Mac Jones’ return to the starting lineup was supposed to be the story in New England on Monday Night Football. Then, it seemed that popular rookie Bailey Zappe replacing Jones to zap some life into the Patriots’ offense might steal the headlines.
But in the end, New England’s failure to stop Justin Fields and the Bears offense told the real tale as Bill Belichick’s team fell to Chicago 33-14 at Gillette Stadium.
After the Bears took an early 10-0 lead, Zappe came on for a couple quick scoring drives to give the home team the lead 14-10 in the second quarter. From there, though, the Fields-led Bears pumped out 23 straight points to pull away, scoring on five straight possession from the second quarter to the fourth.
The loss dropped the Patriots to 3-4 on the season, entrenched in last place in the AFC East.
Before turning the page to next week’s trip to New York to take on the streaking Jets, here are some of the highs and lows from New England’s shocking loss to the Bears.
Thumbs up
Bailey Zappe – With the Patriots trailing 10-0 after a pair of three-and-outs followed by a Mac Jones interception, the rookie quarterback came on in the second quarter and immediately led a scoring drive. Much to the pleasure of the Gillette Stadium crowd, Zappe hit Jakobi Meyers for a 30-yard touchdown, to close a quick four-play, 55-yard scoring drive in which he completed all three of his passes for 54 yards. On his next possession Zappe got things rolling with a 43-yard completion to Devante Parker down the left sideline that would lead to a short Rhamondre Stevenson TD run for the New England lead. Zappe and the Patriots lost their momentum from there, though. Zappe finished completing 14 of 22 passes for just 185 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and way too many batted passes.
Matt Judon – While the Patriots defense had its issues on the night with Fields, Judon was once again by far the best the New England unit had to offer. His batted pass led to a Myles Bryant interception in the first half. By halftime he’d tallied 2.5 sacks. He ran by Fields at times, but was still really the only Patriots defender with much playmaking energy on the night.
Thumbs down
Rush Defense – The Bears came into this one with a suspect offense under second-year quarterback Justin Fields, but a unit that has run the ball well at times this season. New England struggled to defend Fields, more as a runner than as a passer. Fields had chunk run after chunk run, some designed and some on the fly. All told it led to 82 yards rushing on 14 attempts by Fields, leading a Bears rushing attack that churned out 243 yards overall. It was another tough night for the New England run defense trying to defend an athletic QB.
Third down defense – The Bears stayed on the field on offense way more often than not on third down. The Patriots defense couldn’t get off the field on third down way more often than not. That, in a nutshell, was the game. Fields’ offense converted 11 of 17 third downs on the way to the upset win, the quarterback making the plays he had to make when he had to make them with both his arm and his legs.
Mac Jones – The second-year QB’s return to the lineup after a three-game absence was clearly not what he or anyone in New England hoped for. Jones led two three-and-out drives before throwing an ugly interception on his third possession. He was then replaced by Zappe, with Belichick claiming it was part of the plan on the night. Belichick also told ESPN that Jones would play in the second half, but he never returned. Jones finished completing 3 of his 6 passes for just 13 yards with one interception for a 16.7 passer rating. Jones did rush for 24 yards on three attempts. All told, it was a bad night.
Trent Brown – New England’s big left tackle earned three penalties – two holds and a false start – on the Patriots’ first two drives of the night. While the first two flags were offset by Bears’ penalties, the third turned a third-and-5 to a third-and-10 that New England failed to pick up on a 5-yard run. It was the second of consecutive three-and-outs that helped lead to Jones getting replaced by Zappe as the offense scuffled early. Brown added a fourth penalty with a tripping infraction to wipe out a Zappe completion late in the third quarter. Tough night for the big left tackle and for the New England offensive line as a whole.
Isaiah Wynn – The former first-round pick leads the NFL in penalties, has given up too many sacks/pressures and now was inactive against the Bears due to a hamstring injury that left him limited all week in practice. That opened the door for Marcus Cannon to get the start at right tackle, where he was a mainstay in his first tenure with New England. It will be interesting to see what Wynn’s status is with the Patriots in the coming weeks as a dismally disappointing fifth season continues.
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