarterback knockdown. Sweat has 3 1/2 sacks with the Bears. And since his arrival, the defense’s sack total has ballooned from 10 in the first eight games to 21 after 13 games.

11

Browns players on injured reserve, including six Week 1 starters. Starting right tackle Jack Conklin was lost for the season after Week 1 with a knee injury. Running back Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury the following week. Safety Rodney McLeod tore his biceps last month. Quarterback Deshaun Watson had surgery to repair a fracture in his throwing shoulder. Left tackle Jedrick Willis had season-ending knee surgery this week. And safety Grant Delpit was placed on I.R. on Wednesday with a groin injury. Rookie right tackle Dawand Jones, meanwhile, who started nine games this season, also landed on IR this week and will need surgery after injuring his knee last week in practice.

31

Field-goal attempts made this season by Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins, a league high. That includes three game-winning kicks — a 29-yarder in the final two minutes against the 49ers in Week 6, a 40-yarder as time expired to beat the Ravens four weeks later and a 34-yarder with two seconds remaining to down the Steelers in Week 11. Hopkins is 31-for-34 on field-goal attempts and has made all eight of his attempts from 50 yards or longer. Bears kicker Cairo Santos is also perfect (6-for-6) on kicks of at least 50 yards. Santos is 26-for-28 on field-goal attempts this season.

87.5

Career sacks by Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett, including a team-high 13 this season. Garrett is the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks and has recorded at least 10 in six consecutive seasons. The four-time Pro Bowler set the Browns’ single-season sack record with 16 in 2021, matched that total last season and is threatening to tie or break the record again this year.

6

NFC teams with a winning record since Week 4, including the Bears, who have overcome an 0-4 start to climb to 5-8. The best team in the NFC since Week 4 is the Dallas Cowboys, who have gone 7-2. Four other squads are 6-3 in that span — the 49ers, Eagles, Lions and Vikings. The Bears are 5-4 and head to Cleveland with their first two-game winning streak since late in the 2021 season. The last time the Bears won three consecutive games was in Weeks 14-16 in 2020, when they beat the Texans, Vikings and Jaguars to revive their playoff chances.

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As the buzz began to build on the Chicago Bears sideline when they went up by two scores at Soldier Field, the players had the ultimate reminder to stay focused lurking in the back of their minds.

That 12-point lead the Bears took over the Detroit Lions at the beginning of the fourth quarter Sunday? The Lions easily overcame the same deficit in just four minutes in the teams’ last meeting on Nov. 19 at Ford Field.

“You definitely get that feeling where you’re up two scores, you’re kind of getting a little happy,” Bears defensive end Montez Sweat said. “We’re like, ‘Hold on, back up, because we just got humbled two, three weeks ago.’ So we wanted to finish on a good note this time.”

This time, the Bears’ defensive second-half performance in a 28-13 win qualified as finishing on a good note.

After falling behind 13-10 at halftime, the Bears didn’t allow the Lions a second-half point.

In seven second-half drives, the Lions and quarterback Jared Goff went three-and-out on three of them. Two ended in Bears takeaways. And the other two were turnovers on downs. That included when Sweat and Gervon Dexter shared a sack for a loss of 7 yards on third down and then Goff threw incomplete to Amon-Ra St. Brown on fourth-and-17 on the Lions’ second-to-last drive.

“The way we lost that last game in Detroit, that kind of left a bad taste in our mouths,” defensive lineman Justin Jones said. “So we came out here and knew we had to pay attention to details and make sure that we homed in on what exactly we had to do this game. We just came out with energy and played all four quarters, played 60 minutes.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who is likely coaching for his job over this final stretch of the season, called the complete-game performance “proof” for players, coaches — and even fans, he said — that the team is making progress.

The defensive turnaround under Eberflus as the coordinator — with a healthier group and with Sweat rushing opposing passers — has shown up in the stats. Sunday was the second straight game and the third time in four games the Bears have held an opponent to fewer than 14 points. With three takeaways Sunday, the Bears also upped their total to 11 in three games.

And in this one, the contributions came from all over the Bears defense.

There was cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s fourth interception of the season, on a pass intended for Sam LaPorta in the second quarter.

“We saw them come back with that same route concept, where they run a three-level out route,” Johnson said. “You’ve got a short route, one in the middle and then you had a deep one. Considering the pressure, I sunk on the ball, thought I might have seen him looking toward the second one, so I just came off and I made a play.”

The Bears held LaPorta and St. Brown — the Lions’ top two targets this season — in check. LaPorta had two catches on six targets for 23 yards and St. Brown had three catches on nine targets for 21 yards. Goff threw for just 161 yards, and the Lions netted 267.

There were a handful of big plays by Bears linebackers, including Tremaine Edmunds’ interception of Goff to seal the game with 2 minutes, 39 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. It was the Bears’ ninth interception in the last three games — and fifth against Goff this season.

T.J. Edwards got in on the Bears’ takeaway party with his third in three games. He recovered a fumbled snap between center Graham Glasgow and Goff late in the third quarter, and the Bears went up by 12 points five plays later on Justin Fields’ 11-yard touchdown run.

Jack Sanborn had another drive-ending play in the second half when he and Tyrique Stevenson stopped Jahmyr Gibbs for a loss of 4 yards on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter.

“That was a call we really liked in that situation,” Eberflus said. “It’s kind of a slanting line. We actually end up slanting right into it.”

There were safety Jaquan Brisker’s 17 tackles, of which Eberflus said, “Isn’t that crazy? Sounds like my college stats for crying out loud.”

Brisker, who also had two passes defended and a forced fumble, said “it felt like five or six for real.”

“I was just trying to stay focused every single play, just trying to focus on one single play at a time,” he added.

And there were the Bears’ four sacks of Goff, including three in a span of six plays during two fourth-quarter drives, starting with the Sweat and Dexter sack. Then on the Lions’ last drive, Sweat and Jones combined for a sack for a loss of 10 yards and Jones had another two plays later for a loss of 9 yards.

That pushed the Lions into the fourth-and-long situation that resulted in Edmunds’ interception.

“I would just say we found our swagger,” Jones said. “They came out with looks that were different from what we practiced all week. So we had to come out in halftime and adjust to it. … We adjusted to it pretty good.”

Eberflus also complimented the Bears’ halftime routine to make adjustments after they allowed the Lions to score two second-quarter touchdowns for the halftime lead.

“Our coaches do an unbelievable job getting the pictures right. They’re all drawn up. It’s like looking at a playbook,” Eberflus said. “They do a great job making the adjustments, and we all gather together. Everybody is sitting in there, we talk about what happened, where were the breakdowns, and then what are we going to do going forward, and what’s going to be the calls, and I tell them how we’re going to adjust, what we’re going to do differently on third down in situations.”

Eberflus called the Bears’ performance and two-game winning streak against two NFC North teams “a big deal,” especially because his team won the turnover margin and finished in the fourth quarter.

But Bears players also seemed to be grounded in not getting too high over back-to-back wins.

“It’s a great divisional win, but we didn’t do nothing yet,” Brisker said. “The defense has to get better. We’re 5-8 right now. We have to find a way to keep stacking them one game at a time, one day at a time.”

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The events of Oct. 7 and the war that has followed, at an incomprehensible scale of civilian violence and death, is devastating. This war so far away feels palpably close to us all and has shaken our community to its core.

For us as women, there has been an additional aspect of the attacks on Oct. 7 that has felt like a double assault: the systemic rape of women and girls by Hamas terrorists and the lack of response from the world.

Sexual and gender-based violence is horrific, with emotional wounds that linger well beyond the physical wounds. The healing process for the survivors of the Oct. 7 assaults begins with being heard and believed. We cannot overstate the importance of supporting these women, like we would all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

We recoiled when reading about Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German Israeli, who can be seen in a Hamas-made video, semiconscious and half-naked, being taken to Gaza in the back of a pickup truck with men sitting astride her. Another video shows a woman being led out of a vehicle by heavily armed men, her wrists and ankles sliced open and her jeans bloodied at the crotch. First responders have recounted finding dead Israeli women with unmistakable evidence of rape and mutilation.

Our heartbreak is not only that these brutal sexual assaults were perpetrated against these women and girls, but that so many international women’s organizations and leaders remained silent about it for too long. That is why this has felt like a double assault.

We ask that all people of goodwill acknowledge this assault, horror and heartbreak. Your bearing witness matters. Speaking in solidarity supports survivors to describe the horrors they endured without fear. When survivors believe they will not be believed or that the crime will be minimized, many will not speak up for fear of retraumatization.

Speaking in solidarity, we bring attention to the urgent need to release all hostages still being held in Gaza, including those who endured or witnessed sexual and gender-based crimes — enabling them to receive the vital physical and emotional medical care that they are currently being denied.

Speaking in solidarity, we increase pressure on organizations to condemn and sanction the perpetrators, which helps prevent the recurrence of these severe violations of international law and fundamental morality.

As so many know firsthand, sexual and gender-based violence can be devastating, and the shame lingers well beyond the physical wounds. By speaking in solidarity, we enable the survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and their families — and the families of the victims who did not survive, like Louk — to feel the support they need to help them begin to heal.

We can join with grassroots efforts in Israel and elsewhere, such as the Deborah Institute, which has launched the Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children. This unique and all-too-rare collaboration of international human rights experts and women’s rights organizations was created to gather Oct. 7 testimony, evidence and advocacy and to provide expert advice.

As the Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, we are reminded that even a small flame can dispel the darkness. In that spirit, may we come together to kindle flames of hope for the world we all share, and the type of world we hope to create, together.

Rabbi Shoshanah Conover is senior rabbi at Temple Sholom in Chicago and Rabbi Wendi Geffen is the senior rabbi at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe. They wrote this column for the Chicago Tribune.

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