ESPN 98.1 FM / 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM / 850 AM WRUF
Week 7 kicked off with the New England Patriots giving up a win at home to the Chicago Bears Monday night, 33-14. The Patriots are now last in the AFC East with a 3-4 record. The Bears are second to last in the NFC North. The Bears beat the Patriots for the first time since 2000 and the first time ever in New England.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 25, 2022
Quarterback Swap
Mac Jones started against the Bears and struggled, completing three of six passes for 13 yards, but he had an interception on three possessions. Bailey Zappe, rookie quarterback from Western Kentucky University, replaced Jones after the interception. This came after chants from the crowd to take Jones out. Zappe immediately turned around and led the Patriots to two quick touchdown drives, making the score 14-10 Patriots.
That was the last time the Patriots would see the ball in the endzone, as the Bears would go on to score 23 unanswered points to have a final score of 33-14.
Chicago Bears
By the end of the first half, Justin Fields had the most rushes and rushing yards on designed runs for a game in his career. Fields led the offense to 390 yards with 243 on the ground. He completed 13 of the 21 passes for 179 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had 14 carries of his own for 82 yards.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney had three receptions out of the six attempts, totaling for 53 yards. Running back David Montgomery had 15 carries for 62 yards and one touchdown.
New England Patriots
The New England defense could not quite contain Fields. It also could not produce enough between its two quarterbacks to catch up and make it a game. After entering the game early in the second quarter, Zappe delivered two big plays. The first was to Rhamondre Stevenson for 20 yards, setting up the deep pass to Jakobi Meyers for the first Patriots touchdown. Stevenson would take it into the end zone on the next drive, giving the Patriots their only lead of the night.
Stevenson led the rushing game with 11 carries for 39 yards, and DeVante Parker led the receivers with three receptions for 68 yards.
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1584765215740399617
The Patriots head to New York to play the New York Jets on Sunday. The Jets will be coming off of their fourth straight win, the first time the team has started the season with four or more wins through Week 6.
The Bears will travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys on Sunday. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott returned from his injury, and finished last week with 19 completions on 25 attempts for 207 yards.
