Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe both saw some time at quarterback on Monday night, but the Chicago Bears defense and rush offense took center stage in a convincing 33-14 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
After alot of talk between fans and the media all week long, Jones returned to start at quarterback for the first time since an ankle injury in a week three loss to Baltimore. The rookie Zappe, who is 2-0 in two starts would begin the night backing up Jones. But things would change early. The Bears got off to a 10-0 first quarter lead, and Jones would throw an interception into double coverage on the third possession for New England. Zappe would enter for the remainder of the game on their fourth time with the ball. That change would get the Patriots into the endzone for the first time in the second. A dump off pass to Rhamondre Stevenson went for 20 yards, and then on the next play Zappe hit Jakobi Meyers for a 30 yard touchdown pass. Myles Bryant then intercepted Bears quarterback Justin Fields, that would lead to a Stevenson four yard scoring run to give the Pats their only lead at 14-10. Chicago took a six point advantage into halftime on a 25 yard screen pass from Fields to Khalil Hebert for a touchdown, and then a late fumble lost by Meyers on a reverse culminated in a Carlos Santos field goal to make it 20-14 at the break.
Chicago (3-4) dominated the second half, adding a pair of Santos field goals of 38 and 50 yards in the third quarter to increase the lead to 26-14. The Bears put it away on a short touchdown run by David Montgomery 2:43 into the fourth, scoring the final 23 points of the game. Interceptions of Zappe by Roquan Smith and Kyler Gordon ended any thoughts of a possible comeback, as the Chicago defense ended the night with four takeaways (three interceptions, one fumble recovery). The Patriots, who allowed just 70 yards rushing to the Cleveland Browns last week, would give up 243 in the loss.
Jones ended his short night 3-6 passing for 13 yards and an interception, while Zappe was 14-22 for 185 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. An ineffective ground game (70 total yards) was led by Stevenson who had 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown, and also had the most receptions on the night with eight catches for 59 yards. Devante Parker reeled in three for 68 yards. Devin McCourty and Ja’Whaun Bentley had six total tackles, and Matt Judon had 2.5 sacks to lead the defense. Fields in the Chicago win passed for 179 yards (13-21) with one touchdown and one interception, and also rushed for 82 yards on 14 carries with a score. Montgomery and Herbert also ran for 62 yards each. Montgomery scored one on the ground, and Hebert caught a 25 yard TD in the first half. Darnell Mooney (3 rec, 53 yards) and Equanimeous St. Brown (4-48) were the leading receivers for the Bears, who also converted 11-18 on third down. It is the first win for Chicago against New England since December of 2000, and the first road win in the series ever. The Patriots (3-4) head back on the road next Sunday to face their AFC East rival the New York Jets (5-2) at 1 p.m. The Pats have won 12 straight games in that series.
