Although there's no sympathy from other teams in the NFL, the Patriots are in a tough spot as they head to Chicago for a Thursday Night Football matchup vs. the Bears at Soldier Field.
The Patriots are banged up and will now have a quick turnaround to prepare on a short week. Earlier this week, New England placed its 11th player on in-season injured reserve, with starting WR Romeo Doubs (shoulder) as the latest Patriot who will miss a minimum of four games. The Pats also lost three starting offensive linemen to injuries in Week 6, including their replacement for starting RG Mike Onwenu (IR).
There's a chance that the Patriots will head into Thursday night vs. the Bears (4-2) without their RT1 (Moses), LG1 (Vera-Tucker), RG1 (Onwenu), RG2 (B. Brown), WR2 (Doubs), WR3 (Hollins), CB2 (Davis), and top FB Reggie Gilliam, among others. Again, nobody will feel bad for the Patriots, but they're facing a huge challenge against Bears head coach Ben Johnson, QB Caleb Williams and company without a significant portion of their roster.
"We'll just have to figure out who we have available and find 48 (players) to put out there," Vrabel said. "It's a short week. If you don't finish the game, that's a quick turnaround."
Along with figuring out who will be available, which is the first order of business, games like Thursday night are when your big dawgs need to eat. Although the Patriots are missing several players, some of their biggest puzzle pieces are healthy. Those stars need to carry them: Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, Christian Gonzalez, Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Hunter Henry, Rhamondre Stevenson, Robert Spillane, Marcus Jones, and others are getting paid well because they're driving this Pats bus to victories – it's time to earn those paychecks, boys.
Thursday Night Football isn't about having a Super Bowl-caliber game plan as the two teams cram for a non-conference tilt. Instead, your frontline players, the "progrum," and your base systems need to carry you to the winner's circle; it's about sticking to the non-negotiables (effort and finish) and who executes their core plays best. To that end, it's a big game for the Pats stars, head coach Mike Vrabel, and his coaching staff to prove their championship mettle with adversity hitting on the injury front.
As we transition to the Bears, we have to mention the comparison between Vrabel and Johnson, who were hired in the same coaching cycle. On Thursday night, we'll see the Patriots coach-quarterback tandem (Vrabel-Maye) against Johnson and Williams, who, in some parallel NFL universe, might've been on opposite sidelines. Vrabel, the reigning AP Coach of the Year, is 18-5 with a trip to Super Bowl LX as Patriots coach, so nobody is lamenting passing on Johnson (15-8, one playoff win). Still, there's a world where Johnson, who interviewed for the Pats job, is coaching Maye and the Patriots rather than Vrabel.
Let's preview the chess match between the Patriots and Bears in Chicago on Thursday night.
**Offense Key: Exploit the Bears Explosive-Play-Prone Pass Defense on Early Downs**
Starting with the Patriots offense, the first question OC Josh McDaniels is probably asking himself as he builds the call sheet this week is: can we block it?
There's uncertainty around who New England will start along the offensive line, which could greatly impact the plays McDaniels calls on Thursday night. According to Vrabel, starting guards Ben Brown (knee) and Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring) are unlikely to play. However, starting RT Morgan Moses (ankle) has a chance to play. With first-rounder Caleb Lomu playing well as an injury replacement, he may need to slide inside to guard, where he took some reps on the left side during the spring.
The most likely scenario is that the Patriots will start Thursday night's game with the offensive line they finished with last week: LT Will Campbell, LG Walter Rouse, C Jared Wilson, RG Matt Pryor, and RT Caleb Lomu. However, if Moses can go, their best five might be: LT Will Campbell, LG Caleb Lomu, C Jared Wilson, RG Matt Pryor, and RT Morgan Moses. New England could also activate OT Marcus Bryant from injured reserve for added depth.
That said, Johnson tabbed veteran DC Dennis Allen to coordinate his defense when he was named Bears coach in 2025. Johnson is following a successful blueprint used by many offensive play-callers turned head coaches: hire a defensive coordinator with head-coaching experience to run his side of the ball. Allen first became a coordinator in 2011 with the Broncos, then coached the Raiders and Saints, taking over in New Orleans after coordinating Sean Payton's defenses for six-plus seasons.
Allen is an experienced schemer and play-caller who has an impressive pressure package. Chicago has a great third-down defense thanks to Allen's exotic pressure package, with the Bears ranking second in third-down conversion rate (25.8%). The Bears pass rush creates havoc, with a second-place sack rate (9.0%), a seventh-place pressure rate (39.7%), and a 10th-place blitz rate (39.7%). When you get into the drop-back game with Allen, his third-down pressure package is highly effective,