NFL Preview | October 22, 2026
Week 7 opens with two 4-2 teams and the two quarterbacks from the top of the 2024 draft. Caleb Williams, healthy again, hosts Drake Maye and the defending AFC champions at Soldier Field, and the total is above 50. Kickoff is 8:15 PM ET on Prime Video.
Two Top Quarterbacks, One League-Best Run Game, and a Thin Patriots Line
New England Patriots @ Chicago Bears | 8:15 PM ET | Prime Video
KEY STAT
90
Points the Bears have scored in the two games Caleb Williams has started and finished (59-37 in Week 1, 31-23 last Sunday).
Chicago is 4-2 after a 31-23 win at Atlanta in which Caleb Williams returned from three games out with a hamstring injury and went 30-of-36 for 305 yards and a touchdown. The Bears lead the NFL in rushing at 160.7 yards per game behind D'Andre Swift, though Kyle Monangai (thumb, toe) is out this week, and tight end Colston Loveland caught six of his seven targets in Atlanta. The defense is thinner at linebacker, with Jack Sanborn out and T.J. Edwards doubtful, and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hip) is questionable even though he practiced fully.
New England is also 4-2 and has won three straight, but the start was rough. Drake Maye threw six interceptions in the first three games, and during the streak he has completed 64.1% of his passes for 878 yards and 10 touchdowns with one interception. The Patriots beat the Jets 26-19 last Sunday. They are short up front, with guards Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring) and Ben Brown (knee) out and tackle Morgan Moses (foot) questionable, and cornerbacks Carlton Davis III, Karon Prunty and Channing Canada are all out. Safeties Kevin Byard and Craig Woodson and linebacker Christian Elliss are questionable, though all three practiced fully this week.
The quarterbacks last met in November 2024, when they were both rookies, and New England won 19-3 while Williams was sacked nine times. The line has moved with Chicago's healthy quarterback: the Bears opened -2.5 at DraftKings on Sunday night, and the lookahead line before Week 6 was -1.5. They are now -3, and DraftKings shows 49% of spread tickets on New England, per SI. Both teams are on a short week after playing Sunday.
New England wins if its patched interior line holds up well enough for Maye to keep the streak going, and the secondary survives without three cornerbacks.
Chicago wins if Williams keeps playing the way he did in Atlanta and the run game takes advantage of a Patriots line missing both starting guards.
Lean Chicago -3 (Lean), and lean the under 50.5 (Toss-up).
THE CARD · NE @ CHI
The line CHI -3 (-102) · NE +3 (-118) · total 50.5 (O -115, U -105) · opened CHI -2.5 · DraftKings
This season NE 3-1-2 ATS, 3-3 O/U · CHI 4-2 ATS, 2-4 O/U
Rest & availability NE short week, Vera-Tucker, Brown, Davis, Prunty and Canada out, Moses questionable · CHI short week, Monangai and Sanborn out, Edwards doubtful, Stevenson questionable
The public 49% of spread tickets on NE (DraftKings, via SI)
Lean CHI -3 (Lean) · Under ↓ 50.5 (Toss-up)
Driven by the injury report. New England is missing both starting guards and three cornerbacks against the league's top rushing offense, and Chicago's healthy quarterback has already moved the number to a field goal. Maye's hot stretch and the Bears' own linebacker losses keep the side a lean rather than anything firmer, and the total splits between two offenses that are scoring and two teams whose games have leaned under.
What to Watch For Thursday Night.
Watch how New England's interior line handles Chicago's front without both starting guards, whether Maye keeps his interception total down against a Bears defense short at linebacker, and how much Williams runs now that he has a game back. We'll have the recap Friday, with every card graded and the season record updated.