One Yard Short
Patriots 38, Bears 31 (final): Fitting end to a frenetic game, as Bears' Hail Mary is caught by Kevin White at the 1, but then the Patriots rally to keep him out of the end zone. Truly a game of inches. Not the Patriots' best, but they're on to Buffalo at 5-2.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 21, 2018
The Patriots came close to losing a heavy turnover battle against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. However, they pulled through with a win that now puts them at 5-2 on the year. This was without question a game of inches as Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky threw a bomb while pressured by LB Kyle Van Noy to WR Kevin White. If the Patriots secondary wasn’t prepared, the game would likely have been tied. But the game wasn’t all roses, the Patriots made multiple mistakes early in the first half.
Defense And Offense Had Turnovers
This was a theme of the day. The #Bears handing third downs to the #Patriots offense by not covering the underneath stuff. Good design here by McDaniels to flood CHI's zone by running Edelman at the defender. Creates a pocket for White. Easy first. pic.twitter.com/u8wCtISruN
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) October 23, 2018
The team had several key issues with turnovers on defense and special teams. First, was the kick return by WR Cordarrelle Patterson who had lost the ball and recovered by Chicago. Then, RB Sony Michel got a knee injury on his run that took him out of the game and turned the ball over to Chicago. (The tackle was made by LB Roquan Smith, Michel’s former George teammate)
These hurt the Patriots early in the game but in the second quarter, the Patriots recovered. Patterson made up for the first quarter blunder with a special teams touchdown. (score lead to the Patriots only trailing by 3) The reality was that both teams had issues. However, the Patriots defense gained two interceptions late in the second half that helped close out the game.
Major Injuries Avoided
MRI on Patriots’ RB Sony Michel revealed no structural damage, per source. Michel will be considered week to week, per source. Best-case scenario for Michel and Patriots.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 22, 2018
There were several injuries on the Patriots yesterday which included TE Rob Gronkowski not traveling with the team. But the most obvious one was rookie Sony Michel (whose injury officially puts the entire 2018 draft class out for the year with the exception of CB Keion Crossen). Michel had his leg get wrapped up and it forced him off the field. Luckily, the injury means Michel will not be forced into early retirement. There were already major concerns surrounding Michel’s injury history in college. In fact, it was why he wasn’t even considered a first round pick by NFL analysts during the 2018 draft.
As of now, Michel is likely out for the remainder of the 2018 season but his future is still intact for now. But for now, he is not been put on IR yet. The team will likely work out several free agents for the RB position as James White and Kenjon Barber. Michel will join Rex Burkhead and Jeremy Hill on IR likely by next week if the injury will be on a timetable.
Despite the setback, the Patriots will move forward into next week where they will travel to New Era Field to take on the 2-5 Buffalo Bills. Kickoff starts at 8:15 PM EST on ESPN network.
