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NFL · WEEK 7 · THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL · Thursday 22 October 2026 · Soldier Field, Chicago
Bears 30, Patriots 24
KEY STATS 📊
Caleb Williams (CHI): 22 of 33, 308 yards, 2 TD
Luther Burden III (CHI): 4 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD
Drake Maye (NE): 24 of 31, 321 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, plus a rushing TD
Rhamondre Stevenson (NE): 5 catches, 93 yards, 48-yard TD
Cairo Santos (CHI): 58-yard field goal with 1:34 left, a career long
Records: Chicago 5-2, New England 4-3
THE STORY 🗞️
CHICAGO. Soldier Field had not hosted a game since Mike Ditka died on 9 October. So the Bears held a moment of silence, handed out fake mustaches to the crowd of 60,520, and the stands filled with No. 89 jerseys and sideline sweaters.
Then Caleb Williams won the rematch. He threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-24 win over Drake Maye and the Patriots, two years after Maye's New England beat him 19-3 when both were rookies. It was Williams' second straight 300-yard game, and no Bears quarterback had done that since Mitch Trubisky's three-game run in 2018.
Luther Burden III did his damage early. All four of his catches and all 130 yards came in the first half, capped by a 24-yard touchdown on a third-and-17 screen with 14 seconds left before the break. Colston Loveland, Kalif Raymond and Darnell Wright cleared the lane.
"The whole calvary came ... and it was like a wave carrying him through there," Bears coach Ben Johnson said.
New England answered on the last play of the half. Maye lobbed one over safety Cam Lewis and Stevenson ran it in from 48 yards to make it 20-14. Maye finished with 321 yards, two passing touchdowns and a 7-yard score on the ground, but D'Marco Jackson picked him off in the end zone late in the second quarter.
THE KICK 🦵
Santos missed from 53 off the upright in the fourth quarter. Johnson sent him back out from 58 with 1:34 left anyway, and Santos made it, a career long that matches the franchise record. Andy Borregales hit a 47-yarder for New England with 37 seconds to go, and Chicago recovered the onside kick.
"That's my guy, Cairo. ... He said at the end that he wanted to have our back, 'Put me out there on the field.'"
Caleb Williams
The night had a cost. Tight end Cole Kmet was carted off with a knee injury, and Johnson did not sound hopeful.
"We'll know more tomorrow, but I don't think it looked very good," he said.
OUR TAKE 🐶
Four wins in five, and this one came against a team that had won three straight. Williams is playing like the No. 1 pick again, and Burden is turning into a real problem for defences.
The Kmet news is the worry. Loveland caught a touchdown on Thursday, but losing a starting tight end for any length of time changes what Johnson can call.
Maye will want that end zone throw back. Mike Vrabel said as much and still backed him: "I'm glad he's ours."
UP NEXT: The Bears visit Seattle on Monday night, 2 November.
HOW TO WATCH 📺: Bears at Seahawks is a Monday night game. We will add confirmed US and UK channels in our Where to Watch post that week.
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Is this the best Bears team since Ditka's? Let us know below.
Sources
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