The scoreboard says it was a six-point game, and there were several moments when it felt like the New England Patriots were about to come back, but the Chicago Bears led this one wire to wire. It wasn’t a clean game by Chicago, but they made big plays when they needed them and won 30 to 24 against a very good Patriots squad.
The overall numbers were relatively close, but the Bears had the edge in a few critical categories.
Chicago had the game’s only turnover, picking off New England’s Drake Maye in the end
zone.
The Bears converted both of their 4th-down attempts, while the Pats were stopped on their only try.
The Bears did have more yards (405 to 380), more first downs (21 to 20), ran more plays (66 to 50), and had a better third-down conversion rate (33.3% to 28.6%). Both teams were hit with their fair share of penalties, with the Patriots flagged 10 times for 71 yards and the Bears hit with 9 for 69.
The time of possession for the game wasn’t as lopsided as the Bears are used to (32:24 to 27:36), but in the fourth quarter Chicago held the ball for 12 minutes and 21 seconds. It was just two long drives with methodical precision, aided by a couple of huge third-down conversions from Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze, and a fourth-down conversion on a pass to Colston Loveland.
Their first fourth-quarter drive ended when Cairo Santos’ 53-yard field goal doinked, but Santos redeemed himself with a career-long 58-yarder on the final drive. More on that further down the page.
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing-time breakdown and a few individual stats from the game.
OFFENSE
Caleb Williams has thrown for 300+ yards in two straight games, something he’s done for the first time in his career. He’s the first Bear to have two in a row since Mitch Trubisky had three straight in 2018, and he’s the first quarterback this season with consecutive 300-yard passing games with no interceptions.
He’s now up to seven 300-yard games in his career, tying him for third most in Bears history. Here’s the full list with games played in parentheses.
Jay Cutler – 16 (102)
Billy Wade – 9 (59)
Caleb Williams – 7 (38)
Mitch Trubisky – 7 (51)
Erik Kramer – 7 (49)
Speaking of Billy Wade, Caleb’s back-to-back 300+ yard games in wins mark only the third time this has happened in franchise history, joining Wade in 1962 and Sid Luckman in 1947.
I’ve got one more 300-yard nugget for you: he also extended his own team record for most 300-yard passing games with no interceptions to 6. His only 300-yard day with an interception came in the third game of his career (9/22/24), when he threw for 363 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs.
DEFENSE
Drake Maye has been on a heater the last three games, but the Bears rattled him a bit early. He settled in and finished with 321 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 26 rushing yards and a TD.
The Bears held the Patriots’ running backs to 44 yards on 13 carries.
Kyler Gordon’s ramp-up is going well so far; he played 26 total snaps in Atlanta and 35 last night. He’s now at 4 sacks, tying him for the team lead. In case you were wondering, Chicago’s record for sacks by a defensive back is 7, set by Dave Duerson in 1986. Gordon is up to 5 tackles for loss this season, which is also tied for the team lead.
Jamree Kromah made his career debut a week ago but was held without a stat, so it’s good to see him scratch the stat sheet this week.
Daniel Hardy picked up his first career sack last week, then added a half sack against the Patriots. But more importantly, his Jeff Hardy sack celly is a thing.
SPECIAL TEAMS*
*The above image has players who only played in the third phase.
Cairo Santos wanted to redeem himself after that doink, and when he heard Ben Johnson on the headset ask special teams coordinator Richard Hightower if Cairo wanted to try the 58-yarder, he said yes. Check out this quick clip of Santos describing the moment.
Santos was 3-for-4 on field goals and hit all 3 extra points.
Tory Taylor punted twice, averaging 53.5 (44.0 net).
Rome Odunze recovered the onside kick.
Zavion Thomas returned 3 kicks for 92 yards.
Kalif Raymond had 1 punt return for 7 yards.
Dillon Thieneman and Daniel Hardy had 2 tackles each on special teams.
Practice squad call-up Buddy Johnson had 3 tackles.
To check out the complete Bears vs. Patriots box score, I find ESPN’s site is easy to navigate.
All statistics and snap counts, as well as the accompanying pictures, are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System.
