The New England Patriots are officially 0-2 in prime time games this season after a hard-fought 30-24 loss to the Chicago Bears Thursday night. It was a competitive battle at Soldier Field, two good teams going at it, but in the end, the home team just made more plays. You know head coach Mike Vrabel is looking at this one through his “good, bad, and the s,t that gets you beat” lens, and there’s definitely plenty to unpack after this one.
The Drake Maye Show Was On Point
If you just watched the pass game, you’d think the Patriots owned the night. Drake Maye looked every bit the franchise-caliber quarterback he is, even if that early-season rough patch showed up for a second. The entire passing operation was cooking: two touchdowns, 310 net yards, and a wild 9.4 yards per play. That’s not even counting the 26 yards Maye tacked on with three scrambles. They moved the ball through the air like it was nothing, and Maye was the engine. Vrabel even said, “He gave us a chance. He competed. I know he’d like to have that throw back to Eli [Raridon], but I thought he really competed. Whether that was running around and scrambling or finding good places to go with the football, he gave us a chance. I know he’d like to have that one back and he’ll learn from it like he always does. I’m glad he’s ours.”
Maye was sharp, completing 77.4% of his throws for 321 yards and those two scores, even with that one end zone interception. His 0.34 expected points added per play was identical to the Bears’ Caleb Williams. And get this: the blocking up front was legit. Despite missing guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown, plus Mike Onwenu, the O-line gave up only 14 quarterback disruptions, a 38.9% pressure rate. That’s their third-best mark of the season! Vrabel knew it, too: “We protected when they pressured. I thought that was a huge key for us as they continued to pressure and put a lot of guys on the line of scrimmage. Our ability to pick it up and hit some chunk plays was really the reason we were in it in the second half.” Yeah, the passing game? That was the good.
The Run Game Was the “S,t That Gets You Beat”
Alright, let’s talk about the ugly. Or, as Vrabel put it bluntly, “We didn’t run the ball well enough.” And he’s not wrong. Take out Maye’s scrambles, throw in a QB sneak for no gain, and the Patriots mustered a pathetic 44 yards on 14 carries, averaging just 3.1 yards per run. Even worse, they finished with -0.40 expected points added per run. Now, here’s the kicker: the Bears defense came into this game ranked 25th in the NFL against the run, giving up an average EPA of -0.057. So, if you can’t run on *them*, what are we even doing?
The pass game was electric, giving them a real shot, but the traditional run game was absolutely nowhere to be found. You can have Drake Maye slinging it, but if you can’t move the ball on the ground against a struggling defense, you’re just not gonna win consistent games. That’s the cold, hard truth, and that’s the kind of “s,t” that puts you at 0-2 in prime time, no matter how good your quarterback plays.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pats Pulpit.
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