The Patriots’ winning streak ended Thursday night in Chicago, and it was the kind of loss that came down to a handful of plays rather than one runaway stretch. New England stayed in it for most of the night before dropping a 30-24 decision to the Bears, with the game swinging on a few critical moments.
Early on, the Patriots finally gave their offense a jolt after a slow start. Drake Maye pushed a drive all the way to the Bears’ 7-yard line and capped it himself for his ninth career rushing touchdown.
It did not count at first, though, because he was ruled short of the goal line. Mike Vrabel had the challenge flag ready, and after the review the ruling was overturned, giving New England a much-needed score and a bit of life.
That momentum didn’t last. Later in the second quarter, with the Patriots in position to seize the lead, Maye turned the ball over in the red zone.
The interception looked like the sort of mistake that had shown up earlier in the season: he missed the defender underneath and didn’t get enough air under the throw, allowing for an easy pick in the end zone. In a one-score game, it was a brutal miss, and Chicago quickly made it worse by scoring a touchdown on the next possession.
The Bears then squeezed the Patriots again at the end of the first half. With just nine seconds left, Chicago went 91 yards for a touchdown, trimming what had been a 13-point gap.
That drive started with A.J. Brown’s first catch of the day, and it finished with Rhamondre Stevenson turning a short pass into a 48-yard touchdown.
Stevenson only had to slip one tackle attempt, then used his vision and the blocking in front of him to race into the end zone.
Penalties also kept getting in the way of New England’s comeback bid. The teams combined for 19 flags, and one of the biggest what-ifs came early in the fourth quarter.
Down 27-21 and facing 4th-and-2 at the Bears’ 48-yard line, the Patriots looked ready to go for it. They had already missed one fourth-down try earlier, but after touchdowns on back-to-back possessions, the momentum seemed to be tilting their way.
Then Matt Pryor jumped offsides, and Vrabel backed off the gamble and sent the punt team out instead.
New England still had a chance late, though it never got the stop it needed. Trailing by six with five minutes left, the Patriots defense faced a 3rd-and-9 at the Bears’ 10-yard line.
A stop there would have handed Maye and the offense the ball in decent field position with time to work. Instead, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze connected for 21 yards, with Marcus Jones tight on the play but unable to break it up.
The conversion let Chicago bleed away more than three minutes before finishing the possession with what turned into the game-icing field goal.
In Other News...
Vrabel Just Gave Patriots Fans More Reason To Believe In Drake Maye
Drake Mayes early-season growing pains were easy to see through the first three games, but the Patriots have watched the rookie settle in and start to steer the offense with far more confidence since then. His improved play has helped keep New England in games even as the defense has had its own issues, and the 4-3 start entering Week 8 has given the team a much better feel than it had in September.
Mike Vrabel added to that optimism after Mayes Week 7 performance, offering a public show of support for the young quarterback at a time when every encouraging sign matters. For a Patriots team still trying to sort out its identity, that kind of backing from the head coach matters almost as much as the progress on the field, especially with Maye giving the offense a reason to stay competitive every week. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Vrabel's Late Gamble Left Patriots With A Tough Result
Late in the fourth quarter, Mike Vrabel tried to squeeze out one more chance for New England by getting creative with the clock. The Patriots coach had defensive tackle Cory Durden jump offsides on a 3rd-and-1 play, a move designed to preserve time and keep the offense from bleeding away another snap while the game was slipping toward the Chicago Bears.
New England executed the tactic, but the margin for error vanished soon after. Chicago responded with a kick from Cairo Santos that turned the situation from a calculated gamble into a costly final sequence, and Vrabel later acknowledged both the strategy and the way the Patriots handled it even as the decisive field goal settled the result. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Have A TreVeyon Henderson Issue They Can't Easily Hide
TreVeyon Henderson has given the Patriots exactly what they hoped for in terms of burst and explosiveness, but the second-year running back is still running into the same obstacle that has kept him from becoming an every-down option. His pass protection remains a real issue, and because of that, his playing time in obvious passing situations has been limited. For an offense that needs to keep defenses guessing, that creates a problem Mike Vrabel cannot simply scheme around.
The tension for New England is that Henderson's big-play ability is valuable enough to matter, but his blocking shortcomings make the playbook easier to read when he is on the field. The Patriots would like to lean on his speed more often, yet they do not have a clean answer for how to do that without exposing the offense in protection. Until that changes, Henderson's role is going to stay awkwardly split between the impact he can make and the situations the team can trust him in. [Read more 🡒]