Bears 30, Patriots 24: Santos from 58, Then Odunze Falls on It

October 22, 2026 - Chicago - Fourteen seconds left in the half. Third-and-17. Caleb Williams dumped a screen to Luther Burden III at the 28. Colston Loveland, Kalif Raymond, and Darnell Wright showed up as blockers. Burden found a crease and scored. Soldier Field was 20-7 and ready to go to the locker room.

New England still had three seconds and the ball at the Chicago 48. Drake Maye dumped it to Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson weaved through the Hail Mary look, took a block from DeMario Douglas, and ran it in from 48. The Chicago Bears still beat the New England Patriots 30-24. The half just did not end the way Chicago drew it up.

Chicago is 5-2. New England is 4-3 after three straight wins. Williams went 22 of 33 for 308 yards, two touchdowns, no picks, and a 116.7 rating. Maye was 24 of 31 for 321, two scores, one interception, and a 7-yard rushing touchdown. The Associated Press, via CBS, said it was the second meeting since both went in the top three of the 2024 draft. Round 1, as rookies, went to Maye, 19-3. Round 2 stayed in Chicago. It was also the Bears' first home game since Mike Ditka died on Oct. 9. AP put the crowd at 60,520.

Fourth down on the 45, then 10-0

Maye's first series died on fourth-and-5 from the Chicago 45. Kyler Gordon sacked him. The Bears took over. Williams' first throw went 26 yards to Burden, to the New England 28. Cairo Santos made 43. 3-0, 9:53 left in the first.

The defense forced another three-and-out. Five plays, 74 yards. The big one was 58 yards to Burden, Rome Odunze blocking downfield. D'Andre Swift finished from 4. 10-0, 1:38 of the first.

New England answered with nine plays and 74 yards. Maye scored from 7. 10-7, 11:33 of the second. Santos made 31 after nine plays and 30 yards, a drive the Patriots said started with a 47-yard kickoff return by Zavion Thomas. 13-7.

Then the takeaway Maye could not talk around. First-and-10 from the Chicago 15. He threw for rookie tight end Eli Raridon. D'Marco Jackson intercepted it in the end zone. "You know those plays that can swing the game," Maye said. "Yeah, I wish I definitely had that one back." Mike Vrabel told reporters he would like that throw back too, and then said he was glad Maye is theirs.

Burden's screen made it 20-7 with 14 seconds left. Stevenson's 48-yarder made it 20-14 with none. Ben Johnson said his club could have rallied to the ball. The Patriots said they had been sitting on that call since Josh McDaniels came back as coordinator.

Loveland through three, Raridon down the seam

Chicago opened the third with nine plays and 72 yards. Williams rolled left and hit Colston Loveland from 12. Loveland broke a tackle and drove through three defenders. 27-14, 9:41 of the third.

Maye went 80 yards in nine plays. Raridon beat Devin Bush up the seam from 30. 27-21, 3:46 left in the third. New England had already missed the same look once. This time Maye did not.

Santos had a chance to make it a two-score game with 7:57 left. He hit the right upright from 53. The Bears wrap and the AP both have that miss. Williams had already converted third-and-11 with 21 yards to Odunze and fourth-and-2 with nine to Loveland. The kick did not finish the drive.

Chicago's defense got a three-and-out anyway. The next series reached the New England 30. Third-and-5, Williams sacked for 10. Santos wanted 58. "I told HT, I want it," he said, standing next to special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. He split it. Career long. Tied the franchise record, AP wrote. 30-21, 1:34 left.

Maye still had enough clock. Six plays, 46 yards. Andy Borregales from 47 with 37 seconds left. 30-24. Odunze fell on the onside kick. That was the game.

405 yards, 16 missed tackles, a quiet Brown night

Chicago piled up 405 yards on 66 plays. New England had 380 on 50. Time of possession: Bears 32:24, Patriots 27:36. CBS team stats and nflverse match those totals. Swift ran 22 times for 78 and the first-quarter score and caught four for 12. Burden had four for 130 and the screen, all in the first half, the Bears wrote. Loveland caught seven of 12 for 69. Odunze had four for 69. Cole Kmet caught three for 28, then left on a cart with a knee injury. Johnson said it did not look very good.

Maye led New England on the ground, 26 yards on four carries and the 7-yarder. Stevenson ran six times for 22 and caught all five targets for 93. Hunter Henry caught all seven for 71. Raridon had three for 56 and the 30-yarder. A.J. Brown had three for 48 on six targets. The Patriots club notes called it another quiet night after last week's drops. Douglas added three for 23.

New England converted 2 of 7 third downs and missed its only fourth down, the Gordon sack. Chicago converted 4 of 12 third downs and both fourth-down tries. Evan Lazar's club wrap said the Bears forced 16 missed tackles. Vrabel's version was shorter: "Tackling wasn't good enough, not against this team." The Patriots were on their 10th starting offensive line combination of the season, their notes said. Williams, four days after 305 yards in Atlanta, became the first Bears quarterback with consecutive 300-yard games since Mitch Trubisky's three-game run in 2018, AP wrote.

Chicago visits Seattle on Monday night, Nov. 2. New England visits Miami on Nov. 1.

AthX Engine on a 30-24 Thursday

AthX Engine NFL scoring already has the Week 7 Thursday line in. Maye is 48.18, the top total in this game. Christian Elliss is 43.00. Burden is 42.25. Williams is 41.14. Stevenson is 37.25. Loveland is 33.75. Barmore and Leonard Taylor III are 32.00. Santos is 31.00. Swift is 30.50. Chicago's team line is 73.00. New England's is 13.50.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Bears quarterback with back-to-back 300-yard nights, and for a Patriots passer who still scored 48 AthX Engine points in a loss. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Williams, Maye, Swift, Stevenson, and both clubs on the marketplace. Chicago is at Seattle on Nov. 2. New England is at Miami on Nov. 1.

*Sources: ESPN game page, AP recap (CBS), Bears.com, Patriots.com. ESPN, both clubs, AP/CBS, and nflverse agree on 30-24. ESPN recap HTML timed out; scoring plays and team totals are from the ESPN game page, club wraps, and CBS team stats. Bears wrap listed Santos' last drive at 4:48; CBS play-by-play listed 2:12 of possession on that kick. AthX Engine Week 7 lines scored from nflverse weekly stats (CC-BY 4.0). Information only; not financial advice.*