Patriots vs. Bears live updates: Score, news, discussion for Thursday Night Football

For a second time this season, the New England Patriots will appear on national television on Thursday night. The hope is that the outcome will be different than the last time.

After dropping the season opener to the Seattle Seahawks, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel will now take on the Chicago Bears in a battle of 4-2 teams. With both clubs on a short week and facing some personnel questions, proper physical and mental preparation was one of the key talking points during the week.

“You can’t let how you feel physically affect your mental preparation,” said Vrabel. “It’s something that we’ve tried to focus on during these short weeks over the last however many years that we’ve done them.”

Will the Patriots’ preparation help them earn a fifth victory? Let’s find out together. Welcome to our Patriots-Bears live tracker and community discussion.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 8:15 p.m. ET | Soldier Field (Chicago, IL) | Broadcast information | Game day roster | Inactives | Weather forecast

The Patriots started the game on offense, and with an incompletion that sailed high over wide receiver A.J. Brown’s head. Drake Maye found more success targeting his running backs, hitting Rhamondre Stevenson for a gain of 19 yards and later finding TreVeyon Henderson on back-to-back plays. However, a Stevenson run on 3rd-and-6 didn’t get the proper yards and New England turned the ball over on downs after a sack on the subsequent 4th-and-5.

The Bears offense started its Thursday night in good field position, and with a chunk play to Luther Burden for 26 yards against Marcus Jones. However, an inaccurate pass on a subsequent 3rd-and-7 ended the drive and set up a 43-yard field goal for the game’s first points. | Patriots 0 : 3 Bears

The Patriots offense went nowhere on its second possession. After two short runs to start the series, quick pressure off another Bears blitz look forced a throw off the mark and Mitch Wishnowsky punt.

Chicago’s offense did not fare much better, answering with a three-and-out-of its own. Two short runs set up a 3rd-and-6. A short Caleb Williams pass to D’Andrew Swift gained no yards thanks to Charles Woods and Christian Elliss quickly bringing down the ball carrier.

Drake Maye and company, meanwhile, went three-and-out in a similar fashion on their next series: a short Corey Kiner run was followed by two negative plays, including DeMario Douglas losing a yard on 3rd-and-8.

After neither offense managed to do much on the last few drives, the Bears not only gained a first down again but then beat the Patriots defense on a 58-yard catch-and-run to Luther Burden against a coverage bust involving Christian Elliss and Charles Woods. The play set the home team up with a 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line, and it took D’Andre Swift just one play to find the end zone for the first touchdown of the night. | Patriots 0 : 10 Bears

Deciding to focus more on the passing game to start the next drive, the Patriots finally picked up a first down again when Drake Maye connected with Eli Raridon for again of 15 to close out Quarter 1.

New England kept moving the chains to open the second period, driving into Bears territory for the first time all game. A 16-yard pass to Hunter Henry and a 13-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson then set up a goal-to-go situation, with Drake Maye capping the series on a touchdown scramble from 7 yards out. Maye initially was ruled down short of the goal line, but Mike Vrabel successfully challenged the spot and was rewarded with seven points. | Patriots 7 : 10 Bears

Momentum quickly shifted back Chicago’s way after Drake Maye’s touchdown. The team started its next series with a 47-yard kickoff return, and thanks to a tagged-on penalty found itself on the New England side of the field right away. The Patriots did get a chance to stop the Bears on 4th-and-inches shortly thereafter, but D’Andre Swift moved the chains. However, back-to-back penalties against the Bears — including one negating a 2-yard Joe Thuney run — ended the series with a field goal. | Patriots 7 : 13 Bears

New England started its next drive with a 16-yard pass to Efton Chism, and a couple of good Corey Kiner runs plus an Eli Raridon catch and Drake Maye scramble later found itself in the red zone. However, the opportunity went to waste when Maye was intercepted on an attempted end zone pass for Raridon.

The Patriots kept hurting themselves on the next drive. A Charles Woods hold negated a third down stop, while Gabe Jacas was flagged for roughing the passer to help the Bears get into field goal range again. New England did find itself in a favorable position on a 3rd-and-17 after a Marcus Jones sack, but Luther Burden again managed to make a big play when he took a short pass 24 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. | Patriots 7 : 20 Bears

The Patriots had only nine seconds on the clock, and they made them count. First, Drake Maye hit A.J. Brown for 18 yards, before finding Rhamondre Stevenson with three seconds left.The veteran running back took a short pass 48 yards into the end zone as time ran out on the second quarter. | Patriots 14 : 20 Bears

Starting the second half on defense, the Patriots were in a position for a quick three-and-out but surrendered a conversion to a scrambling Caleb Williams. A pair of short passes to D’Andre Swift allowed the Bears to set up shop in New England territory again, and not just that: they capped their nine-play, 72-yard drive with Colston Loveland breaking a tackle on a 12-yard touchdown. | Patriots 14 : 27 Bears

The Patriots could have answered with a big play right on the next drive, but a deep pass intended for A.J. Brown was broken up at the catch point. The pair did connect later on the series to pick up  16 yards. That play plus a pair of completions to Hunter Henry allowed New England to return into field goal range. The team’s ambition went beyond three points, though, and it capped the drive accordingly when Drake Maye hit Eli Raridon for a 30-yard touchdown. | Patriots 21 : 27 Bears

After taking some hits the last few drives, the Patriots delivered a big three-and-out following their touchdown to Eli Raridon. A short pass followed by two incompletions — prompted by the defensive front generating some pressure — allowed the ball to return to New England via punt.

That punt was fielded by Marcus Jones at the 7-yard line and returned 19 yards to improve what would have been some bad starting field position. The Patriots managed to get the ball out even further but right before the end of the quarter found themselves 2 yards short after a Drake Maye third-down scramble near midfield.

The Patriots started the fourth quarter intending to go for it on 4th-and-2, but a false start penalty against Matt Pryor cost them 5 yards and brought out the punt team.

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