Bears go 5-2 with win over Patriots

The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots both held identical 4-2 records a third of the way into the season, making their encounter on Thursday Night Football incredibly crucial in setting up the most important part of their regular season campaigns. The Patriots had begun to look like the team that won last year’s AFC title in the prior 3 weeks, particularly due to the improved form of Drake Maye after a dismal start.

Caleb Williams returned to Chicago’s lineup in Week 5 and the offensive improvement was obvious immediately, as they returned to the winner’s list with a win over the Atlanta Falcons, although New England were expected to pose a much bigger threat.

A cool night at Soldier Field saw offense hard to come by early in the game, but after Cairo Santos got the Bears on the scoreboard first with a 43-yard field goal, Luther Burden III ignited the home side’s next possession with a 58-yard gain, bringing the fans to their feet. D’Andre Swift did the rest, punching in the game’s first touchdown to open up an early buffer.

Maye responded strongly, remaining composed against the airtight Chicago defense to compile a few chunk plays in a row and lead the Patriots down the field. On a goal-to-go 2nd down, the quarterback did it himself and used his legs to score, doing just enough to extend the ball to the goalline before being downed.

As the game’s playmakers began to work their way into the game, Ben Johnson opened up his playbook with some trickery inside the red zone, but New England’s defense was able to stiffen and force Santos’ second field goal of the night.

Another promising Patriots drive had them on the doorstep of taking the lead just before halftime, but an interception by Maye to D’Marco Jackson shifted the momentum in the blink of an eye. Williams continued to work through Burden III, and a screen pass to the star receiver yielded a 24-yard touchdown as Chicago looked set to take a 20-7 lead into halftime.

But somehow, with just 3 seconds remaining on the clock and New England at the Bears’ 48-yard line, Chicago’s defense was completely caught napping as a short pass from Maye to Rhamondre Stevenson saw him run 45 yards after the catch and get into the end zone untouched, keeping the visitors within touching distance.

The Bears’ offense picked up where it left off in the third quarter, as Williams connected with Colston Loveland 4 times for 47 yards on the opening drive of the half, including a lead-extending touchdown for Loveland’s second of the season.

Tight ends continued to take the game over through the air. Maye looked the way of Hunter Henry 4 times on the ensuing drive, before hitting Eli Raridon in stride from 30 yards out to cut the margin back to 6 points once again, but Mike Vrabel’s defense needed a stop if New England were to be given a chance to grab the lead.

They did just that, forcing Chicago off the field without managing a first down, but the game’s momentum had shifted entirely to favour the defenses on either side, as the Patriots failed to generate positive production themselves going into the final quarter.

With 8 minutes remaining after the Bears had managed to chew a sizeable portion of the remaining clock, a 53-yard attempt from Santos to try extend the lead to 2 scores produced a sound that Soldier Field is all too familiar with, doinking off the upright and also giving New England strong field position to work with.

A string of negative plays saw Maye and the Patriots come away empty-handed again, with time becoming a significant factor all of a sudden.

Williams made a stunning play on 3rd and 9 to almost ice the game. Backed up deep in his own territory, he threaded the needle to Rome Odunze, who held on for an outstanding catch. On the brink of defeat, New England came up with a huge play to bring Williams down and seemingly take the Bears out of field goal range. But the gutsy Johnson brought his kicker out to attempt a career-long field goal from 58 yards out, and Santos made no mistake, all but ending the game although 90 seconds remained.

The Patriots’ last-ditch attempt resulted in Andy Borregales nailing a field goal of his own, reducing it back to a 6-point game with 37 seconds left, but a successful onside kick remained their only hope to salvage the result.

A 17th straight unsuccessful onside kick to begin the NFL season saw Chicago hold onto the ball through Odunze, and victory formation was enough to ensure their second straight win, ending New England’s streak of 3. The NFC North continues to dominate the league, and the Bears will take plenty of momentum into Seattle for next week’s blockbuster against the Seahawks.

Touchdowns
New England: Maye, Raridon, Stevenson
Chicago: Burden III, Swift, Loveland

Top Performers
New England: Maye, Stevenson, Jones, Raridon
Chicago: Williams, Burden III, Loveland, Gordon, Jackson, Santos

Injuries
New England: N/A
Chicago: Muhammad II (toe), Kmet (knee)

Crowd: TBC @ Soldier Field