Thursday night’s 30-24 victory over the New England Patriots pushed the Chicago Bears to a 5-2 record in the 2026 season. Early in the game, the Bears’ offense dominated, seemingly poised to control the matchup until the Patriots staged a late touchdown drive that shifted the momentum in the final seconds.
Although that setback didn’t derail them, the Bears managed to rally enough in the final two quarters to secure a victory over the defending AFC champions.
Caleb Williams continues to raise his game, showcasing another standout performance on Thursday night. The pace of the game appears to be slowing down for him, and his precision has improved dramatically.
Williams completed 22 of 33 passes for 308 yards, throwing two touchdowns without any interceptions. The third-year quarterback also rushed four times for 19 yards.
While Burden’s impact faded in the second half, he was dominant during the opening two quarters. He recorded 130 yards on four receptions, including gains of 58 and 24 yards, with the shorter one resulting in a touchdown.
The 58-yard reception set up Chicago’s first score of the game. This performance marked Burden’s highest yardage total of the season and ranked as the second-highest of his career.
New England’s two long touchdowns proved costly—one a 48-yard catch and run by running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and the other a 30-yard reception by tight end Eli Raridon. The play to Stevenson was particularly damaging, occurring just before halftime with no time remaining.
According to CBS Sports’ Doug Clawson, there have been 1,006 attempts in the last 20 years that have seen a situation in which a team was in the final 10 seconds of a half, was 40-plus yards away from the end zone and threw a pass that traveled 10 or fewer air yards and the Patriots are the only team to score.
Malik Muhammad came down with a toe injury in the third quarter of the game and did not return. It appears to have happened on his pass break-up on a deep ball to A.J. Brown. This is obviously a situation to monitor over the next week-plus, as Muhammad has been the Bears’ best cornerback this season.
Kmet exited in the fourth quarter with a knee injury and was unable to return. The severity of the injury, evident from his need for the cart, suggests a potentially significant setback. Should this be the case, rookie tight end Sam Roush could assume a much larger role moving forward.
Johnson’s decision to send Cairo Santos out for a 58-yard field goal attempt in the final two minutes was a bold move. Though Santos had never converted from that distance before, he delivered under pressure, extending the Bears’ lead by nine points and securing the win for Chicago.