Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn addressed the media on Monday following the team's 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears. Here are some of the final thoughts Quinn had on the team's last-second win before moving on to prepare for the New York Giants.

They must clean up the penalties

The Commanders failed to get in the end zone on all three of their red zone trips. There were a few factors involved with that, such as what Quinn referred to as "uncharacteristic drops," but the penalties were among the biggest reasons why the Commanders couldn't finish drives.

Errors, particularly having an illegal man downfield, negated two explosive plays by the Commanders' offense: one was a 24-yard screen pass from Dyami Brown that would have put the Commanders at the Bears' 4-yard line, while the other wiped away a 32-yard touchdown reception by Olamide Zaccheaus.

Quinn categorized those are correctable moments.

"A false start or an illegal man downfield, those are the ones that we have to correct," Quinn said. "They kind of put us into some tough spots, because we didn't have the red zone game that we wanted."

A similar problem emerged in Week 2, when the Commanders had to settle for seven field goals partly because of how often penalties backed up the offense. It's worth noting that Washington did clean up those errors the following week, as they were only penalized three times against the Cincinnati Bengals in a hostile environment.

We'll see if that happens in Week 9, but history would indicate that Washington is capable of fixing its mental mistakes.

Johnny Newton stood out

Washington's defensive front was integral in keeping Caleb Williams rattled all night, as the quarterback was officially sacked twice and held to 131 passing yards. There were several standouts, but Quinn highlighted rookie Johnny Newton as one player who particularly shined on Sunday.

"I felt him from the three-technique, I felt him from inside to get the fumble recovery," Quinn said. "You guys have heard me say, 'This is coming,' and I felt that."

Newton's day started off well by taking down Williams for a six-yard loss. He ended the day with three tackles, three quarterback hits and a crucial fumble recovery at the Commanders' 1-yard line. Pro Football Focus gave Newton the third highest grade for an interior defender in Week 8 and the second highest pass-rush grade for his position.

Quinn said Newton would need to step up with Jonathan Allen being out for the season. The rookie clearly took that to heart.

"It was good to see the pressure that he was able to generate from the inside," Quinn said.

Quinn hopes the defense took another step forward.

The Commanders' defense has come a long since Week 1, when they let Baker Mayfield throw four touchdown passes in a 37-20 loss. Over the past two months, the Commanders are now around the league average in several key categories and even top 10 in others. They shut out their last two opponents in the first half -- a feat that has not been accomplished since the 1990s.

Quinn wants to believe their performance against the Bear is just another step in the right direction.

"We've been making...significant improvements in a lot of the spots," Quinn said.

Quinn added that they can't ignore the 56-yard touchdown run D'Andre Swift had or some of the other mistakes Washington's defense made. Still, the unit is objectively better than it was at the start of the season. The Bears, which had scored 71 combined points against the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, didn't get in the end zone until nearly the end of the third quarter. Williams had just 36 passing yards until the final two drives of the game.

Granted, the Bears' best offensive days came against struggling teams, but they were still viewed as a step up in competition for the Commanders. There will be other tough offenses later in the schedule, but the hope is that Washington can continue to get better at getting them off the field.