'They're young superstars': Caleb Williams, Drake Maye deliver fireworks but Bears QB does just enough to top Patriots

CHICAGO — On the surface, quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Drake Maye appear quite different. Williams unapologetically wears his emotions on his sleeve for the Chicago Bears and dons his fashion-forward fits everywhere . Meanwhile, a soft-spoken Maye still has a bit of a Southern drawl, and his "aw, shucks" demeanor in front of a mic belies his intensity on the gridiron for the New England Patriots.

The 6-foot-1 Williams is 3 inches shorter than Maye. Williams' escapability wowed in the pre-draft process. Maye's prototypical size and traits made him a sparkly prospect.

But they were separated by only two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, there's an even smaller gap between their somewhat parallel pro careers, and, as Bears backup signal-caller Tyson Bagent told Yahoo Sports postgame, "they're more similar than not."

" Same draft class, top-three picks," said Williams' center, Garrett Bradbury, who snapped the ball to Maye all last season during the Patriots' run to the Super Bowl, "and they're young superstars. They really are."

The off-script playmaking of Williams and Maye makes them two of the top offensive creators in the sport. It was the premier attraction during this week's iteration of Thursday Night Football, a game in which Williams' Bears and Maye's Patriots at one point combined for seven scoring drives in an eight-possession span.

The lone exception was a Patriots series that ended with a Maye interception in the end zone. On a night when both he and Williams piled up more than 300 passing yards while stoically navigating an abundance of pressure, that turnover was a distinguishing factor in Williams outdueling his longtime counterpart in Chicago's 30-24 victory .

"Great quarterback. He's been a great quarterback for years," Williams said at the podium, when asked about trading blows with Maye. "When that happens, you want to go out there, and [be like], 'Let's go get one. Let's put the score back up. Let's match that from there.' I think we did just that."

To effectively seal the game, though, the Bears needed insurance, not an equalizer. A fourth-quarter drive that began with Williams zipping an eye-catching throw and wide receiver Rome Odunze making a jaw-dropping grab on third-and-9 concluded with Cairo Santos drilling a career-long 58-yard kick , which is tied for the third-longest field goal in Soldier Field history.

Santos' clutch kick gave the Bears a nine-point advantage with 1:34 to go. New England tacked on three points afterward but couldn't recover a last-ditch onside kick.

Odunze rebounded from committing offensive pass interference in the second quarter on a pass he couldn't haul in that could have resulted in a touchdown, and Santos bounced back from plunking the right upright on a 53-yard attempt earlier in the fourth that would have also put the Bears up two scores.

Overcoming adversity was the name of the game for a Bears team that seamlessly turned the page after allowing a dump-off pass to Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson transform into a 48-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half .

"You find out what you're made of," head coach Ben Johnson said postgame. "And I know we got the right guys in this locker room, that they can handle anything that's thrown their way. They have a lot of belief in each other, too. I think that's a really big part of it — they know that even when things get a little bit funky or haywire, that we can right the ship and get it going back the right direction real quick."

Williams, Maye finding their groove after experiencing early-season hardship

Just as Wlliams and Maye broke out in the 2025 season, they each broke down early in the 2026 season. Williams suffered a hamstring injury late in Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings . His emotional reaction to the setback was memed profusely once reports suggested the issue was much less severe than expected; however, after missing three games, a ticked off Williams admonished the "false" reports he felt misconstrued what he ultimately described as a "pretty serious" hamstring "tear."

Even before Williams went down, Maye was dealing with turmoil. With a chance to avenge the Super Bowl defeat in the league's first game of the 2026 season, he threw a trio of interceptions against the Seattle Seahawks, worst among them a vexing last-second pick in the end zone. Maye threw three more INTs and no touchdowns over the next two outings. It seemed as though the sky was falling in New England before it could settle into its winter gray.

Since returning to the field, Williams has recorded back-to-back 300-yard passing games ( he's the first Bears QB to do that since Mitchell Trubisky in 2018 ). Meanwhile, over the past four outings, Maye has posted a 12:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio that's much more like the numbers he was registering as the runner-up for the NFL MVP award last season.

"That position is so important in this league," Bradbury told Yahoo Sports in the locker room. "And to have that position in that stage of their career playing the way both of them are playing, you got to feel good about your franchise going the right direction."

Last season, New England won its first AFC title since the 2018 campaign, and Chicago won its first playoff game since the 2010 season. Winners of four of their last five games, the Bears are now 5-2. While Thursday's defeat drops the Patriots to 4-3, it's noticeable that Maye has "kind of caught his rhythm," according to Johnson.

"Just watching Drake Maye play, I mean, he's an outstanding player," Johnson said. "It's very hard to bottle him up. You only rush four, and he finds a way. If he doesn't see anything down the field, he'll find an open gap and skirt on through.

"I think what's really impressive is how he can find these little outlets and these dumps, where they're still running vertical for catch-and-run opportunities."

Maye, who finished with 321 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception on 24-of-31 passing, adjusted to a Bears defense that came out firing on all cylinders after heating up the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, a week when Chicago led all teams with what Next Gen Stats charted as a 46.2% pressure rate. From the jump, Dennis Allen's unit attacked a Patriots offensive line that was starting reserve guards. Chicago frequently walked up several defenders to the line of scrimmage and either blitzed or broke out into a simulated pressure. Early on, that havoc seemed to befuddle the Patriots.

Eventually, New England adapted. Keeping a running back and/or tight end in to assist with protection helped. So did Maye's legs, which he notably used on the Patriots' first touchdown, ultimately scoring while reaching the ball past the goal line before he was down.

Although Maye clocked out with only four carries and 26 rushing yards, those figures don't do his mobility justice.

"It's like you think you have everything covered," Bears rookie safety Dillon Thieneman told Yahoo Sports afterward, "and then if you don't have a good enough rush or contain the pocket, then he's able to get out and make it a big play."

On New England's first drive of the second half, Maye broke free from the grasp of Thieneman on a third-and-7, continued to move to his right and then located tight end Hunter Henry for a 13-yard pickup.

That drive culminated with Maye lofting a perfectly placed toss to another tight end, rookie Eli Raridon, dismissing the Bears' blitz with a 30-yard TD strike that made it a 27-21 game.

There were several plays Maye conducted like those. And yet, even so, Williams might have authored more big-time throws. After making his layups while hitting on 30-of-36 passes against the Falcons last time out — a performance that, at the time, placed him first among all qualifying passers in completion percentage — Williams consistently pulled the ripcord Thursday amid his 308-yard, two-touchdown spectacle.

"Be decisive. Let it rip," Williams said postgame. "That's always something I preach to myself each week before every game: Decisiveness wins."

Williams didn't flinch, not after tight end Colston Loveland dropped catchable balls and not after Odunze's missed touchdown opportunity in the first half.

Immediately following Odunze's OPI penalty, Williams told his wideout that he'd be coming back to him.

"We didn't know when. And it ended up being a big part of the game."

On that aforementioned third-and-9, the Bears were leading by six points and needed to at least kill clock with about five minutes to go and the ball at their own 10-yard line.

Williams launched a missile. It flew just over the fingertips of leaping Patriots safety Kevin Byard III and into the hands of an outstretched Odunze for a 21-yard gain.

"He's on the money more often than not," said Odunze, who collected another 21 yards two snaps later on that FG drive. "We got to be in the right positions to make those plays, and we know he's going to get the ball to us."

Loveland, after winding up with a team-high seven catches, 69 receiving yards and a touchdown, added: "[Caleb's] got that swag on him right now."