Team effort gives Bears a 33-14 upset win over Patriots

Somewhere, George "Papa Bear" Halas is smiling.

Thanks to an inspired, impressive effort Monday night by a Bears team he owned, coached and played for, Halas remains tied with the Patriots' Bill Belichick for second-most wins in NFL history at 324.

Yes, indeed, the Bears overcame seemingly insurmountable odds and produced a stunning 33-14 victory at New England.

So, sorry, Bill. You'll have to wait until at least next week to pass Mr. Halas.

The Bears' defense set the tone early by forcing two three-and-outs, then got a leaping, one-handed interception from rookie safety Jaquan Brisker on New England's third possession.

Justin Fields marched the offense up and down the field by zipping impressive passes to Darnell Mooney, Kahlil Herbert, Equanimeous St. Brown and Cole Kmet. Fields also used his legs to churn out a whopping 74 rushing yards in the first half alone.

"It was a great team victory," coach Matt Eberflus told WBBM 780-AM. "You can really see the improvement that each individual player made in his fundamentals and techniques during the course of the mini bye. Our hats off to the coaches, our hats off to the players for really focusing on that 'cause that's what football's all about."

The Bears improved to 3-4 and snapped a three-game skid. Their last loss was an embarrassing one, a 12-7 setback to Washington at Soldier Field a week and a half ago.

So heading into Foxborough - where Belichick was 42-3 against first- or second-year QBs - it seemed the Bears would need a miracle or two to pull off a victory.

Instead, it was just good, old-fashioned hard work.

"Having that time off, it gave us all a chance to just take a step back and just look ourselves in the mirror ... and know what each individual can do better," said LB Roquan Smith, who led the way defensively with 12 tackles, a sack and an interception. "Everybody took that approach over the break that we had, got away from ball because you need that.

"We just came out, stuck true to what we knew, busted our tails this week (and) had a great game plan. Hats off to the coaches for that. It was pretty sweet."

After the Bears took a 10-0 lead after one quarter, Belichick switched QBs and went to rookie Bailey Zappe. Four minutes later, the Patriots had a 14-10 lead after Zappe threw a 30-yard TD pass and Rhamondre Stevenson rumbled in from 4 yards out.

Instead of going down for the count - as many of us expected - the Bears actually punched back.

Fields led a 9-play, 75 yard drive that ended with a 25-yard swing pass to Herbert. After pump faking, Fields changed his arm angle to avoid a leaping defender and threw the ball to his running back. Using a Braxton Jones block, Herbert went untouched into the end zone to give the Bears a 17-14 lead.

Cairo Santos then kicked field goals of 23, 38 and 50 yards on the next three drives, and suddenly the Bears were up 26-14 with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter.

"Proud of the guys - the way we started, the way we finished," Fields said. "That was the motto this week - just start fast, finish strong."

The best news for the Bears is how Fields (13-for-21, 179 yards) looked for the majority of the night. The much-maligned QB was far more comfortable in the pocket, went through his progressions with greater ease and made several clutch completions.

A particularly big one came on third-and-7 when Fields hit Kmet for 26 yards midway through the third quarter. Fields spun away from pressure, escaped the pocket, kept his eyes downfield and threw a perfect strike to a well-covered Kmet.

"That was a scramble drill, so Cole did a great job at the end of the play," Fields said. "The defender that was on him had his back turned, so that play right there was him or nobody. Of course, that was a great catch by him and just great execution."

On the next drive, Fields hung in the pocket on third-and-4 and found St. Brown near the sideline for 7 yards. That completion helped lead to a 1-yard TD run by David Montgomery and a 33-14 lead.

To that point, the Bears were 11 of 16 on third down, outgained New England 361-187 and had 23 first downs to the Patriots' 8.

The Bears finished with 243 rushing yards, with Fields (82) leading the way. Montgomery had 62 yards on 15 carries, while Herbert had 62 yards on 12 attempts.

The Bears next play at Dallas (5-2) then return home to face the Dolphins (4-3) and the Lions (1-5).