The New England Patriots fought valiantly, but they ultimately fell to the Chicago Bears in a 30-24 loss on Thursday Night Football.
It was a game where the Patriots struggled defensively, and their offense didn't have enough firepower to keep up down the stretch. They entered the game missing both starting guards, Ben Brown and Alijah Vera-Tucker, along with veteran wide receiver Romeo Doubs.
On the defensive side of the ball, their No. 2 cornerback, Carlton Davis III, was out with a neck injury.
Yet, the Patriots still showed some fight on the road. Quarterback Drake Maye went 24-of-31 passing with 321 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also led the team in rushing with 26 yards and one touchdown. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson might not have led the team in rushing, but he did lead the Patriots in receiving with five catches for 93 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots struggled to get off the field against the Bears' talented offense. Quarterback Caleb Williams was efficient, and the Bears doled out a well-balanced attack to keep the Patriots on their heels throughout the game.
Here's how people reacted on social media to the Patriots' Week 7 loss:
Defense really let the Pats down tonight
— Justin 🇪🇸🇨🇺🏀🔥🐊 (@JustinColeF) October 23, 2026
Should have won this game. Very disappointing outcome.
— Nick (@Nickisachamp96) October 23, 2026
Patriots defense F tonight. 100 missed tackles and penalties. Just embarrassing play. #patriots#nepats
— Jacob Jon (@mr_jacobjon) October 23, 2026
Tough loss for the Patriots. Too many defensive lapses to win. Too much soft zone and lack of pressure in key moments. Caleb Williams made them pay. The Patriots didn’t protect the football well enough on offense either. Solid night for Drake Maye but it wasn’t enough. Onto Miami
— James Higgins (@15Higgins) October 23, 2026
It's Week 7, and the Patriots have still yet to complete a game without turning it over.
— Matt St. Jean (@mattstdream) October 23, 2026
Hard to be a winning team when you give the ball away.
Patriots are fundamentally poor on defense tonight. Bad run fits, terrible angles and missing tackles. They look tired. #PatsBears
— New England Football Journal ® 🏈 (@newftbj) October 23, 2026
I'm not sure how anyone can point to just one single thing that caused the patriots to lose tonight.
— 🏆BostonTBA🏆 (@BostonTBA) October 23, 2026
Defense was bad.
Coaching was bad.
Oline was bad.
Penalties were bad.
Drake was bad literally once all game, the rest was a masterclass.
A true team loss by every…
Make every damn player on defense and the O Line run laps for the next week and a half. Absolute losers.
— TatumsWrld (@wrldoftatum) October 23, 2026
probably would’ve had a chance if our defense didn’t fall asleep in the first half
— ♱ (@iiTsFaded_) October 23, 2026
It would've been nice if we had a defense out there...
— Boston Legends (@FBL_Legends11) October 23, 2026
We lost to a good team. No need to overreact. We could possibly see them again
— Drake Maye (@DrakeMayexyvh) October 23, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Twitter reacts strongly to Patriots' crushing 30-24 loss to Bears