CHICAGO _ The Patriots extended their winning streak over the Bears to five games and 18 years with a 38-31 victory Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.
On a day when Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky wasn't at his best, the Bears couldn't afford breakdowns in other areas of their game against the Patriots.
But Patriots returner Cordarrelle Patterson returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and the Patriots also returned a blocked punt for a touchdown to help drive the victory. The Bears haven't beaten the Patriots since the 2000 season.
Trubisky completed 26 of 50 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and had six carries for 81 yards and a touchdown. Bears top wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel combined for four catches.
Trubisky brought the Bears within a touchdown with 4:17 to play, but the Patriots ran down the clock before punting it with 24 seconds to play. Trubisky found Kevin White on the final play of the game for a 54-yard catch, but White was just short of the goal line.
Trubisky threw a pair of second-half interceptions, the first with 3:47 to play in the third. Trubisky targeted Josh Bellamy, but Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson came down with the ball instead.
The Patriots didn't score off that interception, but cornerback Jonathan Jones gave them a shot to do it again. The Bears got to the Patriots' 35-yard line when Trubisky underthrew wide receiver Antony Miller. Jones made a leaping grab, and pulled the ball in with one hand, for the second interception.
The Patriots scored on the following drive, on Tom Brady's 2-yard touchdown pass to James White for a 38-24 lead. Brady found Josh Gordon for a 55-yard catch-and-run earlier in the drive. Cornerback Prince Amukamara and safety Eddie Jackson missed early tackles on the play.
Trubisky gave the Bears a 10-7 lead with 59 seconds to play in the first quarter with an 8-yard touchdown run. Trubisky actually traveled much more than that. He dashed toward the right sideline to avoid pressure, spun back toward the 30-yard line and then ran it in all the way to the left corner of the end zone for the score.
The touchdown drive was set up by the Bears' first of three takeaways of the game. Bears linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski forced Patriots kickoff returner Patterson to fumble, and Bears safety DeAndre Houston-Carson recovered it at the Patriots' 24-yard line.
The Bears first got on the board when kicker Cody Parkey made a 46-yard field goal to cut the Patriots' lead to 7-3 with 3:50 to play in the first quarter. The drive included Trubisky's 22-yard pass to Trey Burton, but Robinson couldn't haul in a third-down pass.
