Game recap
Patriots @ Bears
2026 Wk 7 · CHI 30, NE 24
Chicago held off Drake Maye as Cairo Santos made a career-long 58-yarder late.
Chicago scored with 21 seconds left in the half and New England answered with 3 left, a finish found in only two other games since 1999
RareChicago led 13-7 when it took over at its own 20 after an end-zone interception. On 3rd-and-17 from the New England 24, one play after a 7-yard sack, Caleb Williams threw short right to Luther Burden III, who caught the ball 5 yards behind the line and ran 24 yards for a touchdown with 21 seconds left. Kyle Williams returned the kickoff to the New England 34, Drake Maye found A.J. Brown for 18 yards, and Rhamondre Stevenson took a short pass 48 yards for a touchdown with 3 seconds left: 66 yards in two plays and 11 seconds. In 7,381 games with play-by-play since 1999, both offenses scored a touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the first half in only three.
Games where both offenses scored a touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the first half, since 1999
| Season | Week | Game | First TD | Answer | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 9 | KC @ DAL | DAL, Prescott 10-yd run (0:21) | KC, A.Smith 56-yd pass to T.Hill (0:02) | DAL 28, KC 17 |
| 2024 | 6 | BUF @ NYJ | BUF, J.Allen 12-yd pass to D.Knox (0:27) | NYJ, A.Rodgers 52-yd pass to A.Lazard (0:08) | BUF 23, NYJ 20 |
| 2026 | 7 | NE @ CHI | CHI, C.Williams 24-yd pass to L.Burden (0:21) | NE, D.Maye 48-yd pass to R.Stevenson (0:03) | CHI 30, NE 24 |
Why it matters. The exchange set the halftime score at 20-14 instead of 20-7, and both scores came from difficult spots: Chicago from 3rd-and-17 after a sack, New England from its own 34 with 14 seconds left. Stevenson's 48-yard catch was worth +6.54 expected points, the biggest single play of the game's first half. Two offensive touchdowns that late in one half had happened only twice in the previous 27 seasons of play-by-play.
Cairo Santos hit a career-long 58-yarder on 4th-and-15, tying the longest Bears field goal since 1999
MilestoneSantos hit the right upright from 53 yards with 8:02 left and Chicago up 27-21. The Bears got the ball back at their own 9 with 6:22 left and drove to the New England 30, where Williams was sacked for 10 yards on 3rd-and-5. Santos then made it from 58 with 1:39 left for a 30-21 lead, after New England had used all three timeouts. Borregales made a 47-yarder with 42 seconds left, and Rome Odunze recovered the onside kick. Santos's longest field goal before this one was 55 yards, in 2020 at Carolina and in 2023 at Minnesota.
Longest made Bears field goals since 1999 (regular season and playoffs)
| Season | Week | Kicker | Game | Yards | Qtr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 | Robbie Gould | CIN @ CHI | 58 | 2 |
| 2026 | 7 | Cairo Santos | NE @ CHI | 58 | 4 |
| 2011 | 14 | Robbie Gould | CHI @ DEN | 57 | 4 |
| 2015 | 8 | Robbie Gould | MIN @ CHI | 55 | 1 |
| 2017 | 17 | Mike Nugent | CHI @ MIN | 55 | 4 |
| 2020 | 6 | Cairo Santos | CHI @ CAR | 55 | 2 |
| 2023 | 12 | Cairo Santos | CHI @ MIN | 55 | 4 |
Santos's field goal tries in this game
| Qtr | Clock | Down | Yards | Result | Score after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:58 | 4th | 43 | Good | CHI 3, NE 0 |
| 4 | 8:02 | 4th-and-11 | 53 | No good, right upright | CHI 27, NE 21 |
| 4 | 1:39 | 4th-and-15 | 58 | Good | CHI 30, NE 21 |
Why it matters. A miss would have left New England down 27-21 with a short field, needing only a touchdown. With the make, the Patriots needed two scores and got one, a field goal. The 10-yard sack on third down moved the kick from the New England 30 back to the 40, and Santos, who had missed from 53 six minutes earlier, made the longest kick of his 13 seasons in the play-by-play.
Luther Burden III caught all 4 targets for 130 yards, the third-most by a Bears receiver on four catches or fewer since 1999
RareBurden's four catches went for 26, 58, 22 and 24 yards. The 58-yarder reached the New England 4 and set up D'Andre Swift's touchdown run, and the 24-yarder was the touchdown that made it 20-7 before halftime. 92 of his 130 yards came after the catch. It is his best game of 2026, ahead of 95 yards against Atlanta in Week 6. Of the four Bears games since 1999 with 120 or more receiving yards on four catches or fewer, his is the only one without an incompletion.
Bears receivers with 120+ yards on 4 or fewer catches, regular season since 1999
| Season | Week | Receiver | Opp | Rec | Targets | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 12 | Johnny Knox | LV | 4 | 10 | 145 |
| 1999 | 6 | Marcus Robinson | PHI | 4 | 11 | 136 |
| 2026 | 7 | Luther Burden III | NE | 4 | 4 | 130 |
| 2000 | 5 | Marcus Robinson | GB | 2 | 3 | 126 |
Burden's catches in this game
| Qtr | Clock | Down | Air yds | After catch | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11:30 | 1st-and-10 | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| 1 | 2:32 | 2nd-and-9 | 18 | 40 | 58 |
| 2 | 2:21 | 2nd-and-11 | 16 | 6 | 22 |
| 2 | 0:21 | 3rd-and-17 | -5 | 29 | 24, TD |
Why it matters. Burden got only four looks in a game where Colston Loveland was targeted 12 times, so the yards came from what he did after the catch, not from volume. Three of his four catches came on second or third down with 9 or more yards to go. This was his first 100-yard game of 2026, after a high of 95 in his first six games.
Caleb Williams passed for 300 yards in back-to-back games for the first time, the first Bears quarterback to do it since 2018
MilestoneWilliams went 22 of 33 for 308 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, a week after 305 yards against Atlanta. He missed Weeks 3 to 5, when Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent threw every Chicago pass. In his five earlier 300-yard regular-season games, his next game ended between 122 and 256 yards. The last Bears quarterback with 300 yards in consecutive games was Mitchell Trubisky in 2018, whose run of three ended against New England.
Williams's 300-yard regular-season games and his next game
| Season | Week | Opp | Yards | Next game yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | IND | 363 | 157 |
| 2024 | 5 | CAR | 304 | 226 |
| 2024 | 12 | MIN | 340 | 256 |
| 2024 | 16 | DET | 334 | 122 |
| 2025 | 17 | SF | 330 | 212 |
| 2026 | 6 | ATL | 305 | 308 |
| 2026 | 7 | NE | 308 | Not yet played |
Last Bears 300-yard games in consecutive games: Trubisky, 2018 (bye in Week 5)
| Week | Opp | Comp | Att | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | TB | 19 | 26 | 354 |
| 6 | MIA | 22 | 31 | 316 |
| 7 | NE | 26 | 50 | 333 |
Why it matters. Williams's 300-yard games had been one-offs: across 2024 and 2025 none was followed by another. Two in a row after a three-week absence points to a passing game that now has more than one target, with Burden, Loveland and Odunze each over 65 yards in this game. Bears quarterbacks had 13 300-yard regular-season games from 2019 through 2026 Week 7, and the two by Williams in Weeks 6 and 7 are the only pair in consecutive games.
New England was more efficient after halftime but ran 20 plays to Chicago's 35
SplitOver the full game the two offenses were close: Chicago averaged +0.195 EPA per play and New England +0.185, and each had 18 first downs. The difference was volume. Chicago ran 65 pass and run plays to New England's 49, leaning on 22 D'Andre Swift carries for 78 yards. In the second half New England averaged +0.357 EPA per play to Chicago's +0.150, but it had the ball for only 20 plays, and both teams scored 10 points.
This game, both offenses (pass and run plays)
| Team | Plays | Yards | First downs | 3rd down | Pass EPA/play | Run EPA/play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHI | 65 | 406 | 18 | 4 of 13 | +0.377 | -0.030 |
| NE | 49 | 380 | 18 | 2 of 7 | +0.370 | -0.165 |
By half
| Team | Half | Plays | Yards | EPA/play | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHI | 1st | 30 | 211 | +0.248 | 46.7% |
| CHI | 2nd | 35 | 195 | +0.150 | 45.7% |
| NE | 1st | 29 | 227 | +0.066 | 48.3% |
| NE | 2nd | 20 | 153 | +0.357 | 45.0% |
Why it matters. New England's passing matched Chicago's play for play, +0.370 EPA per dropback to +0.377, so the game turned on how many chances each side got. Chicago's run game was close to neutral on EPA, but 29 runs kept the clock moving, and its final drive took 4:43 off the clock. A team that is as efficient as its opponent but runs 16 fewer plays needs a mistake to go its way, and New England's one turnover came on its most promising drive.
New England never led, and its best chance ended in an end-zone interception at 13-7
TrendDown 13-7 in the second quarter, New England had 1st-and-10 at the Chicago 15. Maye threw deep right for Eli Raridon and D'Marco Jackson intercepted him in the end zone. Chicago went 80 yards the other way for a 20-7 lead. After that, New England cut the lead to six points twice, at 20-14 and 27-21, and the score stayed 27-21 from 3:52 of the third quarter until Santos's field goal with 1:39 left.
Scoring plays and turnovers
| Qtr | Clock | Team | Play | Score after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:58 | CHI | Santos 43-yd FG | CHI 3, NE 0 |
| 1 | 1:43 | CHI | Swift 4-yd TD run | CHI 10, NE 0 |
| 2 | 11:37 | NE | Maye 7-yd TD run (reversed on review) | CHI 10, NE 7 |
| 2 | 7:08 | CHI | Santos 31-yd FG | CHI 13, NE 7 |
| 2 | 3:32 | NE | Maye intercepted by D.Jackson in end zone | CHI 13, NE 7 |
| 2 | 0:21 | CHI | Williams 24-yd TD pass to Burden | CHI 20, NE 7 |
| 2 | 0:03 | NE | Maye 48-yd TD pass to Stevenson | CHI 20, NE 14 |
| 3 | 9:48 | CHI | Williams 12-yd TD pass to Loveland | CHI 27, NE 14 |
| 3 | 3:52 | NE | Maye 30-yd TD pass to Raridon | CHI 27, NE 21 |
| 4 | 8:02 | CHI | Santos 53-yd FG, no good | CHI 27, NE 21 |
| 4 | 1:39 | CHI | Santos 58-yd FG | CHI 30, NE 21 |
| 4 | 0:42 | NE | Borregales 47-yd FG | CHI 30, NE 24 |
Why it matters. The interception was New England's only turnover. A touchdown and extra point there would have given New England a 14-13 lead; instead Chicago scored a touchdown on its next drive. Maye otherwise had a strong night, 24 of 31 for 321 yards, his second-highest total of 2026, but New England never got level again.
Chicago's first home win over New England since 2000
MilestoneThe Patriots had won the four previous games Chicago hosted in this series: 33-30 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign in 2002, then 36-7 in 2010, 38-31 in 2018 and 19-3 in 2024 at Soldier Field. Chicago's last home win in the series was 24-17 in Week 15 of 2000. New England still leads the meetings since 1999, 6-3, but Chicago has won two of the last three.
Patriots vs Bears, 1999-2026
| Season | Week | Game | Stadium | Score | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 15 | NE @ CHI | Soldier Field | CHI 24, NE 17 | CHI |
| 2002 | 10 | NE @ CHI | Memorial Stadium (Champaign) | NE 33, CHI 30 | NE |
| 2006 | 12 | CHI @ NE | Gillette Stadium | NE 17, CHI 13 | NE |
| 2010 | 14 | NE @ CHI | Soldier Field | NE 36, CHI 7 | NE |
| 2014 | 8 | CHI @ NE | Gillette Stadium | NE 51, CHI 23 | NE |
| 2018 | 7 | NE @ CHI | Soldier Field | NE 38, CHI 31 | NE |
| 2022 | 7 | CHI @ NE | Gillette Stadium | CHI 33, NE 14 | CHI |
| 2024 | 10 | NE @ CHI | Soldier Field | NE 19, CHI 3 | NE |
| 2026 | 7 | NE @ CHI | Soldier Field | CHI 30, NE 24 | CHI |
Why it matters. The two teams meet about once every four years, so the home drought covered four games over 26 seasons. New England won those four by 3, 29, 7 and 16 points, including the 2018 game in which Trubisky threw for 333 yards. The win moves Chicago to 5-2 through Week 7 and drops New England to 4-3.
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