2) Will A.J. Brown bounce back from his rough return? Brown — the Patriots’ marquee offseason addition — played for the first time since Week 1 last Sunday, and the Patriots have to hope it wasn’t a sign of things to come. He made three catches for just 27 yards on a team-high 10 targets against the Jets, the fewest receptions in any of his 30 career games (including playoffs) with 10+ targets. Brown didn’t have a single grab on his three targets of 10 or more air yards. Drops were a big problem, something he acknowledged after the game.
Will a Bears defense that looked very vulnerable in the secondary a couple weeks ago in Green Bay be the antidote? Maye’s going to be looking his way and hoping for better results, especially with New England’s leading receiver, Romeo Doubs, out with a shoulder injury.
3) Is the Bears’ defense for real? Heading into the season, it was popular to dismiss Chicago’s defense as a unit that relied too much on takeaways in 2025 and didn’t do enough to improve in free agency/the draft. The chickens haven’t really come home to roost on that one, though. Aside from a horrible day against the Packers, Dennis Allen’s crew hasn’t held the team back. In fact, the Bears rank among the top seven in points and yards allowed, a dramatic improvement from their standing in both categories last year.
If there are still doubts on whether to trust those numbers to hold, I’d understand. After all, Chicago allows 6.0 yards per play, second-most in the league. And the defense has benefited mightily from a running game that keeps it off the field. The Bears are averaging 50.2 defensive snaps per game — no team has finished a season with a figure that low since at least 2000, per NFL Research.
So, can Chicago’s D do enough to bring the turnover-prone version of Drake Maye back out on Thursday night? The Bears will still be without their second-highest paid player — DL Montez Sweat — who is serving the second of a two-game suspension, but perhaps we’ll see more of nickelback Kyler Gordon after he recorded three sacks on 16 snaps last week in his season debut.
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