The Chicago Bears held on to defeat the New England Patriots 30-24 on Thursday Night Football. That final score doesn't necessarily paint the best picture for Chicago given how the game was progressing, but New England is the one that has to reconcile with the result.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel recognized that the Bears are a strong opponent, but also conceded that his team didn't cover the basics, like tackling and situational execution in the red zone on both sides of the ball.
"It's a thin margin when you play good teams. We did some good things. But again, didn't do enough. We didn't get enough stops in the red zone and we didn't convert our red zone opportunity the one time," Vrabel said postgame.
Chicago linebacker D'Marco Jackson intercepted New England quarterback Drake Maye during the Patriots' failed red zone attempt. Maye scored on a seven-yard touchdown run during New England's only other red zone trip.
Unfortunately, Jackson was seen in a walking boot after the game.
Vrabel has plenty to worry about with his own team. Overall, though, there's probably more optimism to be had for the Patriots.
New England's defense was tested against an elite offense led by Caleb Williams (308 passing yards, two touchdown passes) and D'Andre Swift (78 rushing yards, one touchdown run). Still, the Bears' 405 total yards of offense is comparable to Chicago's 388.3 yards per game average through its first six games. Ben Johnson's offense was typically great, but not far ahead where it had been all season.
Vrabel should be overjoyed by how good his quarterback looked. By that same token, Ben Johnson should be less than enthused about Dennis Allen's defense's showing.
The Bears gave up two chunk plays in the two touchdown passes from Maye to Eli Raridon for 30 yards and Rhamondre Stevenson for 48 yards right before the half. Stevenson's touchdown was a checkdown that became an explosive touchdown run because of Jaylon Johnson's poor route to the ball and cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Dillon Thieneman running into each other.
Coverage was a massive problem for Chicago all game. Enough to keep the coaching staff up at night, since it's now a trend.
Chicago's Secondary Exposed Badly Against Patriots...Again
It hasn't been long since this secondary was gashed up.
Two weeks ago, Green Bay Packers Jordan Love had 367 passing yards, two touchdown passes, and a 137.5 passer rating. Love completed 6-of-7 pass attempts over 20 yards for 258 yards during the 31-7 massacre at Lambeau Field.
Kyler Gordon's return has been a saving grace in the slot, but it's one step forward, two steps back with Malik Muhammad getting injured on the outside during Thursday Night Football.
Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson have been sore spots. You wonder if reinforcements is needed at the cornerback spot before the trade deadline passes.
Safety Cam Lewis didn't impress either, with serious struggles in blitz packages.
While the pass rush is banged up, the weakness is in the secondary. That's what'll undo any championship season in the Windy City this fall and winter.
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