The New England Patriots lost a wacky Thursday night game to the Bears in Chicago. As injured as they were, and as bad as they played at times, especially defensively, they still had a real chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. It was a frustrating way to end the game.
Without further ado, let’s get into our lessons learned for the Patriots’ 30-24 loss.
Typical Thursday night shenanigans
Every Thursday Night Football game is filled with bizarre plays, partially because the teams are playing on such a short week. This game was no different.
The Patriots gave up a touchdown on 3rd-and-17 at the end of the first half, only to be outdone by the Bears giving up a 48-yard touchdown to the Patriots with three seconds left on a check-down. This happens every week, but the NFL doesn’t care about doing anything about it. I wish the Patriots had looked better and not made as many mistakes, but it seems par for the course on a Thursday night.
Injuries may have caught up with the Patriots
The Patriots have more injuries right now than they had all of last year, and those depth concerns reared their head on Thursday night. They have good players, but simply didn’t have enough of them available to make life difficult for a talented Bears team.
There are no excuses to be made here either, because the Patriots had opportunities to win regardless of the circumstances. Still, it seems that part of the reason they came up short was because of the lack of depth that they were dealing with.
Tough night for a pair of starters
I might be the world’s biggest Marcus Jones fan, but he had a bad night on Thursday, and Christian Elliss was equally as bad.
The amount of missed tackles by Jones was alarming, and he wasn’t particularly good in coverage either. Meanwhile, Elliss missed quite a few tackles too, and gave up a huge play to Luther Burden because of a blown assignment. Elliss finished as the leading tackler for the Patriots, and Jones racked up nine tackles of his own, but the tape tells a different story.
Both players have made huge contributions for the Patriots, and are important players for the defense. A better game from one or both of them, and the outcome might have been different.
Gabe Jacas continues to play well
The Patriots defense struggled, but Gabe Jacas made his presence felt again. He also should have had a sack; they gave it to teammate Leonard Taylor, but it was Jacas who made the play. He was pretty solid against the run as well.
Jacas has become one of the Patriots’ most consistent edge defenders, and is already a better run defender than Elijah Ponder, who had a tough night on Thursday. It wasn’t perfect, but the second-sound rookie continues growing into one heck of a player.
Drake Maye has a great night, with one costly exception
Drake Maye played a good game on Thursday. He did a fantastic. job of taking what the defense gave him, he was great maneuvering in the pocket, and also was the Patriots’ leading rusher for the game. His one big mistake, however, cost them dearly.
His end zone interception in the second quarter gave the Bears the ball back when the Patriots had a chance to take the lead. Chicago would end up scoring on the subsequent drive, and although Maye and company managed to match that score on their following possession, the Maye pick would be the last time they got into the red zone all night. Those are opportunities that you can’t afford to lose out on.
The hard part is that Maye was far and away the best player on the field for the Patriots on Thursday, but that turnover changed the complexion of the game. Despite an entire half of football being left to be played, it had a large impact on the game’s final outcome; a touchdown here, and the game probably looks a lot different down the stretch.
Through seven games, the Patriots have yet to play a turnover-free game on offense and have not once won the turnover battle.
A.J. Brown is a non-factor again
Maye Brown isn’t back at a 100% yet, or he’s still rusty from the time missed, but he was a non-factor again on Thursday. He did catch three passes for 48 yards, but when he had chances to make big plays, he was unable to finish them. With Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins on injured reserve, the Patriots need more of him.
I will say that I’m already having some really mixed feelings about sending that first-round pick to the Eagles to get him, especially with no protections tied to it as well. Maybe Brown can prove me wrong the rest of this year and next year, but it certainly hasn’t looked good so far.
The Patriots may have found a gem in the third round of the draft this year. Eli Raridon looks like the real deal, and had another solid game for the Patriots on Thursday.
He’s not the best run blocker, but he can do it. Where he really shines, however, is in the passing game. We saw him on some crossing routes, and on a few seam passes as well. One of those went for a touchdown, and the other would have, if Drake Maye put the ball on him instead of on the defender.
Hunter Henry is still as reliable as ever, but now Raridon brings some real juice to the tight end room that the Patriots haven’t had in quite a while. If he continues to improve, he’s going to be a true impact player for them.
TreVeyon Henderson can’t read a hole to save his life
TreVeyon Henderson looked like he was going to be a stud last year. This year, not so much.
He has struggled with his vision since entering the league as a second-round draft pick, but he had a bunch of big plays that offset things last year. He hasn’t had those plays so far, with one exception (Week 2), and what this has done is make people acutely aware of his struggles trying to run between the tackles.
There was a play early on in the game when a back with vision might have picked up 30 yards, but Henderson only picked up 5. Mike Vrabel did express confidence in him after the game, but don’t be surprised if the Patriots continue keeping Corey Kiner involved as well.
Personally, I would like to see the Patriots get Henderson the ball in space and see if he can do anything with that. Running up the middle, frankly, has been a disaster this season.
Caleb Williams is really good
Caleb Williams was fantastic on Thursday night. The Bears quarterback was in command the whole game, and seemed to have the answers to what the Patriots were throwing at him, for the most part.
His third-down throw to Rome Odunze where he shook off Christian Elliss at the goal line was great, and his arm strength is close to breathtaking. His ability to play within himself and not make stupid decisions when throwing is what impressed me the most on Thursday, though.
If he can stay healthy, he and Maye are going to be two of the best quarterbacks in the league for many years to come.
The ironic part is that if Cairo Santos misses the game-icing 58-yard field goal, we might be talking about how both Maye and Williams made costly mistakes, and that giving up a 10-yard sack to almost get knocked out of field goal range ultimately cost the Bears the game. However, Santos hit that field goal, and the sack — plus Ben Johnson’s decision to try a career-long kick with his team up by less than a touchdown — will be nothing more than a footnote.
Mini bye before trip to Miami
The Patriots have 10 days off until their next game, which will come against one of the worst teams in the NFL, the Miami Dolphins. The game is in Miami, which makes it a little more complicated, since the Patriots typically struggle down there. They are still going to need to take care of business in the division, especially against the bad teams, if they want to have any chance of catching the Bills for the AFC East title.
This also could be a good time to start exploring some trade options. Colts guard Quenton Nelson is a name that makes a ton of sense, but there are others out there that could help the Patriots as well. With the extended time off, now might be the time to jump at the chance to bolster a roster in need of bolstering before the stretch run.
