It was Fields day all the way
Patriots can’t lay a hand on the elusive Bears QB
FOXBOROUGH — Zappe Fever was breaking out at Gillette Stadium Monday night, but there was another quarterback in the house, who played at a fever pitch to lead his club to victory.
Justin Fields played the role of the stonecold playmaker, propelling the Bears to a thorough 33-14 whipping of the Patriots.
While Bailey Zappe provided a temporary boost in relief of Mac Jones, leading the Patriots back from an early 10-0 deficit with touchdown drives on his first two possessions, it was Fields who provided the bulk of the highlights.
The Patriots had no answer for the secondyear signal-caller, whose ability to consistently escape the chaos of a collapsing pocket and remain calm and cool while making plays with his arm and legs had Patriots defenders breaking out in cold sweats.
Fields completed 13 of 21 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, but it was his mobility that really impressed. Fields was able to move the pocket, buy time, and pick up yards in crucial situations. Chicago was 11 of 18 on third down, with many of the conversions coming on runs by Fields.
Normally deployed as a scrambler, the Bears, who last played Oct. 13, added more designed runs for Fields and it paid off.
“He just made a lot of plays. Throwing, dropping back, scrambling. More designed runs than we saw on film. I think the extended time, they added some plays that we saw in [our] Baltimore game with Lamar Jackson, some of those style plays,’’ said Devin McCourty. “We just didn’t do a good job of keeping him in the pocket.’’
It was a particularly rough night for New England’s defense, which was coming off back-to-back impressive outings against the Lions and Browns.
With a light fog drifting into the stadium, the hosts played like they were lost at times, particularly in the second half when the mojo Zappe provided had completely disappeared along with any chance of a comeback.
Moments before Zappe led a pair of touchdown drives that pulled the Patriots out of a 10-0 hole, it was Matthew Judon who momentarily stemmed Chicago’s momentum.
Fields led scoring drives on Chicago’s first two drives (a 42-yard Cairo Santos field goal and a 3-yard Fields run) that sucked the life out of crowd.
Just after Jones’s last pass of the night was picked off by Jaquan Brisker, Judon made sure the Bears wouldn’t capitalize, dropping Fields for a loss on third down.
On came Zappe, who promptly hit his first three passes for 54 yards, the third a 30-yard scoring strike to Jakobi Meyers.
It was an exquisite display of body control by Meyers, who controlled the ball even after crashing to the turf inside the 5, before rolling into the end zone.
Suddenly, what had been a lifeless crowd found renewed energy.
On the Bears ensuing possession, Judon stepped up again, pressuring Fields and tipping a pass that was intercepted by Myles Bryant.
This time Zappe needed only three plays to get the Patriots back in the end zone.
He threw a rainbow to DeVante Parker good for 43 yards and a first and goal from the 7. Rhamondre Stevenson gave the Patriots their first lead when he plowed in from the 4 for a 14-10 advantage.
Prior to Zappe’s entrance, the Patriots offense was ineffective with Jones completing 3 of 6 passes for 13 yards and the pick. Jones’s timing was clearly off as he abandoned the pocket prematurely and took off running, gaining 24 yards on three scrambles.
Following his pick, which he threw off his back foot and into double coverage, Bill Belichick called Zappe’s number.
The coach said the plan all along was to use both quarterbacks, with Jones’s health — he is recovering from a high ankle sprain — a factor. He said Jones’s removal was not a benching.
Fields was unfazed by Zappe’s early heroics, however.
Chicago’s signal-caller answered New England’s go-ahead touchdown with one of his own, capping a 75-yard drive with a 25-yard catch and run score by Khalil Herbert to retake the lead at 17-14.
The Bears took advantage of a botched Zappe handoff to Meyers by tacking on 3 more points on Santos’s 23-yarder.
The visitors pulled off the vaunted double score when Santos nailed a 38-yarder to cap the first drive of the second half. His fourth field goal, a 50-yarder, boosted the lead to 2614 at the end of the third quarter. David Montgomery’s 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.
New England, meanwhile, couldn’t get out of its own way over the final 30 minutes.
“It was just a power showing all the way across the board from beginning to end,’’ said McCourty.
Dugger (ankle) exits early
Safety Kyle Dugger suffered an ankle injury in the first play of the second half and did not return . . . Center David Andrews left with a head injury after he was felled by a blindside block by Mike Pennel during an interception return. Pennel was ejected . . . Left tackle Trent Brown was called for four penalties. Two holds (both offset by defensive calls), a false start, and a trip.
Collins elevated
The Patriots elevated linebacker Jamie Collins and offensive lineman Bill Murray for the game.
This marks Collins’s fourth stint with the Patriots and the first official game-day activation for Murray, a former defensive lineman until he switched positions this summer.
With linebacker Josh Uche (hamstring) and right tackle Isaiah Wynn (shoulder) inactive, the moves added depth.
New England was without some of top contributors with defensive tackle Christian Barmore (knee) and receiver Kendrick
Bourne (toe) also inactive.
The other game-day inactives included cornerback Shaun Wade (illness), safety Joshuah Bledsoe, and running back Kevin Harris.
The club did welcome back running back Damien Harris (hamstring/one game), receiver Nelson Agholor (hamstring/one game), and defensive tackle Lawrence Guy (shoulder/ three games).
Moment of silence
The Patriots held a moment of silence before the game for slain Bristol (Conn.) police officers Dustin DeMonte and Alex Hamzy.