The Chicago Bears played their first home game since the passing of legendary head coach and tight end Mike Ditka on Thursday night. The game took place against the team that Ditka and the Bears defeated in Super Bowl XX -- the New England Patriots.
After a moment of silence for one of the most important figures in franchise history, the Bears and Patriots played a highly contested contest at Soldier Field. There were chances for each team to pull away, especially the Bears, but neither side stopped playing hard-nosed football.
After opening the scoring with a field goal from Cairo Santos, the Bears offense started to open up. Eventually, they won to the tune of a 30-24. It was an impressive performance for the Bears as they faced adversity and overcame it in a playoff-like matchup.
The Bears don’t play the Patriots very often, being in opposite conferences, but this game was built up with some interesting storylines. For one, Mike Vrabel was the other coach they would have wanted if they never hired Ben Johnson.
There is also the Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye matchup. They are forever linked because Williams went first overall and Maye went third overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. They have already separated themselves from the rest of the quarterbacks taken in that draft, but they both will always work at being the best of their generation.
The Patriots are a measuring stick team, too. Last year, Maye was the MVP runner-up en route to an AFC Title and Super Bowl appearance. With the Seattle Seahawks, who beat New England in said Super Bowl, looming, this was the first of two games that Chicago could send a message to the rest of the league.
The Bears' defense wasn’t as dominant as they were in some of their other wins, but they also faced a high-end quarterback with great weapons led by a high-end coach. One bad play at the end of the first half kept the Patriots in it more than they should have been as well.
Quarterback Caleb Williams was outstanding again. He is still capable of making those big plays that get him on highlight reels, but it was checkdowns and taking the short gains when they were available that allowed him to lead his team to victory again.
Williams completely 22-of-33 passes for 308 yards with two touchdowns for a 116.7 passer rating. He spread the ball around the field, trusted his receivers (even though they had some big drops throughout the game), and used his running game to his advantage. It was the type of game where the Bears showed just what they can do on offense when everything is clicking.
Ben Johnson was as aggressive as he’s ever been in this game. He isn’t afraid to go for it on fourth down if his offense is over midfield, and he trusts his players. That even applies to kicker Cairo Santos, who he trusted to put Chicago ahead by two scores in the end, despite a bad miss earlier in the contest. As long as he’s in charge, the Bears have a chance.
Chicago now has a 10-day break, the mini-bye, before they face the Seahawks on Monday Night Football in Week 8. At 5-2, they have what it takes to go visit the champs and beat them, but there is work to do in practice ahead of time.
Whether it’s the battle of the head coaches, the battle of the quarterbacks, or the measuring stick storyline, the Bears came out on top. When Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson are both there, there is no team in the National Football League that they can’t beat.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Instant analysis of the Bears' 30-24 win vs. Patriots in prime time