Grading the Bears' Win Over Patriots

The Bears had been in this situation before this year.

They played well then suddenly the opponent regained momentum, much like Minnesota or Washington did against them.

A few breakdowns and long plays and they trailed 14-10. But this time they rebounded rapidly to win 33-14 against Bill Belichick's Patriots and suddenly it looked like they had discovered the formula for winning in their seventh game under coach Matt Eberflus.

It just required standing up to the adversity.

"We all take the blame for it on defense, we don't point fingers," linebacker Roquan Smith said. "It was just next-play mindset."

Whether it was defense, offense or special teams, the Bears moved on to the next play and executed.

They'll try to apply this moving forward but on Monday night and Tuesday morning they could at least enjoy the fact their three-game losing streak ended and they are 3-4, tied with Green Bay for second in the NFC North.

Here is the report card for their most lopsided road victory since beating Jacksonville in December of 2020.

Running Game: A+

Justin Fields risked a great deal by running so much but they were planned and he took care to stay out of real trouble, except when he was digging for the goal line early. They really did alternate Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery on closer to a 50-50 level, much as was said during the week with the hot player getting the carries. One of their offensive line's most impressive games based on all the movement in the run game that was required, the moving passing pocket and the fact they lost center Lucas Patrick to a toe injury very early. They've now had four different starting offensive lines and couldn't even settle in to their fourth. They'll have a fifth different at Dallas because of that injury. The Bears had to have a real running game to win this one and not just some scramble yards and they dominated the line of scrimmage while doling out punishment.

Passing Game: B+

A strong night by his receivers, from Cole Kmet's back-shoulder catch while going to the ground at the sidelines to pick up a big first down to the very first catch by Darnell Mooney off the moving pocket. They got it to Equanimeous St. Brown, N'Keal Harry and Dante Pettis and even if there were only 13 completions, each one was effective and big. Too many sacks still from their defense, and Larry Borom was manhandled much of the night by Matt Judon, as Fields was sacked four times. Fields also had a little trouble holding onto the wet football a few times on short passes that could have been disasters and he still winds up too much instead of having the ball up and ready to leave his hand when he is throwing the short pass over the line as one got tipped and resulted in an interception, but he really seemed to enjoy throwing out of the moving pocket. Efficient passing is more fun than passing for the heck of it.

Run Defense: A

They held New England to a season-low 70 rushing yards allowed but it was much more effective even than that. The Patriots running backs gained just 47 yards on 14 carries, or 3.4 yards a carry. Eberflus shoots for 3.7 to 3.8 yards. The Patriots had to get 23 yards rushing from their two quarterbacks, and unlike the Bears, this wasn't in their game plan. It was scrambling yardage. Justin Jones easily had his best game getting into the gap to cause havoc in the backfield, Roquan Smith and Nick Morrow played off the defensive linemen to get into their gaps quickly and leave no running room. And the defensive ends kept from getting out of their lanes, leaving no room off tackle for Rhamondre Stevenson to get chunk yardage.

Pass Defense: A

Without doubt their best game defending the pass because it included the interceptions from Smith, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker. The combined 54.5 passer rating for the Patriots QBs said it all. Smith had the only sack but there was sufficient pressure on both QBs. The only flaws were the long balls given up to DeVante Parker and Jakobi Meyers when momemtum changed briefly with the switch in Patriots QBs.

Special Teams: A+

Special teams had a big role in forcing the Patriots to start from an average field position of their own 24, while they averaged their own 42. The punt return on the fly of 27 yards by Pettis had a big part in setting up good field position for a score and keeping the Patriots from generating any comebacks. Coverage units on punt and kickoffs had the Patriots forced back to their own 17, 18, 14, 21 and 23. Cairo Santos making a 50-yarder in wet conditions and going 4-for-4 to remain perfect on the year capped off the night. New England better get another punter.

Coaching: A+

The game plan at each level perfectly analyzed New England's weaknesses and had a way to address them. Luke Getsy borrowed from the way Baltimore beat up on the Patriots with a running quarterback, and kept Fields from being an easy target in the pocket as they moved him around to throw. Alan Williams' defense had enough deception mixed in with the base cover-2 early in the game to keep two young Patriots QBs off stride coach Matt Eberflus' week of analysis was applied well from the mini-bye. Eberflus seemed to be more than a step ahead of Bill Belichick all night, and the coaching staff overall didn't let the Bears get down once they trailed in this one. They stood up and fought back and it was New England crumbling.

Overall: A

Downing the ball at the Patriots 1 at game's end to avoid running the score up to 40 on Belichick on his own field had to be the sweetest part of the win as the Bears won for the first time ever in New England.

There will be questions going forward about whether they can actually use this type of formula to beat Dallas on the road next week, but this is where coaching comes in because they'll face a different type of offense and defense, in different difficult circumstances. They'll see whether it is a blip on the radar or they are actually ascending rapidly then.

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