Biggest reason for Chicago Bears upset of New England Patriots

The Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots in a game that almost nobody saw Chicago winning. Not only did they win, it was not even close. Despite a small moment when New England stole momentum, the Bears controlled most of the game.

While there are undoubtedly many things that will factor into a 33-14 win for a team that was a huge underdog, the biggest reason was how the team could control the clock.

Chicago ran 70 plays compared to just 48 for New England. They also dominated time of possession at roughly a 38-22 clip. The team went 11-18 on third down.

The Chicago Bears opened the second half with a five-minute field goal drive, forced a three-and-out, then held the ball for another five minutes. New England ran six plays in the third quarter.

By the end of the game, it was obvious that the Patriots’ defense had been worn down, and the Chicago Bears wound up running all over them.

David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert combined for 27 rushes, and 124 yards. They talked about riding the hot hand and splitting the time more evenly, and both backs had 62 yards, with a split of rushing attempts much closer to even. Montgomery led the way with 15 rushes, while Herbert had 12.

Beyond that, Justin Fields ran the football 14 times for 82 yards. We noted how weird it was that the team was not using Fields to run the ball on designed runs, but just asking him to scramble.

Tonight, they finally let him loose and used him on plays where he was the first option as a runner. Most of his biggest plays were third-down conversions.

The Patriots’ quarterback situation did not help, the defense showed up, and Cairo Santos has to be mentioned. Still, this game was won because Chicago took the ball and never let go. They converted when they needed to, they ran the ball all night, and they dominated in a surprising win.