Bears and Patriots In-Game Blog

Analysis and reporting for the Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots as Chicago tries to haul a three-game losing streak.

Fourth Quarter

• Best Bears victory on the road since they beat Minnesota in 2020 in a game they needed to make the playoffs.
• Bears finished with 243 yards rushing.
• Kyler Gordon picks off Zappe. Should have had a pick-6 but got run down from behind. Tyquan Thornton does have sub-4.3 speed so it's easy to forgive him for not scoring.
• Three minutes left and they are giving it on the ground to Stevenson. That's the white flag.
• Bears sitting back in their shell coverage now letting passes go underneath, nearly had another tip for a pick.
• They try to pull Patriots offsides. Fields needs to do a better job hollering his cadence and moving his head around illegally because Aaron Rodgers does that and gets away with that when they call offsides on opponents. Bears punt after a delay-of-game penalty.
• Bears face fourth-and-1 at Patriots 41. Going for it. Who can blame them?
• The problem with ejecting Pennell is Fields took two hits far more vicious and disgusting and no penalty was even called, let a lone an ejection.
• Bears at the 46.  Face third-and-5
• Herbert not done running and has a first down and then 4 yards. 
• Pennell ejected for that blindside block. Travesty.
• Roquan a sack and a pick tonight. Those are the big plays they wanted to see from him.
• Mike Pennell called for an illegal blindside block on the return. Didn't really Dave Andrews that hard and even let up but had him totally blindsided. Andrews walks off woozy.
• Tipped pass and Roquan Smith with the interception. He said he wanted a big night and he's doing it. Dominique Robinson on the deflection.
• Zappe flushed out of the pocket and throws it away but the Patriots were called for holding.
• Bears DBs seem to be timing up the tosses as they close on passes, looking for the pick.
• Jaylon Johnson gambled a bit and went for the pick but failed to come up with it and Patriots are at the Bears 44.
• From their own 39, Stevenson gets 4 after breaking a tackle attempt by Jones. The Patriots running up the middle down 19 with 9 minutes left.
• Zappe throwing under the coverage  picks up a few first downs. The last one came on a Jakobi Meyers catch of 4 yards, nearly picked.
• Wesco, and the line explode off the ball and Montgomery bursts into the end zone. Bears putting the screws to the Patriots on 2-yard TD. That was physical, winning football. Bears 33, Patriots 14
• Bentley leaves with an injury so there's a stoppage of play.
• David Montgomery blasts off left tackle between Kmet and Jones and drives to the 6 for a first down, then down to the 2 on first down.
• Good wide zone blocking and a toss left as Herbert explodes but he runs out of bounds half a yard from the first down when he could have plunged forward.
• Not taking chances, here, they run Herbert straight up the middle for 3.
• Fields with 179 yards on 13 of 21, 85.2 rating. Has 83 yards rushing.

Third Quarter

• Fields closes out the quarter looking like a real QB. Reads through his progressions to the right, then back left and sees EQ for a short pass that nets the first down. The drive continues going into the fourth quarter.
• A short pass for 2 and it's third-and-4 at the 33.
• Herbert back in drills inside for 4 to the Patriots 35.
• If Bears can put a touchdown drive together here it will leave Patriots facing three scores in the fourth quarter. Not a very likely comeback scenario with young QBs and going against the Eberflus cover-2.
• Pettis shows some unseen quicks, catches a short punt on the run and returns it 27 yards to the Patriots 39.
• Trevis Gipson being held and mugged and batted the pass down anyway.
• Patriots work back within range of a first down with two short throws and face third-and-2.
• Fields is being worked on by trainers, stretched out on the sidelines.
• Tripping call on Brown working against Dominique Robinson
• Again after a touchback, Patriots start at the 25.
• Field goals are better than nothing, which was what the Bears got when they had it last week.
• Santos with fourth field goal, this from 50 yards. Bears 26, Patriots 14
• Again they try to surprise the Patriots with a run up the middle, and they'll try a long field goal in these wet conditions.
• Facing third-and-8 and another Patriots injured defensive back. Montgomery delivered a nice hit to Adrian Phillips on his 2-yard run.
• Bootleg pass and Fields overthrows Mooney in the end zone. He had no one open among any of the receivers anyway.
• Fields sneaks for the first down and the Bears are on the edge of scoring range again.
• Two runs by Montgomery get the Bears to third-and-1 at the Patriots 40.
• Fields spin-o-rama beats the blitz off the edge, then heaves it downfield for a first down at the sideline to Cole Kmetat the 50. Great catch even though the Patriots got away with interference on the play.
• Third-and-seven with 7:43 left in the third quarter.
• Fields holds the ball too long and nearly throws a pick along the sidelines. Then Montgomery churns out 3 with a second effort.
• Safety Kyle Dugger out of game with an ankle injury for Patriots.
• Dane Cruikshank called for the hold after Pettis muffs a punt and picks it up. Bears backed up at their own 22. 
• Roquan blitzing up the middle, every young QB's worst nightmare. The sack forces a punt. They had Smith and Morrow up in the A and B gaps and Morrow turned back.
• Justin Jones being active tonight at the 3-technique, leaped and batted down short Zappe pass.
• Harris right away off left guard for 4. They are running.
• Touchback and New England at the 25.
• I would anticipate Belichick come back with the running game because he knows if they turn to the pass the Bears will cherry pick interceptions. But he still has plenty of time to establish the run.
• Santos with his third field goal, this from 38 yards, and it's Bears 23, Patriots 14
• Overthrow for St. Brown down the sideline but he had double coverage.
• Herbert runs right and knocks down three Patriots like bowling pins at the sidelines for 4. Third-and-10, which is manageable with Fields' running ability.
• Finally Patriots figure out how to stop Fields on a run. He's turned back inside and by Jennings and has to take a short gain. Second-and-14 at the 24.
• Braxton Jones gets caught with a false start. Presnap is a disaster. 
• Moving pocket left and EQ finds a spot on the sidelines, catches it for a first down and the Bears are at the Patriots 20.
• Khalil Herbert feels his way through the right side and stiff-arms for 5.
• Pettis on the jet sweep, 29 yards around right end. He comes up limping.
• Ball has to be wet with this mist and fog, he bobbles snap, picks it up and runs around right end for the first down. Give N'Keal Harry credit for great run blocking on that side to make a first down possible 
• And Fields with a totally terrible throw. It looked like he might have lost the handle on it because it was wet or something.
• From the 24 they try a toss left to Herbert and he tiptoes for 3.
• Bears getting the ball.

Second Quarter

• Best thing for the Bears is they regained momentum with a late TD, a turnover and field goal, and they get the ball to start the second half.
• Cairo Santos from 23 yards makes it 20-14 Bears at the half. 
• Bears still have a timeout left but after defensive holding on an incomplete pass Fields won't get another chance at the 6. There are only three seconds left.
• Fields throws on the roll right to Moone, who makes a spectacular leaping catch and gets both feet down for the first down. 
• Bears come with trips right and New England calls a timeout.  They easily could have thrown a quick WR screen right on that and broken it for a first down or TD.
• On second-and-25 from the 36, Fields on a QB draw to the 27. Bears take a timeout with 19 seconds remaniing.
• Fields doesn't take care of the ball and loses it scrambling back at the 35 and recovers.
• Third-and-14 from the 42. Fields struggles to get out of the pocket with everyone covered and stumbles but scrambles for the first down at the 21.
• Fields holds the ball way too long and Judon beats Larry Borom easily to get the sack. 
• It's apparent part of the mini-bye assessment said they needed Fields to use his running ability more because he just ran for 4.
• Quinn waiting for the run and a bad exchange in the backfield, Justin Jones recovers the fumble for the Bears at the Patriots' 37.
• Zappe goes back to the well but Eddie Jackson is there and it's oiverthrown for an incompletion, but Parker catches a 12-yard pass at the sideline for a first down on second down.
• Fields was needlessly sandwiched and speared in the back on the pass and no call. We're back to this again.
• Braxton Jones with a pancake block leading the screen. 
• Fields with a headsy play, made the fake as Deatrich Wise was trying to block a pass at the line. Fields stops, then sidearms it to Khalil Herbert, who takes it all the way 25 yards for a TD with 1:54 left in the half. Again Fields takes another big hit. Bears 17, Patriots 14
• Fields has 41 yards on seven carries and a TD to lead Bears rushers.
• Another QB sweep around left end with student body blocking for a first down. TWO-MINUTE WARNING !!!!
• Fields caught behind the line by Judon but manages to get back to the line when no one was open, then he is shoved down out of bounds but no penalty. Lawrence Guy didn't give him much of a shove but did reach out and got his hand and forearm on him and sent him to the turf after he was a good 3 feet out of bounds.
• Ryan Griffin on a TE screen for 5. Looked immediately like he had a good 10 yards or more but Patriots rallied to the ball. 
• Fields play-action rifle to Mooney for 16. Mooney sat in the zone in a perfect spot and Fields rifled it to the Patriots 39.
• Herbert breaks behind a block by Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins, plus Khari Blasingame and gains 9.
• Now they go to Herbert and he goes off right tackle for 4 so it's third-and-1. Bears try a no-huddle QB sneak by Fields and gets the first down.
• QB draw by Fields for 5. Bad spot. He looked to have 7 and didn't slide.
• Velus Jones back for the kick return on this one and it goes out of the end zone.
• They have done a decent job of stopping the run and need to not let that get out of hand because they'll still have a shot. 
• Zappe 4 of 4 for 97 yards with a TD and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Mac who?
• Stevenson walks in off the left side for the TD. They all bunched in after the handoff, got pinned there by a couple of blockers and no one was on the outside. Patriots 14, Bears 10
• Stevenson blasts around left side for 3 and it's second-and-goal from the 4.
• Patriots at the 50. Zappe throws play-action bomb to DeVante Parker, who only seems to catch deep passes. It's for 43 yards. 
• This happens too much to Fields on these shorter passes and quick throws. It shouldn't. Part of the problem is his deliver. He still has too much of a windup and lets defensive linemen have that extra split second to get their hands to the right place.
• Third-and-5 at the 50 and Fields' pass gets deflected at the line and intercepted by Myles Bryant. He had Mooney breaking open and it looked like Fields wanted to throw it to him. 
• They said they would go with the hot hand in the running game. Herbert doesn't have a carry and Montgomery has seven runs for only 31 yards. Maybe it's time to switch it up?
• Well-designed Fields run around right end for 18 yards to the 45.
• Velus Jones apparently has lost his kick return duties too. They get a nice  return from Khalil Herbert to the 27. 
• Zappe with a very good reaction and read, knowing where his hot receiver was in case of a blitz. The Bears aren't very good at blitzing anyway. Why they would do it on third-and-5 when they'd been playing solid pass defense is pretty questionable.
• Bears don't cover the best Patriots receiver, Jakobi Meyers and he's overthrown, makes the catch at the 4 and rolls into the end zone. But it looks like on the replay Eddie Jackson touched him with a knee on the ground at the 1. They give him the TD anyway. Bears 10, Patriots 7
• Bears blitz and Zappe catches them by throwing it out quickly to Stevenson, who turns it into a big gain to the Bears 30. Should have been a 15-yard QB roughing penalty.
• Roquan Smith knifes in and tackles Stevenson at the ankles for only a yard. Third-and-5.
• Zappe rifles a 4-yard throw and fans go wild. Bears coverage with excellent job rallying to the catch.
• Belichick panics and puts Zappe in.
• Trenton Gill with a nice job of pinning a dangerous punt returner, Jones, along the sidelines and they still get a 9-yard return.
• Fields takes a needless sack for 10 yards by holding the ball too long on a rollout pass and get sacked, then fumbles it out of bounds. Dumb. Should have thrown it away.
• Fields takes way too long to get a flip over to the side at the line and it's batted down. Needs more awareness. Then he tries to throw to Mooney, who isn't open, and nearly gets it picked by Marcus Jones.
• First career interception for Brisker. Bears at their 27.
• Brisker back on the field picks off Mac Jones and gets his revenge for being kicked in the groin. Jones tried to float one in on the run to TE Jonnu Smith and the Bears have it. Expect the Patriots fans to start booing if Jones is at QB again after this Bears series. They all love their Bailey Zappe. 
• Play-action but it's covered well deep on both the tight end and X-receiver so Jones dumps it down and it's dropped. 
• Missed opportunity. It was obvious they didn't have the first down.
• Matt Eberflus needs to throw the red flag.
• On third-and-1 Mike Pennell prevents Stevenson from getting a first down and the Patriots get a great spot. The Bears need to have this spot questioned.
• Again Bears with a great job stuffing the first-down run by Stevenson. Now Jaquan Brisker appears to got kicked in the groin, by Jones as he scrambled and slid on second down and was down short of the first down.
• A toe injury for Patrick and he is doubtful to return. First he had a broken thumb and now this.

First Quarter

• Lucas Patrick carted off the field and Sam Mustipher is back in at center. The poor guy can't buy a break. Finally got him out there where he should play and he's injured.  Quarter ends on a 14-yard Jones completion over the middle to Hunter Henry. Bears 10, Patriots 0
• Bears have good coverage but leave the middle wide open and Jones scrambles for the first down.  He might have a bad ankle but an old man like me can pick up a first down in that situation.
• Bears run a cornerback blitz with Kyler Gordon at Quinn and he overthrows deep to Tyquan Thornton. Then Stevenson gets 5 on second down.
• Pats return another shorter one and they start at their 23.
• Fields 5 of 6 for 70 yards so far.
• Justin Fields with a QB sweep around left end from the 3 and toughs it into the end zone between tacklers with 2:11 left in the quarter. Bears 10, Patriots 0
• David Montgomery does his burrowing routine after a spin and then gets into the scrum all the way to a first down and inside the 5 at the 3.
• Fields with what looks like a QB draw or run up the middle to the 11.
• N'Keal Harry burns his old team and gets booed. Fields hits him right over the middle for a 15-yard gain.
• Scramble drill on third-and-6 and EQ pops free for a 20-yard completion. The Patriots trying to play zone there and that is not their cup of tea as they say in Boston.
• Good, tough running on a tight end screen for 6 yards. Not an easy pass to handle with the ball wet and he stets up second-and-4 at midfield.
• Pettis with his long Bears punt return of the season, 6 yards to the Bears 44 after another poor Patriots punt.
• Rhamondre Stevenson on a sweep left as Patriots try to do what the Bears did and catch the defens sleeping but it doesn't work. They get 4 and punt.
• Trent Brown with a false start trying to get the jump on Quinn. Now Pats are in third-and-long.
• Jones holds it too long and then dumps it off but Roquan Smith in coverage is there to snuff out the gain. Third-and-5.
• Patriots go back to trying to establish the run and get just 3 from Damien Harris off right guard, then they try play-action and an offsetting penalty again wipes out a big defensive play as it wiped out a sack.
• Marcus Jones with a bad decision to return one from about 3 or 4 yards deep and Bears stop him just outside the 20.
• Cairo Santos from 42 yards and remains perfect this season at 8 of 8. Bears 3, Patriots 0
• Montgomery fumbles the toss on a play to the left with fullback Khari Blasingame right out in front of him. They could have had 10 yards down the sidelines on that one. Third-and-13 now and Getsy tries to cross them up with a handoff that fails to get the first down but sets up a field goal of only 42 yards. That was a drive that had something but then fizzled out because it was self-destructed.
• At New England 29, Fields throws a pitiful pass incomplete short to EQ at the line of scrimmage. 
• For the first time all year the bootleg works. Wide open and EQ has a first down.
• After 2 yards on basically the same play, Fields faces third-and-4 and with a beautiful moving pocket to his right finds Darnell Mooney 5 yards downfield wide open and he runs 15 more yards and a 20-yard gain.
• Montgomery does a good job of sticking with his blocks and gets four off left tackle. He could have cut back to his right but it really wasn't open there as the Patriots stayed home.
• It's Dante Pettis back returning the punts and a poorly struck one so he doesn't even get a chance at the return. Pettis is pretty good at judging where punts are going but it makes you wonder how he ever set an NCAA record for TD returns (9) because he doesn't seem to have the moves and speed to be a punt returner. He has done nothing so far on his three actual returns over four games. Still, it's not worth putting Eddie Jackson back there to risk injury to your best safety, or to put Josh Blackwell there. He's as inexperienced at it as Velus Jones was.
• Robert Quinn with a big hit on Rhamdondre Stevenson on second-down screen, came back nicely, then they do an outstanding job rushing and keeping Jones inside the pocket for a 6-yard gain, forcing a punt.
• Bears get a tought break on second down when an incompletion is wiped out by offsetting penalties, Bears on Robert Quinn for offsides.
• Patriots have the ball first and are stuffed on first down as Mac Jones has started at QB.

Pregame

• The Bears will be starting Lucas Patrick at center, Michael Schofield at left guard according to WBBM sideline reporter Mark Grote. There won't be a change at left tackle.

• Ryan Poles met with reporters briefly before the game in New England.

• Ryan Poles on Fields "We're encouraged with the progress that's there."

Inactives

Bears

• DB Lamar Jackson

• DL Kingsley Jonathan

• WR Isaiah Coulter

• TE Jake Tonges

Patriots

• T Isaiah Wynn

• WR Kendrick Bourne

• RB Kevin Harris

• CB Shaun Wade

• DL Christian Barmore

• FS Josh Bledsoe

• LB Josh Uche

 

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