Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Caleb Williams threw two touchdowns and finished with 308 passing yards as the Chicago Bears finally edged clear of the New England Patriots to clinch a 30-24 victory at Soldier Field on Thursday. The Bears – playing their first home game since the passing of legendary former coach Mike Ditka earlier this month – improved to 5-2 thanks to a composed display from Williams, who made 22-of-33 passes with no interceptions. Chicago were also grateful for a career-long 58-yard field goal from veteran kicker Cairo Santos in the final two minutes that gave Chicago a nine-point lead and effectively settled the game.
“It felt great being able to be back with the guys, being able to be back out here in front of our fans,” said Williams, playing his first home game since a month-long injury layoff. Earlier, the Bears defense dominated the early exchanges, winning a turnover on downs on the opening New England drive before forcing the visitors to punt twice. Chicago got on the board early with a 43-yard Santos field goal before D’Andre Swift rushed over for a close-range touchdown late in the first quarter to make it 10-0.
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New England, however, got back into the game early in the second quarter, with an inspired weaving run from quarterback Drake Maye to cap a 74-yard touchdown drive. Initially, it looked as if Maye had been stopped just short of the goal-line, but New England challenged the call and replays showed he had just managed to break the plane as he stretched for the end zone. Chicago restored their double-digit advantage with 10 unanswered points through Santos’ second field goal and a Luther Burden touchdown to make it 20-7.
Yet once again, New England hit back, and on the stroke of half-time, conjured a touchdown out of nothing when Maye connected with Rhamondre Stevenson for a 48-yard score that caught the Bears secondary napping. The back-and-forth scoring continued in the third quarter, with Colton Loveland collecting a 12-yard pass from Williams to put the Bears 27-14 ahead, only for Maye to toss his second touchdown to set up a score for Eli Raridon and make it a six-point game at 27-21.
Chicago flirted with disaster in the final two minutes, when Williams was sacked on third down to leave Santos with a long-range field goal attempt. Santos, though, drilled the kick to put the Bears out of reach, with New England’s final points coming from an Andy Borregales field goal. The Patriots, runners-up in last year’s Super Bowl, fell to 4-3 with the loss.
© 2024 AFP
