Bears zap the Patriots, win 33-14 on MNF

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —The Chicago Bears upset the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football in convincing fashion, drubbing the AFC East stalwarts, 33-14.

The Bears defense forced four takeaways (3 INT and 1 FR), while the offense gashed New England for 241 rushing yards and 2 TD.

The Patriots came into the game as 8.5-point favorites. Before their victory on Monday night, Chicago was winless in games where they were 7-point underdogs or more on the season.

Justin Fields bounced back from a sluggish performance against the Washington Commanders ten days earlier, going 13-21 for 179 passing yards with 1 TD and 1 INT on top of rushing for 83 yards and another TD on the ground.

Game Breakdown

Justin Fields hit the ground running on the Bears’ first drive, connecting with Darnell Mooney for 20 yards on his first pass of the game, before rolling out left to find Equanimeous St Brown for 11 yards on the very next play.

Fields stalled temporarily, as he skirted a pass into the turf behind an open St Brown on first down, then fumbled a ball one down later that luckily landed in the arms of David Montgomery for a loss of 4 yards.

Montgomery helped scavenge the drive by gaining 9 yards on the ground on third-and-14, putting Cairo Santos in range to boot his 8th field goal of the year, giving the Bears a 3-0 lead after their opening possession.

Santos was perfect on the year heading into the Bears’ game in Foxborough, having hit on all 7 of his field goal attempts heading into week 7.

Fields regained his rhythm after the Bears’ defense forced a punt, going 3-3 for 39 yards through the air before capping the drive with a 3-yard TD run on a quarterback keeper to give Chicago a 10-0 lead with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bears’ secondary stepped up following the Fields touchdown, as Jaquan Brisker made an acrobatic one-handed interception to shut down the Patriots as they drove into Chicago territory early in the second quarter.

The interception was the first pick of Brisker’s career.

Despite the play New England’s defense got back on track, forcing a three-and-out on the Bears’ first possession of the second quarter.

Perhaps feeling some momentum from their defense’s play, Bill Belichick made a change at quarterback for the Patriots, bringing in Bailey Zappe at the 11:41 mark in Q2, who promptly drove the length of the field in 4 plays, cashing in on a 30-yard TD pass to Jakobi Meyers just under 2 minutes later, making it a 10-7 ballgame.

Zappe kept the momentum flowing for New England after a Fields INT, hitting Devante Parker on a 43-yard completion before Rhamondre Stevenson punched it in from 4 yards out to regain the lead, 14-10.

Fields and the Bears offense didn’t flinch though, as Chicago would score on four straight possessions across the second and third quarter to take back and extend their lead.

Next, Fields led a 4 minute, 10 second drive, capped by a 25-yard touchdown to Herbert on a screen pass with 1:54 to go in the half.

A Zappe fumble recovered by Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones 22 seconds later opened the door for Santos’s second field goal of the game — a 23-yard chip shot to end the half — and give Chicago a 6-point lead, 20-14.

Fields’ 74 rush yards in the first half were the most ever for a QB in a half against Belichick throughout his entire 22-year NFL coaching career.

Santos hit his third field goal of the night, this time a 38-yard boot, after the Bears drove 56 yards in a little over 5 minutes to begin the second half.

With the score standing at 23-14 in favor of Chicago, the Bears’ defense forced another three-and-out before Santos — guess what — hit another field goal to extend Chicago’s lead, 26-14.

The Bears would put the cherry on top after David Montgomery took a 1-yard run across the goal line to open scoring in the fourth quarter, giving Chicago it’s biggest lead of the night and the eventual final score, 33-14.