For the second time this season, the New England Patriots will appear on national television on Thursday night. The hope is that the outcome will be different than last time.
After dropping the season opener to the Seattle Seahawks, head coach Mike Vrabel’s team will now take on the Chicago Bears in a battle of 4-2 teams. With both clubs on a short week and facing some personnel questions, proper physical and mental preparation is one of the main talking points of the week.
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“You can’t let how you feel physically affect your mental preparation,” Vrabel says. “It’s something we’ve tried to focus on in these short weeks over the last however many years we’ve done them.”
Can the Patriots’ preparation help them get a fifth victory? Let’s find out together. Welcome to our Patriots-Bears live tracker and community discussion.
Live score: Patriots 21 : 27 Bears
Thursday, October 22, 8:15 pm ET | Soldier Field (Chicago, IL) | Broadcast information | Game day list | Not active | Weather forecast
First quarter
The Patriots started the game on offense, and an incompletion sailed high over the head of wide receiver AJ Brown. Drake Maye found more success targeting his running backs, hitting Rhamondre Stevenson for a gain of 19 yards and later finding TreVeyon Henderson on back-to-back plays. However, a Stevenson run on 3rd-and-6 did not gain proper yardage and New England turned the ball over after a sack on the ensuing 4th-and-5.
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The Bears’ offense started Thursday night with good field position, and a chunk play to Luther Burden for 26 yards against Marcus Jones. However, an inaccurate pass on the ensuing 3rd-and-7 ended the drive and set up a 43-yard field goal for the game’s first points. | Patriots 0 : 3 Bears
The Patriots offense didn’t get going on its second possession. After two short drives to start the series, a quick touchdown on another Bears blitz look forced a punt and Mitch Wishnowsky punt.
Chicago’s offense didn’t fare much better, answering on its own three-and-out. Two short runs set up a 3rd-and-6. A short pass by Caleb Williams to D’Andrew Swift went for no yards thanks to Charles Woods and Christian Elliss quickly bringing down the ball carrier.
Drake Maye and company, meanwhile, went three-and-out in similar fashion on their next series: a short Corey Kiner run was followed by two negative plays, including a DeMario Douglas loss on 3rd-and-8.
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After neither offense did much on the last few drives, the Bears not only got a first down again but then beat the Patriots defense on a 58-yard catch-and-run to Luther Burden against a coverage bust involving Christian Elliss and Charles Woods. The play set up the home team with 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line, and D’Andre Swift needed just one play to find the end zone for the first touchdown of the night. | Patriots 0 : 10 Bears
Deciding to focus more on the passing game to start the next drive, the Patriots finally got a first down again when Drake Maye connected with Eli Raridon for another 15 to close out Quarter 1.
Second quarter
New England kept moving the chains to open the second quarter, driving into Bears territory for the first time all game. A 16-yard pass to Hunter Henry and a 13-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson then set up a goal-to-go situation, with Drake Maye ending the series with a touchdown scramble from 7 yards out. Maye was initially ruled out of the goal line, but Mike Vrabel successfully challenged the spot and was awarded seven points. | Patriots 7 : 10 Bears
Momentum quickly swung back in Chicago’s direction after Drake Maye’s touchdown. The team started its next series with a 47-yard kickoff return, and thanks to a tagging penalty found itself on New England’s side of the field immediately. The Patriots had a chance to stop the Bears on 4th-and-inches moments later, but D’Andre Swift moved the chains. However, back-to-back penalties against the Bears – including a negation on a 2-yard Joe Thuney run – ended the streak with a field goal. | Patriots 7 : 13 Bears
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New England started its next drive with a 16-yard pass to Efton Chism, and some good running by Corey Kiner along with an Eli Raridon catch and Drake Maye scramble found himself in the red zone. However, the opportunity was wasted when Maye was intercepted on an attempted end zone pass for Raridon.
The Patriots continued to hurt themselves on the next drive. A Charles Woods hold nullified a third down stop, while Gabe Jacas was flagged for roughing a pass to help the Bears get back into field goal range. New England found itself in a favorable position on a 3rd-and-17 after a sack by Marcus Jones, but Luther Burden again made a big play when he took a short pass 24 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. | Patriots 7 : 20 Bears
The Patriots only had nine seconds on the clock, and they made them count. First, Drake Maye hit AJ Brown for 18 yards, before finding Rhamondre Stevenson with three seconds left. The veteran running back caught a short pass 48 yards into the end zone as time expired in the second quarter. | Patriots 14 : 20 Bears
Third quarter
Starting the second half on defense, the Patriots were in a position for a quick three-and-out but gave up the conversion to a scrambling Caleb Williams. A pair of short passes to D’Andre Swift allowed the Bears to set up again in New England territory, and that wasn’t all: they capped their nine-play, 72-yard drive with Colston Loveland breaking a tackle for a 12-yard touchdown. | Patriots 14 : 27 Bears
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The Patriots could have answered with a big play on the next drive, but a deep pass to AJ Brown was broken up at the catch point. The pair connected on the next series to pick up 16 yards. That play along with a pair of completions to Hunter Henry allowed New England to get back into field goal range. The team’s ambition extended beyond three points, however, and it capped the drive accordingly when Drake Maye hit Eli Raridon for a 30-yard touchdown. | Patriots 21 : 27 Bears
After taking a few hits on the last few drives, the Patriots delivered a big three-and-out following their Eli Raridon touchdown. A short pass followed by two incompletions — prompted by the defensive front bringing some pressure — allowed the ball to return to New England on a punt.
That punt was fielded by Marcus Jones at the 7-yard line and returned 19 yards to improve what would have been bad starting field position. The Patriots managed to get the ball out but before the end of the quarter they found themselves 2 yards short after a third-down scramble by Drake Maye near midfield.
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Fourth quarter
The Patriots started the fourth quarter looking to make it 4th-and-2, but a false start penalty against Matt Pryor cost them 5 yards and brought the punt team out.
The Bears’ next drive looked similar to the Patriots’ last, with the team driving the ball early but eventually stopping near midfield to set up a 4th-and-2. Unlike New England, Chicago did it and moved the chains. However, the series still ended scoreless when Cairo Santos’ field goal attempt from 53 yards hit the right upright.
Starting in good field position and with a chance to drive for their first lead of the day, the Patriots’ offense went three-and-out. An incomplete pass followed by a 9-yard sack put the unit in an unfavorable 3rd-and-long position, and a pass to Rhamondre Stevenson didn’t gain enough yards to prevent a punt.
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