Bears' rushing attack, defence dominate in win over Patriots
New England quarterback Jones replaced by rookie Zappe after return from injury
The clock was running down in the second quarter and the pocket was collapsing around Justin Fields, with one defender coming at him from the right, another circling around on his left, and a third coming straight at him.
A quick pump fake froze one of the rushers. Fields drifted left, barely eluding the outstretched arm of another, and then stutter-stepped to the right to squeeze through a hole that barely existed. And then it was a race to the sideline, picking up 20 yards on a third-and-14 and moving Chicago into field goal range.
Fields threw for 179 yards and a touchdown and ran for 82 yards and another score on Monday night, converting five third downs with his legs and five more with his arm to lead Chicago to a 33-14 victory over the New England Patriots.
Fields ran for a 3-yard score in the first quarter to give the Bears (3-4) a 10-0 lead. After Bailey Zappe came off the bench to replace Mac Jones and led New England to back-to-back touchdowns and a 14-10 lead, Fields hit Khalil Herbert for a 25-yard touchdown pass to start a string of 23 unanswered points.
"I'm still growing, still getting better," Fields said. "The sky's the limit for sure."
.<a href="https://twitter.com/justnfields?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@justnfields</a> finds the endzone for 6!<br><br>📺: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CHIvsNE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CHIvsNE</a> on ESPN <a href="https://t.co/ac2E5tg2j4">pic.twitter.com/ac2E5tg2j4</a>
—@ChicagoBears
Patriots' quarterback carousel
In a matchup of quarterbacks from the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship game, Fields outperformed Jones, who led Alabama to victory over Fields' Ohio State. And Fields also outplayed Zappe, who came on after Jones was managed just two three-and-outs and an interception in his return after missing three games with a high ankle sprain.
"Just a poor showing, across the board, from beginning all the way to the end," New England safety Devin McCourty said. "If we give up 33 points, I don't care who plays quarterback. We're going to have a tough time winning the game."
Zappe was 5 of 6 for 109 yards and a touchdown in the first half. But in the second, he was 9 of 16 for 76 yards and two interceptions. Jones completed 3 of 6 passes for 13 yards, with one interception. Rhamondre Stevenson caught eight passes for 59 yards and ran 11 times for 39 for the Patriots (3-4).
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the plan all along was to play both quarterbacks, and that Jones was not benched for his performance. He declined to say who would start next week against the Jets.
"He would have gone back in [but] the score got out of hand," he said. "I didn't think that was the right thing to do."
Bears kicker Cairo Santos was 4 for 4, including a 50-yarder late in the third quarter that made it 26-14. After Zappe went three-and-out, Dante Pettis returned a punt 27 yards to the Patriots' 39-yard line; Herbert and Montgomery took it the last 26 yards to give Chicago a 33-14 lead.
Bears rookies Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker had their first career interceptions.