Bears Hold Off Patriots 30-24 on Thursday Night Football as Santos Hits a Career-Long 58-Yard Field Goal
Chicago led by 13 twice, survived New England's late rallies and improved to 5-2 at Soldier Field, where Luther Burden III's 130 first-half yards and a Drake Maye interception shaped the night.
Friday, October 23, 2026/2 min read
The Chicago Bears needed every one of their 30 points. They beat the New England Patriots 30-24 at Soldier Field on Thursday night, moving to 5-2 while New England fell to 4-3, according to NBC Philadelphia.
The Bears led by 13 points twice, and the Patriots clawed back each time, so the game was not settled until the closing minutes.
What decided the game?
Two plays stood out. Late in the second quarter Patriots quarterback Drake Maye threw into tight coverage and was intercepted in the end zone by D'Marco Jackson, and Chicago scored before halftime. Then, with under two minutes to play, kicker Cairo Santos made a 58-yard field goal, the longest of his career, after missing a 53-yarder earlier. The kick made it 30-21 and, as NBC Philadelphia put it, put the game out of reach.
The scoring swung back and forth. According to CBS Sports, Swift scored on a 4-yard run, Burden caught a touchdown pass, and Colston Loveland caught a 12-yard touchdown from quarterback Caleb Williams. New England answered with a 48-yard touchdown catch by Rhamondre Stevenson on the last play of the first half and a third-quarter touchdown catch by Eli Raridon. CBS credited Williams with 22 completions on 33 attempts for 308 yards.
Who played well for Chicago?
Receiver Luther Burden III had his best game of the season. CBS Sports credited him with 130 receiving yards on four catches in the first half alone. Running back D'Andre Swift ran for 78 yards and a touchdown. Cornerback Kyler Gordon, back from injury a week earlier, added another sack, his fourth of the season.
Both quarterbacks passed for more than 300 yards, according to CBS Sports, which helps explain why the margin stayed so thin for most of the night. Santos's earlier miss, CBS noted, had hit the upright, so the long kick came with a reminder of how close the game was to tilting the other way.
What did New England do well?
Maye kept the Patriots in it. He led the team in rushing with 26 yards and a touchdown, and CBS Sports reported he threw for 321 yards and two scores. Rhamondre Stevenson ran for just 22 yards on six carries, though, and a fourth-down sack on New England's first drive was an early sign that short-yardage plays would be a problem.
Chicago now sits two games above .500 and heads into the second half of the season on a rising run. For New England, the question is how to turn a quarterback's big passing numbers into fewer red-zone mistakes before their next game. For the Bears, the win came with a defence that kept finding sacks and a kicker who answered a miss with the longest make of his career.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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