All things considered, yesterday felt like a dynasty-era win when you strictly look at things defensively. The Patriots, who were very shorthanded on that side of the ball, didn't let a horrendous Bears offensive line off the hook in the slightest, and it made things very difficult for No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams in all areas. Most times, he had no room to breathe in the pocket. When he did, he forced himself into sacks, couldn't convert in critical situations, and with no real running game help of his own, was held to just 120 passing yards, good for his second fewest all year.
This week especially, I can't blame you if you say this game was much more about the Bears' ineptitude rather than giving the Patriots the majority credit (yes, Chicago was that bad). Still, I liked a healthy majority of what I saw out of New England in this win, the first for a road team at Soldier Field in 2024. Namely one thing defensively that should be a factor moving forward, then a couple of positive offensive notes.
"Longhorn Package"
The best part of this win is that the Patriots didn't let the Bears' offensive line off the hook for being mediocre, as they did with the Titans. Essentially duplicating what the Cardinals did a week prior, putting up over half of their seasonal sack production in just one game, nearly hitting a 50% blitz rate. Guys like Keion White, Anfernee Jennings, and Deatrich Wise led things, and those first two were spectacular, but even down the batting order, guys like Jeremiah Pharms, Dell Pettus, and Daniel Eukale got in on the sack party. But the shocker of all shocker was seeing BRENDAN SCHOOLER end up with a live NFL quarterback sack in a regular season game.
The Patriots special teams ace logged five defensive snaps in this one, in what the team calls their "Longhorn Package" defense, and an ode to his alma mater, Texas. Now, what does that entail? It's a seven-defensive back look (typically Christian Gonzalez, the Joneses, Dell Pettus, Jaylinn Hawkins, Marte Mapu, and Schooler), three DLinemen, and then Jahlani Tavai. They exclusively broke this out on third and medium/long and then on a fourth down in the fourth quarter. They got a dropped pass by Rome Odunze, a forced incompletion that should've been a pick, a Schooler sack, and consecutive PBUs.
One of the big reasons this package has some staying power is simply the range and closing speed Schooler showed off here. Even more impressive than his sack was this play right here. Watch him give up lateral ground to Williams initially, then make it all up to get a hit in before he goes out of bounds.
Caleb Williams isn't slow by any means, and Schooler, who was tracked going 22-plus MPH on a gunner run in the season opener, completely closed that distance up and nearly forced an interception. That's a sign this experiment has some staying power. Maybe not in the cases where they only sent three rushers since the Bears' offensive line is that bad, but against some of these more mobile QBs coming up (Tua, Kyler, Allen, potentially Anthony Richardson), this "Longhorn Package" has some potential to be money in these third and long looks—massive kudos to this defensive staff for taking a chance on this during the week.
Gut Check
While not nearly as impressive as some of the stuff Cardinals QB Kyler Murray did after getting obliterated by Quincy Williams yesterday, I thought Drake Maye rebounded beautifully from his interception, which he says was a throwaway attempt gone wrong. In the second quarter, Maye went 7/9 for 86 yards and a touchdown and then beautifully set up Joey Slye for a field goal to end the first half. Make it the rest of the game after the pick and that line turns into 13/19 for 139.
Again, it wasn't a perfect game for ol' Drake; outside of the pick, I thought he could've hit Boutte for a TD on that deep shot on the end of half FG drive if he took a second to set his feet. There were some other smaller things, but he made some good calculated gambles, caught Tyrique Stevenson napping for a 24-yard gainer to Austin Hooper (shown above) on the TD drive, and didn't let a bad pick shake him any. Also, this, while a penalty and would've been an incompletion, was nuts by Maye. Stuff like this is why people compare him to Allen.
Rushing Attack is Back???
This was a notably better game out of OC Alex Van Pelt, and getting back to basics in the run game played a big part in that. AVP dialed up more duo runs than there have been in recent weeks, and we saw a lot of good "body shot" kind of runs from Rhamondre Stevenson (eight runs of 4-9 yards, then an 11-yarder as well). The offensive line did a great job giving Stevenson holes, and he did a great job of either working through contact for extra yards or maneuvering his way by guys for them. A great example of that kind of complementary offense would be this pull play where rookie Jaheim Bell smacks Austin Booker in the mouth on a nine-yard Stevenson scamper.
Not a highlight reel play, but I love seeing a late round rookie get a chance to come out in a two minute drill look and make a good solid football play like this. Not a perfect seal here, but Bell does his job and buys Stevenson enough room and time so that Booker (No. 94) isn't a factor here. Bell's a guy with a super unique skillset, and hopefully they can find a way to utalize him a bit more, especially in the run game as a blocker.
Final Score: New England Patriots 19, Chicago Bears 3
Gaffney's Three Stars from Patriots-Bears
3rd Star - Anfernee Jennings (4 Tackles, 3 Run Stops, 2 Sacks, 5 Pressures)
2nd Star - Christian Gonzalez (Allowed 1 Reception on 3 Targets and 41 Pass Coverage Snaps)
1st Star - Keion White (4 Tackles, 4 Run Stops, 1 Sack, 6 Pressures)
(Honorable Mentions: Dell Pettus, Jeremiah Pharms, Kayshon Boutte)
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