Williams wins the rematch Maye took as a rookie

The first meeting belonged to Drake Maye. As rookies in 2024, the No. 3 pick beat the No. 1 pick, 19-3. Thursday night in Chicago was the rematch, on a short week, and Caleb Williams won it. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns in his second game back from a right hamstring injury, and the Bears beat the Patriots 30-24.

Maye was not the problem for three quarters of the stat sheet. He went 24 of 31 for 321 yards and two touchdown passes, and he ran one in from 7 yards with 11:33 left in the first half for New England's first score. Rhamondre Stevenson caught five passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. The swing, Maye said himself, was the one he wants back: a pass for rookie tight end Eli Raridon that Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson intercepted in the end zone late in the second quarter. "Those plays that can swing the game, can impact the game," Maye said. "That was definitely one of them."

Williams leaned on Luther Burden III, who caught four balls for 130 yards and a score, and on Colston Loveland. D'Andre Swift carried 22 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. Williams, asked about nights like this, did not talk around it. "These nights are awesome. You play against another good team on a primetime game in a short week." He also described the Bears as a smashmouth team that stays steady when the game gets rocky. New England came in having won three straight, with Maye at 10 touchdown passes and one interception over that stretch, and left at 4-3.

Round two of the 2024 quarterback draft, at least this chapter of it, went to the player taken first. The box score will show Maye with more yards. The scoreboard is what Chicago came for.