Williams, Maye Set for Second Patriots-Bears Meeting

Caleb Williams and Drake Maye will face each other for the second time in the NFL when the Chicago Bears visit the New England Patriots for a Week 7 prime-time game Thursday night. New England won their first matchup, 19-3. Williams took nine sacks, and Chicago scored only one field goal.

The quarterbacks were the first two players selected from the 2024 NFL Draft class. Williams went No. 1, and the Patriots chose Maye two picks later, among six quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks.

A different matchup from 2024

Their first meeting came in Week 10 of 2024 at Soldier Field. Chicago entered at 4-4 as a six-point home favorite, but Williams completed 16 of 30 passes for 120 yards and posted a 63.2 passer rating. According to TruMedia, his minus-0.42 expected points added per dropback remains his lowest in 37 regular-season starts.

Chicago had more three-and-outs than points over 11 possessions. The loss marked the Bears’ third straight defeat in a skid that eventually grew to 10 games. Two days later, the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

The game was Maye’s fifth career start and fourth complete game. He made several impressive throws and began to command the locker room, including after he delivered a speech following a sloppy practice. Since then, Maye has worked with a new coach and coordinator, and his play this season has been described as MVP-caliber.

Maye's deep throws, Williams' accuracy

Maye has excelled at deep passing. Last season, he led the league in deep-ball effectiveness despite lacking an impressive group of receivers. A lack of patience hurt him early this season, but he’s recently returned to beating teams deep. Pro Football Focus credited him with 13 big-time throws on attempts of 20 or more yards this season, more than any other quarterback.

Scrambling has also helped Maye keep the Patriots’ offense on schedule through injuries at wide receiver. A first down has followed 41.2% of his scrambles, fourth among 13 quarterbacks with at least 20 rushes.

As a rookie, Maye threw 10 interceptions in 12 starts. He threw six in his first three games this season while trying to push the ball downfield against teams using two deep safeties to limit big plays. Since then, he’s thrown one interception in three games. During the offseason, the Patriots practiced unscripted drives in which Maye called every offensive play, aiming to improve how he reads defenses before the snap and changes plays when needed.

Williams completed 60% of his passes through his first two seasons. During the spring and summer, the Bears coaching staff stressed a point-guard mentality: seeing the field, diagnosing defenses and distributing the ball. Coach Ben Johnson has kept pursuing a 70% completion rate. At the start of Week 7, Williams’ 72.5% mark led the league among quarterbacks with at least 90 attempts, though he had played only three games.

Williams completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards in Chicago’s 31-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Tom Brady, the legendary Patriots quarterback with seven Super Bowl rings, offered color commentary for Fox and said it might have been the sharpest performance of Williams’ career. Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor said, "It just came together pretty well for him in terms of putting the ball in play and putting the ball where our guys were able to do something with it."

Pressure on both offensive lines

Williams’ listed strengths include speed, athleticism, arm talent and playmaking creativity. He has worked to become more precise and efficient in Johnson’s system and to rely more on his pass-catchers. He calls that group B.I.W., meaning "Best in the world." Williams said, "I'm gonna keep putting the ball up in the air; you keep making catches. And from there, we'll keep growing."

The Patriots expect to start their fourth- and fifth-string guards and might not have starting right tackle Morgan Moses. Will Campbell, their first-round pick from last year, could be their most experienced offensive lineman Thursday. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said, "Their D-line is excellent."

Chicago ranks sixth in the NFL in pressure rate, at 39.5% of dropbacks, and fifth in sacks, with 17. Cornerback Kyler Gordon returned from injury and recorded three sacks in his first game of the season. Elijah Ponder leads the Patriots in sacks this season.

Bears coach Johnson said New England plays with strong fundamentals, sheds blocks with purpose and tackles well. "And then schematically," Johnson added, "they try to take away what you do best. That's the challenge."