It’s a shame that the Chicago Bears are going through turbulent times right now because this should have been a week when we dug into the Caleb Williams-Drake Maye showdown. Williams and Maye were two of the top quarterback prospects who were selected in last April’s NFL Draft. And with all the noise that this week brought us, I find myself looking forward to the matchup between two signal callers their respective teams want to build around for the next few years.
For what it’s worth, Drake Maye is looking forward to it, too. As it turns out, these two are close pals:
“You spend a lot of time with those guys, you see them some on visits, some at the Combine,” Maye said, via Pro Football Talk. “With Caleb, I’ve seen him since high school. Going to the same camps, we were at Elite 11 with each other, we had some college visits together. We’re going through the process again. In college we were friends, I enjoyed watching him do his thing, and now we get a chance to compete. Any time you go against a rookie quarterback in the same class it’s a little extra. I’m looking forward to going out there and getting a chance to play the Bears.”
Matchups between Caleb Williams and Drake Maye won’t come around often. With the Bears playing in the NFC North and the Patriots doing battle in the AFC East, these games don’t frequently pop up on the schedule. So we might as well enjoy this one while we can.
How to Watch the Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots
TV: FOX (Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin)
TV Maps: 506 Sports
ESPN 1000 AM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie), MIX 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza – Spanish broadcast); ESPN Radio (Mike Couzens, Max Starks)
Streaming: NFL+, DAZN/Game Pass International
Chicago Bears (4-4) vs New England Patriots (2-7)
Kickoff Time: noon CT
Site: Soldier Field; Chicago, IL
Referee: Land Clark
Odds: Bears +6.5, O/U 37.5 (via DraftKings)
Starting QBs and Projected Game Stats
Bears: Caleb Williams: 19/31, 217 pass yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 5 carries, 25 rush yards
Patriots: Drake Maye: 21/33, 219 pass yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 6 carries, 37 rush yards
GAME PREVIEW: Bears vs. Patriots — Week 10
Bears Projected Starters
Offense
- QB – Caleb Williams
- RB – D’Andre Swift
- WR – DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen
- TE – Cole Kmet
- OL – LT Larry Borom, LG Teven Jenkins, C Coleman Shelton, RG Ryan Bates, RT Matt Pryor
Defense
- DL – DeMarcus Walker, Zacch Pickens, Gervon Dexter St., DeMarcus Walker
- LB – T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds
- CB – Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson
- S – Kevin Byard III, Elijah Hicks
Specialists
- Cairo Santos (kicker), Tory Taylor (punter, holder), Scott Daly (long snapper), DeAndre Carter (kick and punt returner)
Inactives
- Jaquan Brisker, safety
- Ameer Speed, cornerback
- Noah Sewell, linebacker
- Darrell Taylor, defensive end
- Darnell Wright, offensive tackle
- Braxton Jones, offensive tackle
- Kiran Amegadjie, offensive lineman
Patriots Projected Starters
Offense
- QB – Drake Maye
- RB – Rhamondre Stevenson
- WR – DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne
- TE – Hunter Henry
- OL – Vederian Lowe, Michael Jordan, Ben Brown, Layden Robinson, Mike Onwenu
Defense
- DL – Keion White (Q), Davon Godchaux, Daniel Ekuale
- LB – Anfernee Jennings, Joe Giles-Harris, Jahlani Tavai, Ochaun Mathis
- CB – Jonathan Jones, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones
- S – Marte Mapu, Jaylinn Hawkins
Specialists
- Joey Slye (kicker), Bryce Barringer (punter, holder), Joe Cardona (long snapper), Javon Baker, Marcus Jones (kick and punt returner)
- Tyquan Thornton, wide receiver
- Joe Milton, quarterback
- Kyle Dugger, safety
- Christian Elliss, linebacker
- Tyrese Robinson, offensive lineman
- Eric Johnson, defensive tackle
- Yannick Ngakoue, defensive end
Inactives