CHICAGO (AP) — The New England Patriots had Caleb Williams on the run and his receivers locked down right from the start. Drake Maye enjoyed watching his defense shut down the Chicago Bears and their prized quarterback. And he'll take the win that came with it.
Maye got the better of Williams in a matchup between top rookie quarterbacks and New England beat struggling Chicago 19-3 on Sunday. Maye led five scoring drives and the Patriots sacked Williams a season-high nine times, helping New England (3-7) come away with the win after losing seven of eight. “It's kind of a good taste of what it looked like for me in training camp,” Maye said.
“They get after you.” As if losing at Washington on a Hail Mary pass by Jayden Daniels two weeks ago and then falling flat at Arizona last week wasn’t enough, things took another bad turn for the Bears (4-5). They managed just 142 yards and were 1 of 14 on third downs facing a team that came in tied with six others for the worst record in the NFL.
It got so bad that fans started calling for coach Matt Eberflus’ dismissal in the closing minutes, chanting “Fire ‘Flus!” “I do believe in those guys,” Eberflus said. “They have faith in us working together. I believe in our football team.
I believe in the leaders of the football team and we’ll just have to get back to work.” Chicago is 14-29 in 2 1/2 seasons under Eberflus. Something clearly needs to change, and along those lines, the coach said the Bears are conside.
