With little room for error on the road, on a short week, against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears, the Patriots couldn’t afford to make life harder on themselves. But that’s exactly what they did, repeatedly putting themselves in disadvantageous situations in a 30-24 loss.
Here are six takeaways as the Patriots’ three-game win streak comes to an end in Chicago.
The Patriots could not tackle
Tackling is a basic part of winning football games. That’s an area the Patriots greatly struggled in on Thursday night.
According to PFF’s initial charting, the Patriots had 16 missed tackles, a season high.
“The tackling wasn’t good enough. Not against this team,” Mike Vrabel said. “We need to turn the ball over, and we need to tackle better; those are fundamental skills.”
Sure, playing on a short week almost certainly factored into the tackling woes. But 16 missed tackles is a very high number under any circumstances, and they were costly.
The defense could not limit explosive plays
The explosive plays haven’t been as frequent for the Chicago Bears’ offense this season. Entering Thursday night, they had just 12 pass plays of 20-plus yards, the third-fewest in the NFL. They also hadn’t recorded more than five completions of 20-plus yards in a game all season.
That changed Thursday night.
Explosive plays were a killer for the Patriots’ defense. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had completions of 58, 26 and 24 yards, two for 22 yards, and three completions of 21 yards. That’s eight explosive pass plays, nearly matching the Bears’ season total entering the game.
Williams finished 22-of-33 for 308 yards, becoming only the third 300-yard passer against the Patriots under Mike Vrabel, including playoffs, and the first to do so this year.
Chicago also had three explosive plays on the ground, defined as runs of 10-plus yards.
Add it all up, and the Bears finished with 405 total yards of offense, the most the Patriots have allowed in the Vrabel era, including the playoffs. Of Chicago’s nine drives, excluding the kneel-down at the end of the game, six resulted in points, including four straight scoring drives from the first quarter through early third.
It was a rough showing for the Patriots’ defense.
The wide receivers had a quiet day
The Patriots’ wide receivers had little impact on Thursday night.
A.J. Brown (three catches), DeMario Douglas (three), Efton Chism (one) and Kyle Williams (zero) combined for seven receptions for 87 yards on 12 targets.
Drake Maye finished the game with 321 passing yards, with wide receivers accounting for just 27.1% of that total.
Instead, it was the running backs and tight ends who carried the passing attack. Rhamondre Stevenson led the team with five receptions for a career-high 93 yards. Forty-eight of those yards came on a screen pass on the final play of the first half, keeping the Patriots in the game after they allowed a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to the Bears on the previous possession.
RHAMONDRE STEVENSON‼️📺 Prime Video https://t.co/heXDiTFnzW
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 23, 2026
The ever-so-consistent Hunter Henry added seven receptions for 71 yards, while rookie Eli Raridon had three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown as he continues to make plays in the passing game.
Stevenson’s 48-yard touchdown reception and Raridon’s 30-yard touchdown reception were the Patriots’ only explosive passing plays of the day.
Maye was 17-for-18 for 234 yards and two touchdowns when targeting his running backs and tight ends.
The Patriots need more from their wide receivers, especially Brown, who has yet to truly make his presence felt in a Patriots uniform.
He had just two receptions on four targets before adding a 14-yard catch on New England’s final drive, when the game was essentially over.
The Patriots gave up a first-round pick this offseason to acquire Brown and make him their WR1. So far, even accounting for his return from injury, he hasn’t been good enough.
Drake Maye kept the Patriots in it, but had another interception in the red zone
Mike Vrabel said after the game that Drake Maye kept the Patriots in it.
He was right.
The 24-year-old threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns, completing 24 of 31 attempts (77.4%).
It’s the second time in three weeks that Maye has thrown for 300-plus yards. He had just one 300-yard passing game in his first 33 career starts, including the playoffs.
Maye also ran the ball four times for 26 yards and a touchdown.
He had answers for the pressure Chicago threw at him, completing eight of nine attempts under pressure for 113 yards and a touchdown, per PFF’s initial charting. When blitzed, Maye went 10-for-12 for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
That interception was the lone blemish on another outstanding outing, continuing what has been a remarkable turnaround from his early-season struggles.
Maye’s interception came in the end zone on an underthrown ball intended for Raridon. It was his first turnover since Week 4.
@DMarcojackson20 picks it off in the end zone 🙌📺: Prime Video https://t.co/q7i8VOFjbf
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 23, 2026
It was also his eighth interception of the season, matching his total from a season ago. Of those eight interceptions, four have come on the opponent’s side of the field, including three in the red zone.
That was New England’s only turnover of the game, although they did turn the ball over on downs on the first drive of the game, which is essentially a turnover. That led to a Chicago field goal.
The Patriots couldn’t get off the field on key third downs
On the surface, it would appear the Patriots held the Bears in check on third down, allowing just four conversions on 12 attempts (33.3%). But three of those conversions were particularly costly: a 24-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden on a screen on third-and-17 in the second quarter, a 21-yard completion to Rome Odunze on third-and-11 in the fourth quarter, and another 21-yard completion to Odunze on third-and-9 in the fourth quarter.
The Bears also converted both of their fourth-down attempts.
The Patriots couldn’t get off the field in key spots.
Penalties killed the Patriots
The Patriots were flagged 10 times for 71 yards, giving the Bears five first downs, with 10 different players committing penalties.
Four penalties came on the offensive line, with Walter Rouse and Morgan Moses called for holding and Will Campbell and Matt Pryor flagged for false starts. Eli Raridon also committed a false start, while Gabe Jacas was called for roughing the passer, Charles Woods for defensive holding, Darius Muasau for an illegal formation, and Milton Williams and Corey Durden for encroachment.
It was the Patriots’ second game this season with double-digit penalties.
