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10/24/22

5 min read

Bear Down: Chicago Dominates Patriots 33-14 in Foxboro

By The 33rd Team

Whatever the stories may have been entering Week 7's finale on Monday night, the narrative switched multiple times throughout the game, from quarterback surprises to one team clearly outplaying the other. In the end, a franchise known for its recent struggles piled on against a team known for stable success, as the Chicago Bears buried the New England Patriots well before the final drives of Monday's game, earning a huge 33-14 win on the road.

So Much for The Return of the Mac

Three drives was all it took to dash the pre-written headlines for newspapers and websites across the country. The return of Mac Jones lasted only 16 plays for the Patriots, who benched their 2021 first-round pick in favor of fourth-round surprise Bailey Zappe at the start of the second quarter. The results quickly provided a spark, but left more questions than answers in the end.

Under Jones, the Patriots went three-and-out twice to start the game, and Jones ended a 10-play drive with an interception in his final series in charge. That was enough to send out Zappe, and his impact was immediate. Down 10-0, the Patriots scored a pair of touchdowns within five minutes to take a temporary 14-10 lead, Zappe connecting with Jakobi Meyers for one of the touchdowns.

But even that spark Zappe provided upon his entrance dissipated against the Chicago defense. Following those two touchdowns, every New England drive ended in either a turnover or a punt. Zappe both lost a fumble and threw a pair of interceptions, and as the Bears took the lead and added to it time and again, the Patriots had barely a whimper to answer with. Zappe wrapped up with 185 yards on 14-of-22 passing, and while head coach Bill Belichick indicated his two quarterbacks would both see the field following Zappe's entrance, Jones never came back out.

Now what began as a seemingly unthinkable debate in Week 4 has become a very real one: What does New England do at quarterback moving forward? Jones was picked 15th overall just a year ago, and was the Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up. He even made a Pro Bowl and led the Patriots to a 10-7 record and the playoffs, and was positioned as the future franchise face. But Zappe took his opportunity and ran with it in the two weeks he replaced Jones, winning both games, and the Patriots were visibly energized when the backup replaced Jones at the start of the second quarter.

Field(s) Day

Whatever the heck is going on at quarterback in New England will dominate many of the headlines, but the quarterback who deserved top billing out of Monday night was Chicago's Justin Fields. The second-year passer had posted quality individual numbers as a runner and passer in the same game before, but never in a win. He finally got his big win on Monday night.

For the second straight week, Fields crossed 80 yards and made a bid for a 100-yard game, leading the Bears in rushing. He took it in for Chicago's first touchdown of the game, and later added a touchdown pass to Khalil Herbert as part of a 179-yard passing performance.

Fields' day slowed down considerably as the Bears' lead expanded from a field goal to two and then three possessions, which prevented him from putting up the third 300-yard game of his career. But the 19-point margin of victory easily stands out as the largest win of the quarterback's career as a starter, and continues an improved stretch from him in 2022. His last two weeks have been two of his three-biggest games as a runner in his career, and he has had his three best passing games of the season over his last three weeks.

Old School Bears

For a franchise more used to struggling on the field than thriving on it, Monday was a blast from the past with some old school, Chicago Bears-style football. On defense, Chicago weathered the early surge from Zappe and the Patriots to shut out New England for nearly three full quarters. And on offense, the strategy was simple once they had the lead: Run it down New England's throats, kill the clock, and crush the spirit on the other sideline.

Both David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert joined Fields on the ground, each picking up 62 yards, with Montgomery adding a touchdown. After taking a 17-14 lead in the second quarter, all but the Bears' final two drives went at least seven plays, and killed anywhere from three to five minutes of clock. Drive after drive ended with the team's lead growing as Chicago reached the end zone or connected on a field goal over five consecutive series, taking it from a 14-10 deficit to the 33-14 final score in their favor.

Chicago rushed for 243 yards as a team, the third time in seven weeks the team has gone for at least 237 in a game. Were it not for the 281 yards the team had in their Week 3 victory over Houston, Monday night's performance would have been the most rushing yards in a game by Chicago since 1988.

That offense was appreciated, but not needed with the way their defense played. The closest New England got to scoring in the second half was Chicago's 44-yard line. The Bears forced four Patriot turnovers and limited New England to 260 yards of offense — the second week in a row the unit has kept its opponent below 300.

While Matthew Judon picked up 2.5 sacks as one of the lone standouts on the New England defense, Chicago's interceptions came from the team's top defender Roquan Smith and a pair of rookie defensive backs, Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon. And behind that effort, the Bears also ended a couple of lesser-known but still unfortunate streaks the team had been on. First, it was the Bears' first win over the Patriots since the 2000 season. And second:

Tags: Chicago Bears, New England Patriots

The 33rd Team

The 33rd Team is a Football Think Tank created by Mike Tannenbaum.

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