New England Patriots
New England’s defense labored all night against the Bears, who finished with 405 total yards of offense.
Drake Maye extends for a touchdown during Patriots-Bears. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The New England Patriots saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Thursday night, as Mike Vrabel’s team fell to the Bears 30-24 at Soldier Field.
It was a frustrating night for New England, with poor tackling, a critical turnover, and penalty woes dooming the Patriots in a primetime matchup.
Here are 10 takeaways from Thursday’s loss.
Patriots squander multiple chances
If Vrabel was frustrated after a sloppy showing from New England in Sunday’s win over the Jets, he might be at a loss for words after a game rife with miscues and failed opportunities to seize momentum at Soldier Field.
In a game where both the Patriots and Bears traded plenty of blows on offense, New England never held a lead against Chicago — who seemingly always were a step ahead of the Patriots and Drake Maye.
Maye had several promising drives in Chicago, finishing 24-of-31 with 321 yards and two touchdowns. But a back-breaking, end zone interception from Maye loomed over a six-point loss — especially after the Bears countered with a touchdown drive down the other end of the field.
Add in a shaky showing on a banged-up offensive line — including a few brutal false starts that squandered a fourth-quarter drive — and it was a night where New England’s offense fell just a few plays short or another statement win.
Defense crumbles
Whereas Maye and the Patriots offense has had a roller coaster start to the season, New England’s defense has largely held court as a stout, dependable unit for Vrabel.
Such wasn’t the case on Thursday night in Chicago.
Zak Kuhr’s defense had few answers for Caleb Williams and a smash-mouth rushing attack, with Chicago finishing with 405 total yards of offense.
Little went right for New England on the defensive side of the ball, with Williams passing for 308 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers — while Chicago also gained 116 yards on the ground, averaging nearly four yards per carry.
According to PFF, the Patriots had 16 missed tackles in the loss — their most in a game since Super Bowl LX against the Seahawks.
Patriots’ aggressiveness on fourth down doesn’t pay off
The Patriots have been aggressive on fourth down since Vrabel took the helm.
That continued Thursday night after New England’s opening drive stalled on Chicago’s 45-yard line.
Vrabel and his staff opted to roll the dice and go for it on fourth down despite the risky field position — only for the play to blow up after Kyler Gordon and Grady Jarrett combined for a sack against Maye.
New England’s banged-up offensive line — featuring backup guards Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor and a hampered right tackle in Morgan Moses — couldn’t handle the blitz, forcing a turnover on downs.
Chicago took advantage of that favorable start to their drive, with Luther Burden beating Marcus Jones in coverage for a 26-yard pickup. That was enough for Chicago to put up some points, with Cairo Santos connecting on a 42-yard field to give Chicago an early 3-0 lead.
Chicago pads lead amid struggles on offense for Patriots
Unfortunately for New England’s offense, that opening drive was the most fruitful sequence for Maye and Co. in the first quarter — with the Patriots going 3-and-out on each of their next two drives.
Given how dangerous Chicago’s defense has been on third-down situations under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, it was odd that Josh McDaniels dialed up so many early-down runs for the Patriots.
Forcing Maye to drop back on third-and-long often led to disaster, with Chicago forcing punts after unleashing some blitzes.
As New England’s offense labored in the early going, the Bears took advantage of a busted coverage in the final minutes of the first quarter — with a miscommunication with Christian Elliss allowing Burden to break free for a 58-yard pickup.
Chicago’s five-play, 74-yard drive was capped after D’Andre Swift shed a few tackles and scampered into the end zone to give the home team a 10-0 lead going into the second quarter.
Maye’s scramble, sharp challenge puts New England on the board
The Patriots finally changed their offensive approach on their fourth drive of the evening, putting the ball in Maye’s hands and dialing up more passing plays on first and second down.
It paid dividends, with New England moving the chains on chunk-yardage grabs by Eli Raridon and Hunter Henry before Rhamondre Stevenson rumbled all the way to Chicago’s 7-yard line via a 13-yard pickup.
Maye did the rest, scrambling on a broken play after the Patriots’ QB had no open targets. Maye’s rush was halted right on the one-yard line by Chicago cornerback Clark Phillips — who dragged him down at the Bears’ doorstep.
But a heads-up challenge from Vrabel paid off: the review showed Maye stretched out and got the ball to the goal line before going down, giving New England a seven-yard rushing score from their QB.
A subsequent 47-yard kickoff return from Chicago put the Bears on New England’s 43-yard line to open their next drive, but New England’s defense bent — but didn’t break.
Santos eventually booted home a 31-yard field goal to give Chicago a 13-7 lead with 7:04 to go in the half.
Maye thwarts another quality drive with ugly turnover
It looked as though New England was poised to take its first lead of the evening on its next drive — with a lunch-pail operation featuring several snags from Raridon and Efton Chism, a few hard-nosed runs from Corey Kiner, and scrambles from Maye that put the Patriots back in Chicago’s red zone.
But for the first time since Week 4 against Buffalo, Maye was knocked for a brutal turnover — underthrowing a ball intended for Raridon in the end zone that was picked off by Chicago linebacker D’Marco Jackson.
It was an ugly result for the Patriots, who were taken to task by Vrabel earlier this week about their turnover woes.
“We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it’s ridiculous,” Vrabel said on Monday. “It’s an embarrassment.”
Maye’s interception saddled the Patriots with a minus-7 turnover differential this season—with only the Colts holding worse margins in the NFL.
Not only did Maye’s end-zone turnover take at least three points off the board, but Chicago also countered with a march down the field.
Bolstered by some brutal penalties against Charles Woods (holding) and Gabe Jacas (roughing the passer), the Bears pushed the ball close to the red zone.
And on a 3rd-and-17 from New England’s 24, a simple screen to Luther Burden was all that the wideout needed to shred the Patriots defense — as he slipped his way past several New England defenders en route to a touchdown.
At the end of the half, Burden had four catches for a whopping 130 yards.
It looked like a worst-case scenario for New England, with the Bears primed for a back-breaking, double-score opportunity coming out of halftime in a 20-7 game.
Well, about that…
Stevenson catches Chicago snoozing
After Burden scored with 14 seconds left on the clock, it seemed a beleaguered Patriots offense would run a play or two before heading into the locker room for halftime.
But Vrabel and the Patriots remained aggressive, with Maye hitting A.J. Brown for an 18-yard pickup — putting the ball on Chicago’s 48 with just one second left in the half.
Rather than attempt a Hail Mary, Maye opted to just check the ball down to Stevenson.
It paid dividends, as a Bears defense either woefully unprepared for the play or simply going through the motions on a seemingly harmless play couldn’t corral Stevenson — who ran the ball back 48 yards for a shocking touchdown.
As ugly as the end of the half was for Maye and the Patriots on both sides of the ball, Chicago handed them a gift at the ideal time — with New England only trailing by six entering the second half.
Bears, Patriots trade haymakers
Whatever momentum Stevenson seized for the Patriots at the end of the first half didn’t carry into the start of the second quarter — at least on the defensive side of the ball.
A laboring Patriots defense appeared to have no answer for Williams in Chicago’s first drive of the third quarter — with the Bears QB completing 5-of-5 throws for 58 yards, culminating in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland.
Over their last four drives, New England’s defense had been knocked for three touchdowns and a field goal allowed — with Kuhr’s unit having little response for Williams and Ben Johnson.
But Maye and the Patriots’ offense kept the team off the mat, countering that Chicago score with a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive of their own.
Maye helped keep a drive alive on a critical 3rd-and-7 from the Patriots’ own 37. After a clutch blitz pickup from Rhamondre Stevenson, Maye escaped the pocket, pushed away safety Dillon Thieneman, and moved the chains with a 13-yard throw to Hunter Henry.
Just one play after Raridon was whistled for a false start from Chicago’s 25, the rookie tight end atoned for the miscue — with Maye hitting him for a 30-yard touchdown to cut the Bears’ lead to 27-21.
Penalties thwart prime chance for Patriots
After New England finally forced Chicago’s offense off the field with a clean 3-and-out, Maye and the Patriots had another opportunity to seize their first lead of the night.
But another promising drive from New England was thwarted by some poor discipline from the Patriots’ shorthanded offensive line.
A potential first-down pickup was wiped out on a 3rd-and-1 after Will Campbell was whistled for a false start.
After a four-yard scramble from Maye, New England opted to go for it on a 4th-and-2 play from its own 48 … only for Matt Pryor to get whistled for a false start, prompting Vrabel to punt on a 4th-and-6.
The Bears were primed to potentially ice the game on their next drive, especially after Williams avoided a potential safety off a blitzing Elliss and picked up 21 yards on a throw to Rome Odunze.
But Chicago’s extended 13-play drive didn’t lead to any points, as Santos’ 53-yard field-goal attempt doinked off the upright — keeping it a six-point game.
Bears ice game with a gusty kick
Maye and the Patriots didn’t have much of a chance to mount another comeback, as the Bears iced the game with a drive that ended with a gusty kick from Santos.
New England seemingly had the Bears on the ropes on a 3rd-and-9 from Chicago’s own 10-yard line — only for Williams to move the chains after hitting Odunze with a laser for a 21-yard pickup.
The Patriots then received a gift, as an ill-advised move by Williams to hold onto the ball on a 3rd-and-5 from New England’s 30 led to a 10-yard sack from Christian Bamore.
With Chicago looking at a 4th-and-15 from New England’s 40, Johnson made the call to let Santos attempt a 58-yard field goal — a career-long attempt.
Had Santos missed, Maye and the Patriots would have taken over at ideal field position close to the 50-yard line. But Santos delivered, booting his attempt between the posts to ice the win.
New England did manage to give itself a chance for an improbable comeback after Andy Borregales made it a 30-24 game with a 47-yard field goal. But Chicago corralled the subsequent onside kick to secure the win — and a frustrating defeat for New England.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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