Drake Maye vs. Caleb Williams should make Patriots-Bears worth watching
FOXBORO - The New England Patriots are 2-7 on the season, which had made it difficult to come up with reasons to watch them each weekend. This weekend's matchup against the Bears, however, has a nice hook to it with rookie quarterbacks Drake Maye and Caleb Williams set to square off.
Their respective teams may be a mess, and both QBs are having their share of growing pains in their first games as professionals, but Maye and Williams are the reason to watch a 2-7 team visit a 4-4 team.
That being said, we cannot promise that either team will play a good game on Sunday, judging by what we've seen out of both so far this season. But that could be a reason to watch in itself.
Do you like to see receivers walk off the field before a play is over? Do you like to watch offensive linemen run into each other? How about a defensive back taunting opposing fans while the other team launches a game-winning Hail Mary?
If you answered yes to any of those, well then this Patriots-Bears matchup is the one for you! Here's what we'll be watching for throughout Sunday's contest at Soldier Field.
Drake Maye vs. Caleb Williams
Two highly-touted, highly drafted rookie quarterbacks squaring off? Sign us up. Oh, they play for the Patriots and the Bears. ... Whatever, we'll still watch.
Both Williams and Maye have oodles of talent and both are exciting to watch do their thing. They both have big arms and they both can make things happen on the run.
Of course, this game will not feature Drake Maye going against Caleb Williams, considering neither play on the defensive side of the ball. It will be Maye against the Chicago defense, and Williams against the New England defense. In that sense, Williams should have a much easier time on Sunday.
The Chicago defense is going to look to exploit New England's patchwork offensive line and send plenty of pressure at Maye, with talented pass rushers like Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, Darrell Taylor, and Andrew Billings seeking out the QB. The Bears are 10th in the NFL with 23 sacks this season. Perhaps the Bears will have figured out that keeping someone to spy on Maye might keep the rookie from breaking off big runs, considering he has 141 rushing yards over the last two games.
They also make quarterbacks make mistakes, as their 15 takeaways are fourth in the league. Chicago is allowing just 191.3 passing yards per game this season, good for eighth-best in the NFL.
Likewise, the Patriots defense will send some pressure at Williams to try and speed him up, but Jerod Mayo spent most of the week lauding Williams' ability to extend plays with his legs. While Maye uses his wheels to mostly pick up big yardage, Williams uses his to buy extra time for his targets to gain separation.
While both rookies have looked good for stretches, they have also been inconsistent. Maye has missed open guys by putting a little too much mustard on passes (some of which have landed in the opposition's hands), and Williams has completed just 49 percent of his passes over his last two games.
Williams has done a good job at not turning the ball over though, with just one interception and one lost fumble over the last five weeks. Maye is coming off a three-turnover performance in a loss to the Titans.
Chances are Sunday's game will come down to which rookie quarterback messes up less.
Is this the week for New England's rookie pass-catchers?
The quarterbacks aren't the only rookies we'll be watching on Sunday. The Bears gave Williams a real nice receiver to grow with in Rome Odunze, whom they drafted ninth overall out of Washington. He leads Chicago with 391 receiving yards on the season.
The Patriots drafted two receivers in April, but neither has done much on the field. Ja'Lynn Polk - Odunze's teammate in Washington - has just 10 receptions on 27 targets. Odunze had 104 receiving yards against the Cardinals last week, which is more than Polk has on the entire season (just 78 yards). Javon Baker, taken in the fourth round out of UCF by New England, has yet to catch a pass and is serving mostly as a kick returner - when he's active.
Chances are Odunze will catch some passes on Sunday. Maybe Polk (and even Baker) can do the same for New England.
Will another move on the O-line help Patriots' running backs?
The Patriots' offensive line has changed more than the New England weather this season. This week, it looks like Mike Onwenu might move to left guard after practicing at that spot this week. (Or he might not, because you never know with this offensive line.) He hasn't played on the left side since 2021.
Overall, the Patriots have used eight different offensive lines over the first nine weeks, deploying 13 different linemen. It's hasn't worked that well, as New England quarterbacks have been sacked 31 times. (For comparison's sake, the Bears have used a dozen different linemen this year, so pass rushers on both sides may feist on Sunday.)
Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson really need to get going to take some weight off Maye's shoulders. But if they do so this weekend, it will likely be because of Chicago's lackluster run defense and not their own line.
The Bears are allowing 131.6 rushing yards per game and opponents are picking up 5.0 yards per carry against them this season. They tend to give up big runs too, as we saw last weekend when Arizona's Emari Demercado broke off a 53-yard touchdown run against the Bears at the end of the first half. Chicago has given up six runs of at least 20 yards, matching New England's total this season.
That doesn't mean New England's running backs will get going on Sunday. But it bodes well for Maye's chances of breaking off some more big runs.
Can the Patriots take advantage of another team in turmoil?
OK, now onto the fun stuff. For the fourth straight week, the Patriots are facing a team that is on the verge of falling apart. The Jaguars were a mess heading their matchup with the Patriots in London, the Jets were a teetering ahead of Week 8 in Foxboro, and the Titans had lost three straight heading into last week's showdown with the Pats.
The Patriots won just one of those games, because the Patriots somehow managed to be bigger hot messes than the Jaguars and the Titans. At least New England can always count on the Jets to be the Jets.
Now the Patriots are facing a Bears team loaded with issues. There's a good chance players have tuned out head coach Matt Eberflus, who is on the hot seat after back-to-back losses. Chicago lost to Jayden Daniels and the Commanders on a last-second Hail Mary two weeks ago, thanks in part to defensive back Tyrique Stevenson chirping with fans as the play developed. After that embarrassment, the Bears fell to the Cardinals in Week 9 as the offense failed to find the end zone and was shut out completely in the second half.
Early in last week's contest, receiver DJ Moore outright quit on a play. As Williams was scrambling around to buy time, Moore took a nice walk to the sideline. Maybe he thought Williams would get sacked, but it forced his quarterback to run to the other side of the field, where he threw an incomplete.
You don't see that every day. But it goes to show how much of a mess the Bears' offense is at the moment. It hasn't been all that rosy for veteran Kennan Allen in Chicago either, as he has just 21 catches on 44 targets. He caught just four of the 10 passes thrown his way last week in Arizona.
The Bears may be 4-4 on the season, but they're close to falling apart. The Patriots need to take advantage of it, with a much tougher schedule ahead.
Getting up early will be important for the Patriots on Sunday, as the Bears have scored just 10 first-quarter points this season.
