The 4-2 New England Patriots travel to the Windy City to take on the 4-2 Chicago Bears. The Bears have faced the 10th toughest schedule, while the Patriots are 28th.
The Bears took the league by storm after scoring 59 points on the road to start the season. They lost their quarterback and the following week’s game against the Vikings. Since then, their other mistake was with a backup quarterback.
In his first game in nearly a month, Caleb Williams threw for over 300 yards and a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons last week, doing so exclusively from the pocket. The Patriots are missing several cornerbacks and All-Pro corner Christian Gonzalez is out with illness.
This could be a long night for the New England secondary and a big night for Luther Burden and Colston Loveland.
It took him a little time to warm up and be aggressive, but Michael Penix ended up throwing for three touchdowns and 225 yards against the Bears in Week 6. Jordan Love threw for 367 yards against Chicago the week before. You can throw it at bears.
Drake Maye has been on hiatus for three weeks, throwing 10 touchdowns to one interception in the last three games. The Patriots have scored at least 26 points in every game. However, the Patriots are missing several starting offensive linemen on that side of the ball. This could slow them down, or at least lead to more mistakes that put them behind the chains.
Whenever it comes to an AFC vs. NFC matchup, I will side with the latter. This is the strongest conference from top to bottom. With Williams, Chicago is closer to a top 5 team. Their floor is one of the highest in the league.
Maye could come back down to earth without a healthy offensive line, while the Pats’ offensive line could be leakier than usual in the secondary without Carlton Davis.
Gn sports
