Caleb Williams outdueled Drake Maye as the Chicago Bears escaped with a 30-24 victory over the New England Patriots at Soldier Field on Thursday night.
"Yeah, these nights are awesome," Williams said after the win. "You play against another good team in a prime-time game in a short week. These games are awesome because you get to see who you are as a team, and that's who we are. We're a smashmouth football team, innovative team. And then when things happen and things don't go our way, when the water's rocky, we stay steady. So, we're going to keep going. We're going to keep fighting. That's who we are."
Williams has thrived in back-to-back games since returning from a hamstring injury, getting Chicago back on track after its Week 5 blowout loss to Green Bay.
The quarterback passed for 308 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions against New England, becoming the first Bears quarterback with at least 300 passing yards in back-to-back games since Mitchell Trubisky in 2018. The performance also marked Williams' 13th career game with multiple passing TDs without an INT, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Sid Luckman for second-most such games in franchise history, and trailing only Jay Cutler with 18.
Williams made some ridiculous, pinpoint throws, particularly to get out of trouble as the Patriots were threatening to flip a 13-point third-quarter lead. After returning from injury last week, Williams mostly played inside the pocket, but on Thursday night, he showed the hammy is just fine. Williams completed all five of his pass attempts on the move for 62 yards with a +14.8% completion percentage over expected, per Next Gen Stats. Williams added five rushes for 18 yards. Thursday also marked his first game since Week 1 in which he averaged over 5.0 air yards per target (7.3)
The biggest difference between the two 2024 draft picks on Thursday was Maye's second-quarter red-zone interception, which the Bears turned into a touchdown for a significant swing on the scoreboard.
Maye completed a season-high 77.4 percent of his passes (24-for-31) for 321 yards, two TDs and one INT. He also led the Pats with 26 yards rushing and another score. It's Maye's fourth career game completing at least 75% of his passes with multiple passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, breaking a tie with Kyler Murray for the most such games by a player under the age of 25 in NFL history.
Beyond the INT, the third-year passer showed exemplary QB play.
"It felt like he was a little bit back and forth there for a while," Bears coach Ben Johnson said. "Just watching Drake Maye play, he's an outstanding player. It's very hard to bottle him up. You only rush four, and he finds a way. If he doesn't see anything down the field, to find an open gap and skirt on through. I think what's really impressive is how he can find these little outlets and dumps where they're still running vertical for catch-and-run opportunities. I think they had a number of those tonight. It's really effective. You can tell he's kind of caught his rhythm now in this part of the season and will probably continue to do that.
"Caleb, it was good to get him now two weeks in a row, finding some open receivers. I think I always feel more comfortable as a play-caller when we get a full week of practice so that I can see all these plays come to life in practice and we can talk through them a little bit more. So, for a short week, which we really haven't had many of since I've been here together, I thought he did a great job."
Williams' return has straightened out the Bears (5-2) after a wobbly loss to Green Bay. When the QB is humming behind one of the league's best offensive lines, Johnson's offense is nearly unstoppable.
Thursday marked the second meeting between Williams and Maye. The 2024 No. 3 pick bested the No. 1 overall selection, 19-3, during their rookie years. On Thursday, Williams evened the record.
Who knows? Perhaps they can play the rubber match in Los Angeles in February.
