It was not always pretty, but the Chicago Bears took down the defending AFC Champions, the New England Patriots in a 30-24 win to improve to 5-2 on the year, including 3-1 at home.
Quarterback Caleb Williams had another strong performance with 308 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. However, he was sacked three times; his third sack almost took the Bears out of field goal range inside of two minutes. But the offense was able to execute against a good Patriots defense.
On the other side of the ball, Chicago prevented the Patriots from scoring in the first quarter of the game and forced a turnover in the red zone in the second quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. They also held New England to just 10 points
in the second half.
Here is a look at the good, bad and ugly from the Bears’ win over the Patriots:
The Good
Caleb Williams: In his second game back from injury, Caleb Williams put on another show in the passing game, out dueling his 2024 draft mate Drake Maye. Williams completed 22-of-33 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns, which included some impressive throws, including a 21-yard completion to Rome Odunze on third-and-9 that led to Cairo Santos' game-winning field goal. Williams recorded his second straight 300-yard passing performance and led his team to 30 points for the second consecutive week.
Cairo Santos: Santos recovered nicely from his 53-yard doink earlier in the game to make the longest field goal in his career when the Bears needed him most. Especially for a kicker who has been known to have a problem beyond 50 yards, it was a pleasant surprise to see Santos make it from 58 yards with a few yards to spare. This was the best moment of the game and arguably one of the best moments for Chicago so far this season.
Luther Burden III: The former second-round wide receiver is emerging as a star receiver for the Bears, and he had a sensational first half with four catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. Burden wasn't targeted in the second half, but he's become one of Caleb Williams' most dependable receivers. In fact, Williams is 17-of-17 when targeting Burden this season.
Red zone efficiency: It would have been nice for the Bears to score a touchdown on all of their red zone trips, but scoring on three out of four of their red zone trips is also incredibly efficient. Particularly after Chicago struggled in the red zone during the games without Caleb Williams, it was good to see the Bears find red zone success again.
The Bad
Dropped passes: Chicago probably could have held onto the ball longer if they had not had so many dropped passes. Tight end Colston Loveland had a good day, but could have had a better day without his dropped passes. Wide receiver Rome Odunze dropped a touchdown, although he made up for it later in the game. Drops were a problem for Chicago last year, making it concerning that it came up this week. That will be something to address during their mini bye week before taking on the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.
Third down efficiency: One area where Chicago’s offense could have done better was on third down. They only converted four out of 12 third-down attempts after converting over 50 percent of their third downs last week against the Falcons. Part of this problem is untimely penalties, as the Bears kept finding themselves in third-and-long, which makes it difficult to get first downs.
The Ugly
Penalties: They had three games earlier in the season where penalties were not as much of a problem. However, they reemerged as a concern after the Bears’ game against the Atlanta Falcons and were once again a problem for Chicago in their game against the Patriots, with nine penalties. They were costly, taking big plays off the board and stalling drives. The Bears could score a lot more points if they could get out of their way, but at least it has not cost them a win to this point.
New England’s TD before halftime: There was nothing uglier in this game than the Patriots’ 48-yard touchdown right before halftime. New England had three seconds to get 48 yards into the end zone and they did it because no one on Chicago’s defense could make a tackle. Jaylon Johnson was in the best position to make the play and did not even appear to try. It did not cost the Bears the game, but it changed the entire trajectory of the second half.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Good, bad and ugly from Bears' 30-24 prime-time win vs. Patriots
