Chicago, IL – The Patriots went to historic Soldier Field as a six-point road underdog and came away with a 19-3 victory over the Bears in front of a stunned crowd in Chicago on Sunday.
Although this was far from a '96 Bulls performance by the Patriots, this win was the type of game you're hoping to see from Jerod Mayo's squad in the second half of his first season as head coach. Mayo's team was the more prepared and bought-in squad, sacking Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams nine times while scripting enough offense to earn a victory.
Now, Chicago certainly has its issues. Following a last-second loss on a Hail Mary in Week 8, the Bears have now lost three straight games. They're in a bit of a free fall, with questions swirling about head coach Matt Eberflus's future. Despite drafting Williams first overall and loading up offensively, the Bears offense is a mess. Williams generated just -0.46 expected points added per play, along with nine sacks. For those unfamiliar with the stat, that's not good, and it's especially not good seeing that the Bears didn't turn it over.
On Sunday, New England looked like the team supporting its rookie quarterback best. Third-overall pick Drake Maye was up-and-down. His brightest moments were during the best 7:17 of football the Patriots have played all season. Following a well-scripted second-quarter scoring drive by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt that was responsible for the game's lone touchdown, the Pats defense got a stop in five plays. Then, Maye orchestrated a 35-second field goal drive. A ten-point swing that essentially decided this one.
Although we all would like to see Maye light up the scoreboard, this was hopefully a foundational-type win, Maye's first in a game he started and finished in the NFL. New England was the more buttoned-up operation. They had a great game plan vs. Williams, were more balanced offensively, and played sharper situational football. If, and this is a big if, the Patriots can string some wins like this together, it'll be big for Mayo's program.
Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots improve to 3-7 on the season with a win over the Bears on Sunday:
1. SERVPRO Spotlight: Special Teams Ace Brenden Schooler Spies Bears QB Caleb Williams in a Unique Game-Plan Wrinkle
After a rough start to the Mayo era, the Patriots head coach and his staff rightfully have taken on heavy criticism during a 2-7 start to his coaching tenure.
However, if we are going to critique Mayo's staff when things go poorly, they deserve praise for wins. This week, Mayo and DC DeMarcus Covington's wrinkle to use coverage ace Brenden Schooler as a QB spy deserves kudos. For my money, this was the best game-plan maneuver the Patriots staff has had all season in any phase.
The Bears rookie quarterback is an excellent improviser. Williams is incredibly slippery and has a live arm from any throwing platform. As a result, the Pats needed someone to spy Williams when they played man coverage, which they did on 25 drop-backs (61%). The answer was Schooler, one of the team's fastest and best open-field tacklers.
According to Coach Mayo, the Patriots call this the "Longhorn" package in honor of Schooler's alma mater. It's been in the playbook for years, per Schooler, dating back to when it was the "Auburn" package for Jonathan Jones (vs. Lamar Jackson in 2019-20). The coaches approached Schooler earlier in the week, and he recorded his first sack at any level of football.
After logging a QB hit on a third-down incompletion, Schooler registered his first-ever sack. Using a five-man rush package, the Pats were in man coverage with a single-high safety (man-free). Schooler is standing up over the center as a spy, a role we've seen rush linebackers in the past, and does an excellent job closing the pocket when the rush forces Williams to try to escape the collapsing pocket to his left.
The Patriots defense had Williams in a blender. It didn't seem like the Bears rookie was reading the field well, and his accuracy was also spotty. This game will surely add fuel to the fire in Chicago, where fans were chanting for a new head coach during the fourth quarter.
We've been clamoring to see the Patriots coaching staff show something unique to help the team win. On Sunday, the Schooler wrinkle was just that — tip of the cap.
2. Rookie QB Drake Maye Earns First Victory in a Complete Game vs. Bears
Officially, Maye gets credit for the win over the Jets even though he did not finish the game. On Sunday, the Pats rookie got his first real win.
When he walked up to the podium, Maye "clapped it up" for the defensive performance. However, it was Maye who set the tone early in the week. The Pats rookie QB spoke to the offense following Wednesday's practice, harping on the necessity for the offense to sharpen up on the details.
Mays's words seemed to manifest themselves in the sequence before the half. With 35 seconds left, the Pats got the ball back at their own 40-yard line. Maye completed passes to DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte to get the Pats into field goal range to take a 13-3 lead.
The rookie's best throw came on a 22-yard backside dig to Boutte that set up a field goal before the half. Maye has a dagger concept, with Pop Douglas's slot vertical clearing out the middle of the field for KJ Osborn and Boutte to fill it in. When Bears CB Kyler Gordon (No. 6) carries Douglas, it opens the middle of the field vs. two-man, and Maye layers the throw perfectly to hit Boutte in-stride coming out of his break.
New England then ran up to the line to spike the ball with one second left for K Joey Slye to drill a 37-yard field goal that made it 13-3 heading into halftime – great situational football.
Overall, Maye generated -0.09 expected points added on his 31 drop-backs. However, he lost -4.8 expected points on his interception alone, so he was a net positive the rest of the day. Maye had a few close calls with the pick, an underthrow on an off-script deep ball, and a ball that was late and behind Hunter Henry in the end zone. On the pick, Maye's fifth in five starts, the third-overall pick said he was trying to throw the ball away but had to "throw it away further" on a play he chalked up as a bad decision.
At some point, Maye must eliminate the rookie mistakes and turnover-worthy plays. Still, the rookie quarterback hit the layups created by the scheme, had a 19-yard scramble, an off-script completion, and recovered well after the interception — he outplayed Williams in this one.
3. Patriots O-Line Chooses Continuity Over Youth, Upside in Sunday's Win
Heading into the game, the biggest question mark on offense was the Pats starting offensive line configuration. Earlier in the week, the Pats had experimented with standout OL Mike Onwenu at left guard and rookie Layden Robinson at right guard, sparking a huge external debate.
Last week, Robinson was benched 21 snaps into his start because he couldn't handle Titans stud DT Jeffery Simmons. Despite that, the Pats were going to prioritize playing Robinson so much that they were going to force Onwenu to flip sides. It didn't make sense. On Sunday, New England stuck with their most successful five with Onwenu at his natural spot.
The Patriots held the Bears defensive front to a modest 34.5% pressure rate (NextGen data) with a solid 42% rushing success rate with the following O-Line combination: LT Vederian Lowe, LG Michael Jordan, C Ben Brown, RG Mike Onwenu, and RT Trey Jacobs – the same group that started vs. the Jets and finished the overtime loss to the Titans.
The Pats got the run game going some against a leaky Bears run defense, and Maye was protected enough to make plays. It's also worth noting that Chicago ranked tenth in pressure rate heading into Week 10, so this was a good front that the Pats were able to manage. Plus, they had 13 successful runs to four stuffs, getting their run-play-action sequencing going more than usual this week (more on that next).
Some short-yardage runs still needed work, and Maye was officially hit seven times, which is too high. As always, we'll review the tape in After Further Review for a more complete take on the line's performance.
4. Patriots Play-Action Passing Game Starts Rolling in Sunday's Win
One positive development for the Patriots offense was that they generated good production on play-action passes: Maye went 4-for-6 for 71 yards and a TD (his INT was off play-action, but was on Maye).
The main reason creating big plays off play-action is huge for the Patriots is that it can create layups for Maye within structure, meaning easy throws that don't take him being Superman to complete. For example, the Pats got a chunk by running their "drive" concept off play-action. By running crossers at different levels of the defense by their tight ends, Maye hits a wide-open Austin Hooper for a 25-yard gain.
During the week, Van Pelt said that Maye needed to improve his play-action fakes, saying that the rookie quarterback was making it too easy on the defense to sniff out play-action. It seemed like Maye took the coaching along with better production in the run game contributing.
The rookie quarterback's 71 play-action passing yards were a season-high for the Patriots.
5. Seven Different Defenders Join in on the Patriots Sack Party
Although the "Longhorn" package stole the show, the Patriots had seven defenders log a sack on Sunday: Wise (2.0), Jennings (2.0), Tavai, Pharms, White, Pettus, and of course, Schooler.
Speaking to Patriots.com after the game, second-year DE Keion White said the Patriots wanted to force Williams to beat them from the pocket. White credited his teammates in the backend for disguising coverages, but White himself tallied a team-high six QB pressures.
"I don't think there's a guard in the league who can block me one-on-one," said White. The 2023 second-rounder also noted that he was getting double and even triple-teamed on third down, which created opportunities for his teammates, like Schooler, to sack Williams.
The Patriots seem to have a good pass-rusher in White, who added to his league lead with two more quick pressures in the win (under 2.5 seconds).
6. Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne Odd Man Out, Ja'Lynn Polk Bounces Back
Another interesting development for the offense was that veteran Kendrick Bourne was the odd man out with six receivers active for Sunday's game.
According to a Boston Herald report, Bourne was informed before the game that he wouldn't play much, with the Pats prioritizing getting their young receivers snaps. However, veteran receiver K.J. Osborn played 27 snaps, the second-most of any Pats receiver, which runs counter to the fact that the Patriots wanted to prioritize playing the kids. Here were the snap totals for the Pats WRs: Boutte (59), Osborn (27), Douglas (25), Polk (25), Baker (4).
Bourne wasn't spotted in the Patriots post-game locker room by this scribe, so we'll likely hear his perspective during the week. As for the receivers who played, separation felt like an issue for this group in the first half, but the numbers did even out by the game's end.
It was also a feel-good moment to see Polk, who has been riding the rookie roller coaster, catch a second-quarter touchdown that capped off the 10-play scoring drive. Polk had a delayed route off an extended play-action fake, a concept that has worked well in the low red zone this season, and was open in the flat when he released off the run fake.
New England still needs more from its wide receiver room, and it was an interesting coaching decision to bench Bourne, one of their best separators, in favor of Osborn on Sunday.
7. CB Christian Gonzalez Doesn't Shadow a Bears WR in Man Coverage-Heavy Plan
Although the pass rush deserves its flowers, my guess is that Monday's film review will show that the Patriots disguising and tight man coverage also played a huge role in the nine sacks.
Based on my live viewing, there were two clear coverage sacks in the first half. Eventually, the Pats pass-rush schemes started to get home in a hurry, but there also was great coverage downfield from this vantage point, especially when the Patriots were in man-to-man schemes.
As for the matchups, Gonzalez told reporters that he "had the boundary" this week against a good trio of receivers for the Bears. With three legit weapons, the Pats left Gonzalez on the backside 'X' receiver and then mostly ran their coverage schemes to the passing strength. Overall, Gonzo split time on D.J. Moore (18 routes) and Rome Odunze (15), allowing just one catch for 18 yards on three targets into his coverage.
This week, Gonzalez's ability to take the boundary receiver in single coverage allowed the Patriots to scheme up ways to confuse Williams and pressure the quarterback. Sometimes, it makes sense for him to shadow a specific receiver, but this was a good plan by the coaches.
8. Special Teams Review: Some Ups and Downs in the Kicking Game
Lastly, the special teams units had some good and bad. New England allowed a 38-yard punt return, which is becoming a semi-regular occurrence. They also got flagged for kicking the ball short of the landing zone, giving the Bears the ball on their own 40. The good was an I20 by punter Bryce Baringer, a 24-yard punt return by Marcus Jones, and Joey Slye making all four field goals and an extra point. They've got to get the punt coverage straightened out.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
