Bears had Patriots figured out before the game even started
The Chicago Bears (3-4) came away with their biggest win of the Matt Eberflus era after beating the New England Patriots (3-4) on Monday Night Football. The Bears' win is obviously the biggest takeaway from the night. But, the fallout surrounding the Patriots' quarterback position is arguably the hottest topic to come out of the […]
The Chicago Bears (3-4) came away with their biggest win of the Matt Eberflus era after beating the New England Patriots (3-4) on Monday Night Football.
The Bears' win is obviously the biggest takeaway from the night. But, the fallout surrounding the Patriots' quarterback position is arguably the hottest topic to come out of the game.
The Bears forced the Patriots to take Mac Jones out of the game and insert Bailey Zappe. An intense, effective defense and a quick-strike offense that scored 10-points on its first two drives left Bill Belichick with the idea that he needed a spark before things got out control.
Belichick was right, initially. Zappe came into the game and immediately led the Patriots on two scoring drives that gave them a 14-10 lead over the Bears.
But the Bears had an answer. First, they immediately responded with a touchdown of their own to retake the lead at 17-14.
And then, the Bears defense settled down and controlled Zappe and co. the rest of the night en route to the 33-14 win.
The move was all part of the Patriots' plan to rotate both quarterbacks, even if the optics and timing don't appear that way. Regardless, a lot of the Bears' ability to quickly recover is because Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams had a plan for both Jones and Zappe coming into the game.
"I just thought we had a sense for that,” Eberflus told reporters after the game after he was asked whether or not the Bears planned for both quarterbacks. “Because the other guy’s [Zappe] been playing really good the last two weeks. So we thought if they started with 10 [Jones] that we might see both of them in a planned role, a planned rotation.
“We didn’t know [for sure], but we certainly had a plan for that.”
The Bears had a mini-bye week, which allowed them to add more to their game plan, but one must credit Eberflus for having the foresight to realize he needed a plan just in case Zappe came into the game. Whether it be for health reasons, performance reasons, or whatever other reason.
And sure enough, it worked. And it led to the Bears' finest moment in 2022.
You can check out Eberflus' full presser, below:
Featured image via Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
