FOXBOROUGH – The future will be on display Sunday when the Patriots take on the Chicago Bears.
No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams brings hope and optimism to the city of Chicago while the Patriots hope to return to the glory days with No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye. Both rookie quarterbacks have had their ups and downs this season, but Sunday’s game could be fun.
For the Patriots, the hope is to achieve some consistency. Last weekend, they lost to a bad Tennessee Titans in overtime despite Maye doing his best Superman impression. The rookie quarterback has been as advertised – and more – but clearly needs more help around him.
At 2-7, Jerod Mayo’s team needs to put forth a consistent effort on both sides of the ball. This is something that hasn’t happened this season.
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The 4-4 Bears are coming off two straight losses. They hope to use the Patriots as their game to succeed. This has certainly been the case this season as the Patriots have lost to struggling teams such as the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and finally the Titans.
Here are five things to watch out for:
Development of Drake Maye
Maye is improving. This is clear. However, the rookie must be safe with the football. Last weekend, Maye threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. This season, in four starts, he has four interceptions and three fumbles (two lost).
This can’t continue if the Patriots want to upset the Bears. For this team to win, they must play a clean game and win the turnover battle.
As a rookie, Maye is going to make mistakes. The key is for him to learn from them and not be a repeater of mistakes. The quarterback played well (aside from the turnovers) last weekend and we hope he continues to improve as the season progresses.
Offensive line
What are the Patriots doing? It’s fair to wonder that after watching the team practice Michael Onwenu at left guard this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Onwenu has not played on the left side since 2021 and said he is more comfortable on the right side. Throughout his career, he played 1,877 snaps at right tackle, 1,666 snaps at right guard, and 402 snaps at left guard.
Moving Onwenu next to left tackle Vederian Lowe is questionable because Lowe has clearly been the Patriots’ best tackler. That means the Patriots could put their weakest guard (Layden Robinson) and weakest tackle (Demontrey Jacobs) next to each other on the right side. It’s surprising. It’s worth keeping an eye on whether the Patriots put Onwenu at left guard or keep him on the right side.
Container Caleb Williams
The Patriots have struggled to contain quarterbacks at various points this season. We saw them struggle and lose the lead with players like Geno Smith, Brock Purdy and Aaron Rodgers (in the first game). The key this weekend will be containing Williams.
The No. 1 overall pick likes to move around the pocket to give his pass catchers more time to get open. There is a fine line between keeping pressure on a quarterback and overcommitting where you allow that player to escape for a big gain. Last weekend, the Bears only scored 9 points. Williams threw 41 passes and completed just 53.7% of them. He only ran for 5 yards on four carries. The Patriots need to force him to throw the ball and not let him get away.
Find the pass rush
The Patriots’ pass rush received a major blow when the team traded Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons (although that deal looks good for Eliot Wolf). The defense was dealt another blow with Christian Barmore out due to blood clots. Currently, the Patriots have one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL. Their 16 total sacks ranked 29th – only behind Atlanta (9), Miami (10) and Carolina (10).
That should change this weekend. The Bears offensive line has been a disaster. Chicago allows sacks on 10.98% of its pass attempts. This ranks them 30th in the NFL (Note: the Patriots are 29th). Williams was sacked 29 times in eight games. He was sacked the third most often in the NFL. It’s time for the Patriots to add something.
See more rookie development
We can’t sugarcoat it. The Patriots aren’t getting much out of this rookie class. Maye looks like the real deal (honestly, that’s the most important thing), but the rest of the class didn’t make much of an impact. At this point, you could argue that the second highest-scoring rookie on the roster is undrafted safety Dell Pettus.
It would be nice to see the Patriots get more from rookie wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker and Jaheim Bell. All three are starting to get more playing time. Polk had a great summer but hit a wall and needs to bounce back.
The Patriots want to be a “draft and develop” team. It’s time we start seeing their rookie class develop (outside of quarterback).
Prediction: Bears 24, Patriots 17
