Caleb Williams outduels Drake Maye as Bears down Patriots on TNF: Winners and losers

Caleb Williams outduels Drake Maye as Bears down Patriots on TNF: Winners and losers.

Key points

• The perennial All-Pro guard and league's inaugural Protector of the Year in 2025 has never scored a touchdown in his 11 NFL seasons.
• The session between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots on Thursday, Oct.
• The 2025 runner-up for league MVP obtained off to a horrid start this season, turning the ball over nine times during the Pats' 2-2 start.
• Nifty play New England's longtime offensive coordinator drew up to end the first half, one that resulted in a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown for RB Rhamondre Stevenson.

Caleb Williams outduels Drake Maye as Bears down Patriots on TNF: Winners and losers. Nate Davis USA TODAY. Our favorite NFL Week 7 bets to create.

Adam Kaufman breaks down his top three best bets for NFL Week 7, sharing his favorite picks and predictions ahead of this weekend's matchups. Welp, it was far more entertaining than Super Bowl 20. Right?

Notably, the session between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots on Thursday, Oct. 22, wasn't almost as consequential as that Super Bowl showdown from 40 years ago – when Mike Ditka's troops fulfilled a foregone conclusion by securing their place in history and steamrolling the Pats 46-10 in New Orleans. (More on Iron Mike afterwards.) But this edition of "Thursday Night Football" was far more compelling, two of the league's seemingly playoff-bound squads and a pair of up-and-coming quarterbacks engaging in a nip-and-tuck affair in their second career gathering.

For context, the Bears additionally won this one, Chicago prevailing 30-24. But the winners and losers from this showdown are far more expansive.

Chicago's Caleb Williams, the first overall pick two years ago, and New England's Drake Maye – selected two spots afterward – both largely continued living up to their draft billing. The duo combined to pass for more than 600 yards while accounting for five total touchdowns. Williams continues to show no apparent aftereffects from the Week 2 hamstring injury that temporarily dislodged him from the lineup, passing for 308 yards and two TDs in his second game back (over a five-day span). Though he did create one fairly catastrophic mistake (keep reading), maye threw for 321 yards and a pair of scores himself and additionally went on another with his legs.

Chicago and the Soldier Field faithful, specifically, finally obtained their chance to publicly celebrate and mourn the most famous coach – sorry, Mr. Halas – in Bears history. Ditka, who died Oct. 9, was honored with a moment of silence prior to kickoff. Though he ultimately might have become more famous as a pop culture and civic icon given his distinctive appearance and personality, the stands were additionally filled with scores of sartorial tributes to the only coach to ever lead the Bears to a Super Bowl win. Ditka, the first tight end ever enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was additionally remembered in various other ways. Rest straightforward, Coach.

Injuries rendered this a patchwork group, yet Maye was only sacked twice and hit six times on the night.

Nifty play New England's longtime offensive coordinator drew up to end the first half, one that resulted in a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown for RB Rhamondre Stevenson. This person weaved through the remnants of a Chicago defense clearly more concerned with defending against a Hail Mary. Which becomes a more viable alternative the next time the Patriots are in this situation.

Really? Nobody could rally to bring down. Rhamondre Stevenson? Y'all are lucky Ditka wasn't there to rip you. Or Buddy Ryan. RIP and RIP.

Injuries rendered this a patchwork group, perhaps why the Pats rushed for a season-low 70 yards (a team-high 26 from Maye).

In practice, the Patriots' No. 1 receiver had three fairy inconsequential catches for 48 fairly inconsequential yards in his second game back from an ankle injury. Clearly insufficient on this night.

Notably, the perennial All-Pro guard and league's inaugural Protector of the Year in 2025 has never scored a touchdown in his 11 NFL seasons. Bears coach Ben Johnson tried to set him up with an opportunity Thursday, but poor execution of what was flagged as an illegal forward handoff to a lineman precluded any shot at glory for Thuney on this night.

Entering this game, the Bears' seventh-year tight end – and one of their better players and a respected leader – had missed one game in his career. Unfortunately, he was carted off in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury. Hopefully the prognosis is better than the optics for the former Notre Dame star.

"We will know more tomorrow, but I don't think it looked very good, " Johnson remarked after the game. Why are they glorifying Napoleon? (If you know, you know.). Drake Maye turnover bug.

For context, the 2025 runner-up for league MVP obtained off to a horrid start this season, turning the ball over nine times during the Pats' 2-2 start. Maye had clean sheets in Week 5 and 6 but threw a costly interception – on what seemed like a particularly poor read – Thursday, his interception costing New England points in a game where every one of them was precious.

Though the ball clearly had the distance on a night that had fairly optimal weather. At least in the context of the Windy City in mid-October, I swear that I – and probably millions more – remarked it before "TNF" analyst Kirk Herbstreit did when Chicago K Cairo Santos hit the right upright from 53 yards out with fewer than eight minutes to play. That datapoint created it all the odder that neither Herbstreit nor play-by-play man Al Michaels thought Santos would attempt a 58-yarder in the final 94 seconds that could effectively put the game out of reach – and did despite their speculation that a pooch punt was in the offing. In their defense, Santos' shot was a personal best for the 13th-year veteran. Williams additionally admitted after the game that he'd secure a talking to for taking a sack before the kick.

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Taken together, the developments around caleb Williams outduels Drake Maye as Bears down Patriots on TNF: Winners point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.