CNN
—
New England Patriots starting quarterback Mac Jones was benched mid-game in his team’s 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
Jones had missed the last three games with a sprained ankle, but eventually returned to the starting lineup to face the Bears.
However, after leading the Patriots to two scoreless drives and throwing an interception, Jones was replaced by Bailey Zappe – the fourth-round rookie who ably led the team in Jones’ absence – in the second quarter. Throughout the match, the Gillette Stadium crowd could be heard sporadically chanting Zappe’s name.
Zappe, 23, immediately made an impact, leading New England to two consecutive touchdowns, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jakobi Myers.
However, Zappe struggled during the contest, losing a fumble and throwing two late interceptions as the Bears turned the screw, scoring 23 straight points to turn the game around and claim the victory.
After the game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said he planned to play both quarterbacks in the game against the Bears and was going to put Jones back in the lineup, but the score became “uncontrollable”.
When asked who would be the starting quarterback in their Week 8 matchup with the New York Jets, Belichick declined to comment. “We just finished the game,” he replied with his famous frankness.
On the other hand, it was a much more positive night for the Bears as they snapped a three-game losing streak with the win.
Although they continued not to throw the ball too much, quarterback Justin Fields and his distribution of running backs destroyed the Patriots on the ground, finishing with 243 yards rushing and two touchdowns as a team.
Fields — who struggled in his first season as a starting quarterback — looked much calmer on Monday, finishing with a passing touchdown, while rushing for another and throwing an interception.
In a change of style from previous weeks, the Bears coaching staff implemented runs more designed for Fields to utilize his momentum and keep the Patriots defense off-kilter.
And it worked as Chicago was able to move the ball up and down against New England, with Khalil Herbert the recipient of Fields’ touchdown pass as the Bears defense forced three Patriots interceptions through safety Jaquan Brisker , linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Kyler Gordon.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said the change in dynamic with the Chicago offense was the catalyst for the win.
“I think that sometimes creates a problem for the defense, depending on the defense they are in,” Eberflus said.
“Certainly when you have a quarterback who has the runs designed with the run-pass out of it and then also doing certain things just to have the ability to scramble and get first downs, I think that’s “He’s a big hunk and it’s tough to defend. These guys. We’ve seen them all in the league and Justin did a good job of executing today.
The Bears improve to 3-4 for the season, while the Patriots fall to the same record.
