Week 7 of the NFL schedule got underway Thursday night with an interconference contest between a pair of teams that entered the game 4-2 on the year and in second place in their respective divisions. After last week’s rock fight between the Seahawks and Broncos, things got back to being a more offensive matchup in the Windy City. While this matchup didn’t quite reach the level of the Lions/Bills clash in week 2, it was on par with what we saw in week 4 when the Steelers and Browns locked up.
In the end, a gutsy call by Ben Johnson with under two minutes to play gave the Bears a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Rome Odunze fell on an onside kick in the final minute and the Bears ran out the clock to earn a 30-24 victory over the Patriots in their first game at Soldier Field since Mike Ditka passed away. With the win, the Bears improved to 5-2 while New England dropped to 4-3 and now stand 1.5 games behind Buffalo in the AFC East.
QUARTERBACKS
Both quarterbacks put up big numbers in this game. However, when it came down to brass tacks, only one of them made a mistake and that proved to be the difference in the contest. Drake Maye made some plays with his legs, including scoring on a seven-yard run where the tip of the ball may have been in the air surrounding the front of the goal line. He also took a hellacious head shot on that play. While the stat line looked pretty (and for fantasy owners, most of it was good), some of it was good fortune. He finished 24 of 31 for 321 yards with two touchdowns and added 26 yards and a score on four carries. Of course, his 48-yard touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson on the final play of the half was a simple dump-off where it looked like the Bears had mentally already gone to the locker room. He also showed terrible decision making on the interception he threw in the end zone trying to target Eli Raridon. That pick proved critical in the result. Maye has been picked three times in the end zone already this season. No other quarterback has had that happen more than once.
Caleb Williams followed up last week’s big showing against Atlanta in his return after missing three-plus games with a hamstring strain with another stellar outing. He finished the game 22 of 33 for 308 yards and a pair of scores while adding 18 yards on the ground. Not only did he have a big game throwing the ball, he showed leadership when he chewed out Luther Burden III for not getting back to the huddle in time after a long pass play. The Bears had to burn a timeout and Williams made it clear that wasn’t going to fly. That kind of poise and leadership can’t be understated by any stretch. He did take a bad sack late in the fourth quarter and that is something that will have to be cleaned up going forward.
RUNNING BACKS
Let’s start with the obvious part here. New England didn’t run the ball with any kind of success in the contest. Maye led the team with his 26 yards. Rhamondre Stevenson was the feature back in what has become a three-headed committee for the Patriots. You know what we say about situations like that. Anyway, Stevenson caught five balls for a team-high 92 yards and a score, including that 48-yard score on the final play of the half. That was what made his night worthwhile because he ran the ball just six times for 22 yards. TreVeyon Henderson played just 13 snaps and finished with three carries for nine yards plus two catches for 14 yards. Corey Kiner got a whopping six snaps, though he did carry the ball on four of them, finishing with 13 yards. It seems Stevenson is currently the leader in the clubhouse and Henderson/Kiner are the equivalent of chopped liver. At least, that’s the case until Stevenson starts fumbling again.
Chicago played their third straight game without Kyle Monangai and instead, we got a ton of D’Andre Swift. He dominated the backfield snap share as he was on the field for 59 snaps to Roschon Johnson’s 10. In addition, Swift finished with 22 carries for 78 yards and a score while he reeled in all four of his targets for a total of 12 yards. Johnson had two carries for 13 yards in his action. As long as Monangai remains out, Swift is going to get a ton of volume. Once he returns, this one likely dials back to a 50/50 or 60/40 split in terms of touches and playing time.
WIDE RECEIVERS
The good news for the Patriots is all four receivers saw more than 20 snaps in Thursday’s contest. Of course, the bad news is that New England only had four receivers on the active roster with Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins on injured reserve. While Maye completed 24 passes in the game, just seven of them went to wide receivers. A.J. Brown saw the most action among the receivers. He was on the field for 49 snaps and saw six targets. On the flip side, he caught just three of them for 48 yards. Demario Douglas was on the field for 35 snaps and saw four targets. He reeled in three passes for 23 yards. Efton Chism III (33 snaps, one target, catch, 16 yards) and Kyle Williams (21 snaps, one target, no catches) were also in the mix. Chism III did draw a pass interference call on Jaylon Johnson in the final minute that helped New England kick a late field goal.
Chicago stayed with their main crew for the most part in this game and their top two options did damage at critical moments. Rome Odunze saw the most action as he was on the field for 65 snaps in the game. He was targeted five times and caught four of them for 69 yards. Odunze had a couple big catches in the fourth quarter, including converting a 3rd and 11 deep in their own territory. Luther Burden III turned in a big game as well. He was on the field for 42 snaps and caught all four of his targets for 130 yards and a score. Burden had a 58-yard catch and run that put the Bears at the Patriots’ four-yard line to set up one score. He caught a 24-yard score late in the first half as well. Burden III is second in the league in YAC yards and is explosive whenever he touches the ball. He added a seven-yard run as well. Kalif Raymond was on the field for 48 snaps but was targeted just once in the game. Zavion Thomas (five snaps) and Jahdae Walker (three snaps) were hardly useful, unless you count Thomas’ holding penalty late in the game as a benefit for New England.
TIGHT ENDS
Both teams have multiple tight end options and they were busy in this game. With Dennis Allen dialing up the pressure on a regular basis, it seemed that the internal clock was sped up for Maye. As a result, he started looking for safety valves and checkdowns. Hunter Henry was his usual reliable self as he was on the field for 41 snaps. He caught seven passes (on seven targets) for 71 yards. Five of his grabs went for first downs. Eli Raridon saw the field for 28 snaps. He was targeted four times and caught three passes for 56 yards and a score. On the down side, he was the intended receiver on Maye’s bad interception. Cameron Latu saw three snaps so he earned his orange slices and juice box.
As for the Bears, remember earlier in the season when we told you that you should be checking your milk cartons for a picture of Colston Loveland, because he was missing? After all, he had just five catches for 34 yards in the first THREE weeks of the year. Well, he’s apparently been reunited with the offense and is a relevant option again. He caught seven balls and was targeted a massive 12 times Thursday night, totaling 69 yards while playing 58 snaps. In addition, he scored for the second consecutive week. In the last four games, Loveland has 21 grabs for 210 yards and a pair of scores. After dropping a third-down pass, the Bears went right back to him on 4th and 2 and he reeled it in to keep the drive alive. Cole Kmet was on the field for 38 snaps and caught all three of his targets for 28 yards. He was carted off in the late stages of the fourth quarter with a knee injury. Sam Roush was out there for 14 snaps and did a solid job blocking. He might be in line for more work if Kmet is out.
MISCELLANEOUS
As we said last week, turnovers will kill you in this league and that is exactly what did the Patriots in Thursday. They committed the game’s lone miscue and it came when they were in the red zone. New England has turned the ball over 14 times this season and own a -7 margin in the takeaway/giveaway department. The Patriots are dealing with a battle of attrition to say the least. Chicago owned a 405-380 advantage in total offense, picked up 21 first downs while allowing 20 and owned a 32:24 to 27:36 advantage in time of possession. New England gambled early, going for it on 4th and 5 at the Chicago 45 on the opening possession only for Maye to get sacked. That, along with a big kick return, set the Bears up outside their own 40 on two possessions that led to six points, which proved to be the margin of victory.
Andy Borregales hit all three of his extra point attempts and connected on his lone field goal attempt, which came from 47 yards, in the contest. Cairo Santos connected on all three of his extra point attempts and drilled three of four field goal attempts in the game. He hit from 43 and 31 yards in the first half. In the second half, he had a 53-yard attempt doink off the right upright with 7:57 remaining. On the ensuing possession, after Caleb Williams was sacked, Ben Johnson sent Santos out to attempt a career-long 58-yard attempt. Of course, he nailed it to give the Bears a two-score lead and he surpassed his previous career-long of 55 yards in the process.
Week 8 gets underway next Thursday night in the land of the Frozen Tundra with a battle of NFC teams trying to make headway in a crowded field. The Carolina Panthers are on the road as they travel to take on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Greem Bay is hoping for a better showing than we saw in their first Thursday night game, when they were trounced by Atlanta 35-14 in week 3.
