Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Was Sunday’s 19-3 win more about the Patriots or the Bears?
Probably the Bears, but this was still a day of progress for New England.
The Patriots moved to 3-7 on the year with a dominant nine-sack performance on defense. The Pats gave up just 142 total yards against a Chicago offense full of talent, but in worse shape on the line than they are. The Bears were just 1-14 on third down too. Even Brendan Schooler got in on the defensive action, recording his first career sack and having an impact throughout the day while on the field.
Drake Maye was efficient (15-25) with 184 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Rhamondre Stevenson had 20 carries for 74 yards. New England had 328 yards of offense and held the ball for over 32 minutes. Joey Slye also added four field goals and an extra point.
It was arguably the first all around, legitimate team performance of the season.
“Phones down, phones down. Notepads down real quick,” Maye said to the assembled media in Chicago as he took the podium postgame. “Let’s clap it up for the defense man, clap it up…man, it’s a good feeling sitting over there as an offense, as a quarterback with that type of defensive performance…credit to them. Credit to them in practice this week. Just kind of a good taste of what it looked like for me in training camp.
“They get after you. Mix up shell, mix up coverage, mix up blitz packages…it’s pretty cool to watch and it’s good to be on the other side of the ball. I’ve just got some make some better decisions and keep those guys in good field position.”
The lone score of the first quarter was a 30-yard field goal from Joey Slye that capped an 11-play, 54-yard drive. Chicago tied it at 3-3 with 7:17 left in the half on a Cairo Santos 33-yard field goal. Maye and the offense responded with arguably the best drive of the season for both the players and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Van Pelt used some creative and well-designed plays, including the final one, a two-yard touchdown pass to maligned rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, making it 10-3 with 1:46 left in the second quarter.
“It was great,” said Jerod Mayo. “With young players, you never know when that inflection point is going to come. You never know when that switch is going to flip. Hopefully, this is the start of him being a very good receiver in this league. We never doubted him in the locker room. I think that’s important.
“There’s been a lot of outside noise and he’s had to deal with the outside noise, but if you go out and do it on the field, there’s not much people can say.”
After an immediate three-and-out, the offense and AVP showed some more growth with a perfectly-executed five-play, 41-yard drive over the final 35 seconds. Slye finished things off with a 37-yard field goal to give New England a 13-3 halftime lead. It was the first well-executed end of half scenario for everyone in quite some time.
“It’s great to see when it comes to fruition,” added Mayo on the successful end-of-half execution.
Both teams struggled in a scoreless third quarter, combing for six punts and 67 total yards. Slye knocked down field goals from 25 and 37-yards during a fourth quarter that saw the Pats’ defense continue to smother the inept Bears offense.
Now, with games against the Rams, Dolphins and Colts before the bye, there’s an opportunity here for the Patriots to build some more positive momentum heading into December.
“The only people I’m really concerned with are the people in that locker room,” Mayo said when asked if he learned anything about his team. “I’ve always known…they’re going to give great effort no matter what. That’s why on Wednesday, we talk about turning the page win, lose or draw. I think that’s a good mindset to have. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low.
“I would say…that’s the leadership all the way to the players and they’ve done that.”