New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams (97) lines up on the sideline before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams (97) lines up on the sideline before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Andrew Callahan
Andrew Callahan
CHICAGO — Before Thursday night’s kickoff against the Bears, multiple Patriots predicted that the more physical team would win what they were calling “an identity game.”
Basically, a test of their style of play and toughness against Chicago’s.
Despite losing 30-24 at Soldier Field, defensive tackle Milton Williams maintained in the post-game locker room that the Patriots had actually been the more physical team in defeat.
“I definitely think we were the most physical team tonight,” Williams told the Herald. “Just the execution at the end of the game, it has to be better. We’ve just got to be better to close it out. We had our chances, and didn’t finish it.”
Williams, who reiterated the Patriots were more physical multiple times, finished with two tackles, including one for a loss. The Patriots struggled with tackling most of the night, when they allowed 405 yards to a Bears offense that had eight plays of 20 yards or more. Chicago all but finished the game with a long drive late in the fourth quarter that drained almost five minutes off the clock and ended with a made field goal.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos drilled a career-long 58-yard field goal with 1:34 remaining to give his team a two-possession lead at 30-21. The Patriots later answered with their own field goal, but failed to recover an onside kick that then officially ended the game.
During Chicago’s final series, which ended with a longer field goal attempt than expected after quarterback Caleb Williams took a potentially crushing 10-yard sack on third down, Williams claimed the Bears were “nervous.”
“We were right there. A short week, hostile environment. They were nervous over there,” he said. “But they ended up closing the game.”
How could he tell the Bears were nervous?
“We were right there. We were right there. Just one or two plays, and we’d be in (the locker room) celebrating,” Williams said. “That’s the NFL for you.”
After just three days of rest between their last two games, the Patriots are scheduled to be off until Monday, when they will begin preparations for a divisional test at Miami on Nov. 1.