The Bears walked out of Atlanta with Caleb Williams back and a win in hand, and now they barely get a chance to breathe before another big one arrives at Soldier Field.
On Thursday night, Chicago hosts the New England Patriots in a Week 7 matchup that carries one obvious headline and plenty of football underneath it. Williams and Drake Maye, the top two picks from the same draft class, are set to meet again. Both teams are 4-2, and both are trying to keep rolling.
This time around, the setting is very different from their first meeting. Back in November of 2024, when the Bears were still coached by Matt Eberflus, New England beat Chicago 19-3 in a game that turned ugly fast.
Williams was sacked nine times in that one. A lot has changed since then, including the fortunes of both franchises.
Williams is now coming off a strong return from the hamstring tear he suffered earlier this season, and he leads the NFL in completion percentage. Maye has also settled in after a rough start, winning three straight and looking far more comfortable than he did in the opening stretch. The result Thursday could carry real momentum for whoever grabs it.
The matchup also brings together two defenses that have spent the season living near the top of the league. Chicago sits seventh overall, allowing 302.3 yards per game.
New England is right there at sixth, giving up 300.8. The Bears are allowing 19.8 points per game, while the Patriots are at 18.8.
Chicago has a -2 turnover differential. New England sits at -6.
What makes that part of the game especially interesting is how similar these units look on the surface, even if they get there in different ways. The Bears and Patriots are separated by just a handful of yards in both passing and rushing defense, and the takeaway battle could end up deciding the night. Dennis Allen’s defense keeps hunting for turnovers, and that figures to matter again here.
One name to watch in that chess match is Kyler Gordon. He made his first appearance of the year in Week 6 and wasted no time making an impact, logging three sacks on just 17 snaps.
It was the kind of return that changes the conversation quickly. Against a Patriots offense that now has A.J.
Brown back from injury, Chicago may need Gordon’s versatility and pressure package to help keep Maye from testing the field deep.
As for the game itself, kickoff is set for Thursday, October 22, at 7:15 p.m. CT on Amazon Prime.
Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung are on the call. The forecast calls for 62 degrees, 3 mph wind and no precipitation.
For the injured players on both sides, the official reports are still pending and will be updated once the teams release them.
Prediction-wise, the key numbers point in a familiar direction for Chicago. The Bears are projected to get the edge in the turnover column, with Williams leading the team in passing yards, D’Andre Swift pacing the ground game and A.J.
Brown finishing with the most receiving yards. The final call: Bears 24, Patriots 20.
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The Bears defense is already carrying plenty of momentum into Thursday night, and the matchup with New England could get even friendlier up front. The injury reports told part of the story Wednesday, with Chicago listing six players and the Patriots putting 17 names on theirs, and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged that the offensive line situation is heading in the wrong direction for his team.
New England may be leaning into the game with more questions than answers on the edges and across the middle, where the Bears can try to keep pressing their advantage. The Patriots also may not be at full strength at receiver, with A.J. Brown having recently returned from a high-ankle sprain but still looking limited, leaving one more layer of uncertainty in a short-week matchup Chicago will be eager to exploit. [Read more 🡒]
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Caleb Williams has spent the first part of 2026 looking far more settled in the Bears offense, and the improvement has shown up in the most basic number of all: completions. Through three starts, he leads the NFL with a 72.5% completion rate, and a recent outing featured a franchise-record 83.3% mark that underscored how quickly he is growing into the system.
For Ben Johnson and the coaching staff, the next question is less about whether Williams can handle more responsibility and more about how to manage the rest of the offense around him. Chicagos balance is being tested by injuries to key offensive pieces, which makes the coming plan harder to map out and leaves the Bears weighing how much to lean on Williams arm while the rest of the unit sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]
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What stood out Sunday was how comfortable he looked when called on in coverage. Blackwell has already built a reputation as a dependable special teams piece, but his recent defensive showing only adds to the case that there may be more there for Chicago to tap into. For a Bears team always looking for reliable depth and weekly contributors, that kind of performance is hard to overlook. [Read more 🡒]