NFL Recap | October 22, 2026
Week 7 opened with Mike Ditka Night at Soldier Field and a quarterback duel that went down to the final minute. Caleb Williams threw for 308 yards in his second game back, Drake Maye answered with 321, and Cairo Santos' career-long 58-yard field goal with 1:39 left gave Chicago the two-score cushion it needed in a 30-24 win. Here's how it went down, the card graded, and where the record stands.
Santos' Career-Long 58-Yarder Holds Off Maye and the Patriots
New England Patriots 24, Chicago Bears 30
Chicago never trailed. Santos opened the scoring with a 43-yard field goal at 9:58 of the first quarter, and D'Andre Swift ran 4 yards for a touchdown at 1:43 for a 10-0 lead. New England answered early in the second when Maye scrambled in from 7 yards at 11:37, a score awarded on a challenge after he was first ruled down at the 1, and Santos' 31-yarder at 7:08 made it 13-7. Maye then threw an interception in the end zone looking for rookie tight end Eli Raridon, and Chicago turned it into points: Williams found Luther Burden III for a 24-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the half. Maye answered with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson with three seconds left, and it was 20-14 at the break.
Williams found Colston Loveland for a 12-yard touchdown at 9:48 of the third to cap a 72-yard drive, 27-14, and Maye went 80 yards and hit Raridon in stride for a 30-yard touchdown at 3:52, 27-21. Santos later hit the right upright from 53 yards. Then, one snap after Williams took a 10-yard sack on third-and-5 at the New England 30, Ben Johnson sent Santos out anyway, and he made a 58-yarder, a career long and the third-longest field goal in Soldier Field history, with 1:39 left. Andy Borregales answered with a 47-yarder with 42 seconds left to make it 30-24, but Rome Odunze recovered the onside kick.
Williams was 22-of-33 for 308 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, though he was sacked three times, and Burden caught four passes for 130 yards, all in the first half, including a 58-yard catch-and-run. Swift ran 22 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. Maye was 24-of-31 for 321 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and ran for a third score. Chicago outgained New England 405 yards to 380 and held the ball for 32:24. The Bears are 5-2, and the Patriots fell to 4-3, ending a three-game winning streak.
THE CARD, GRADED · NE @ CHI
Side: Chicago -3 (Lean) · Chicago won by 6, three points past the number · cleared
Total: Under 50.5 (Toss-up) · preview number 50.5 · 54 points, 3.5 over the number · missed
The side was driven by the injury report: New England was missing both starting guards and three cornerbacks against the league's top rushing offense. Chicago never trailed, though Williams and Burden did more of the damage through the air than the ground game did. The total was the weaker of the two leans, a Toss-up between two offenses that were scoring and two teams whose games had leaned under, and the two quarterbacks combined for 629 passing yards and four touchdown passes to push it 3.5 points over.
THE RECORD · NFL REGULAR SEASON
Side 43-48-3 · 47% of 91 · Total 52-42 · 55% of 94 · through Week 7 Thursday
This slate: side 1-0, total 0-1 (2 leans).
Every card is graded against the closing number. The full ledger, by tier and by week, is on The Record.
What's Next
Week 7 continues Sunday with the full slate. The preview and the cards will be up before kickoff.