Santos’s 58-Yard Kick Decides the Williams-Maye Rematch

Cairo Santos made a 58-yard field goal with 1:34 left, and the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots 30-24 on Thursday night at Soldier Field. The kick was a career long that tied the franchise record, and it turned a one-score game into a two-score lead after Santos had already missed from 53 yards in the same quarter.

The billing was Caleb Williams against Drake Maye, the No. 1 and No. 3 picks from the 2024 draft, meeting for the second time. Maye threw for more yards and a higher rating. Chicago never trailed, then needed the kicker, an end-zone pick, and a recovered onside kick to put the night away.

A Career Long After a Miss

Santos had already clanked a 53-yard try off the right upright with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. That drive still burned five minutes. When he walked back out later, the Bears had just taken a 10-yard sack on third-and-5 at the New England 30, and the ball sat at the 40. From there a field goal is 58 yards, hold included. Audible groans met him on the way out. He had missed in each of the previous two games as well, from 56 yards against Atlanta and from 43 at Green Bay.

Ben Johnson sent him anyway. Santos split the uprights, and the lead went to 30-21. Pro Football Reference’s Stathead tool lists the make as tied with Robbie Gould’s 58-yarder from the 2013 season, and it replaced Santos’s own career long of 55 yards. He had entered the night 8-for-11 on field goals this season. On Thursday he went 3-for-4, with makes from 43, 31, and 58.

THE KICK THAT CLOSED IT

• The make: Santos’s 58-yarder at 1:34 of the fourth, after a 12-play, 51-yard drive that ran 4:48.
• The miss: A 53-yard try off the right upright earlier in the quarter, with about eight minutes left.
• The sack: Williams lost 10 yards on third-and-5 at the New England 30, which is why the try was from 58 instead of a more comfortable distance.
• The record: Tied with Gould (2013) for the longest field goal in Bears history.

Andy Borregales answered with a 47-yarder at 0:37, after a 6-play, 46-yard burst, and the Patriots lined up for an onside kick. Rome Odunze recovered it. Williams then took a knee.

Maye Posted the Cleaner Passing Line

Williams was 22 of 33 for 308 yards and two touchdowns, with no picks and a 116.7 passer rating, in his second game back from a right hamstring injury. He became the first Bears quarterback with back-to-back 300-yard games since Mitch Trubisky’s three-game run in 2018. Last Sunday in Atlanta he had gone 30 of 36 for 305 yards in a 31-23 win. Thursday was also his first time back on the Soldier Field turf since the hamstring, which had knocked him out on Sept. 20 against Minnesota.

Maye was 24 of 31 for 321 yards, two touchdown passes, one interception, and a 117.8 rating. He added 26 yards on four carries and scored on a 7-yard run. Combined they threw for 629 yards. Chicago outgained New England 405 to 380 and rushed for 116. Both quarterbacks were sacked twice.

THE TWO QUARTERBACK LINES

Luther Burden III caught four passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half. D’Andre Swift ran 22 times for 78 yards and the 4-yard score that made it 10-0. Colston Loveland’s 12-yard catch opened the second half. Four other Chicago receivers had at least three catches. Rhamondre Stevenson had five catches for 93 yards and the 48-yard score at the half, plus 22 yards on six carries, 115 yards from scrimmage. Rookie tight end Eli Raridon’s 30-yard touchdown cut the lead to 27-21.

It’s amazing having Williams on the field. His leadership, his competitiveness, everyone around here feels it. He gets us going.

D’Andre Swift, Bears running back, after the game

Williams still had to win third-and-11 in the fourth with a 21-yard throw to Odunze under a heavy rush. He also took the sack that made the last kick 58 yards instead of shorter. The Bears scored on five of six early possessions, three of them touchdowns, and still had to sweat a one-score finish.

What the First Williams-Maye Game Looked Like

The last time these two shared a Sunday, New England won 19-3 at Soldier Field on Nov. 10, 2024. Williams completed 16 of 30 passes for 120 yards, threw no touchdowns, and was sacked nine times. Maye went 15 of 25 for 184 yards, one score, and one pick. They threw for 304 yards combined that afternoon. Thursday they more than doubled it, and the defenses could not sit on the game the way New England’s did in year one.

They have known each other since high school camps, including Elite 11, and they went through the draft process together. Williams went first to Chicago. Jayden Daniels went second to Washington. Maye went third to New England. Before that first meeting, Maye said going against a quarterback from his own class carried “a little extra.” Thursday was the extra with real offenses attached, in year three, with Johnson calling Chicago’s shots and Mike Vrabel on the other sideline for the reigning AFC champions.

Johnson Sent the Kicker From 58 Yards

Chicago led 10-0 after Santos’s 43-yard field goal at 9:53 of the first quarter and Swift’s 4-yard run at 1:38, a 5-play, 74-yard burst. Kyler Gordon had already sacked Maye on fourth-and-5 at the Chicago 45 to kill New England’s opener. Maye’s 7-yard run at 11:33 of the second, a 9-play, 74-yard drive, made it 10-7. Santos’s 31-yarder at 7:04 pushed it to 13-7.

HOW THURSDAY NIGHT WAS SCORED

1. 9:53, first quarter: Santos 43-yard field goal, 5 plays, 29 yards, 1:37. Bears 3-0.
2. 1:38, first quarter: Swift 4-yard run, 5 plays, 74 yards, 2:00. Bears 10-0.
3. 11:33, second quarter: Maye 7-yard run, 9 plays, 74 yards, 5:05. Bears 10-7.
4. 7:04, second quarter: Santos 31-yard field goal, 9 plays, 30 yards, 4:29. Bears 13-7.
5. 0:14, second quarter: Burden 24-yard catch from Williams, 10 plays, 80 yards, 3:11. Bears 20-7.
6. 0:00, second quarter: Stevenson 48-yard catch from Maye, 2 plays, 66 yards, 0:14. Bears 20-14.
7. 9:41, third quarter: Loveland 12-yard catch from Williams, 9 plays, 72 yards, 5:19. Bears 27-14.
8. 3:46, third quarter: Raridon 30-yard catch from Maye, 9 plays, 80 yards, 5:55. Bears 27-21.
9. 1:34, fourth quarter: Santos 58-yard field goal, 12 plays, 51 yards, 4:48. Bears 30-21.
10. 0:37, fourth quarter: Borregales 47-yard field goal, 6 plays, 46 yards, 0:57. Bears 30-24.

The half nearly got away. Williams hit Burden from 24 yards with 14 seconds left, and Chicago led 20-7. New England started at its 34 with nine seconds on the clock, and Maye’s screen to Stevenson at the Chicago 47 turned into a 48-yard touchdown as time expired. Johnson did not want to discuss that sequence at the break. The Bears answered with the Loveland drive to open the third. New England answered with Raridon. Then the fourth quarter became a kicking contest Johnson chose to play.

SANTOS JUST DRILLED A 58-YARDER TO GO UP TWO POSSESSIONS.

NEvsCHI on Prime Video
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/XgUaLFdlzS

— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2026

Christian Barmore’s sack on third down is what shoved Williams backward and made the 58-yard try necessary. Barmore was hurt on the play. Cory Durden had jumped offside on third-and-1 earlier on the same drive, handing Chicago a free first down. Those are the snaps that decided a game both quarterbacks filled with yards.

The Pick That Never Left the End Zone

Maye’s one giveaway sat in the end zone in the second quarter, a throw he never saw linebacker D’Marco Jackson under. It was the game’s only turnover. New England had won three in a row, with Maye throwing 10 touchdown passes and one interception during that streak. The pick on Thursday was the first sour decision in a stretch that had been clean, and it cost points in a game the Patriots never led.

Jackson was not supposed to be the starring linebacker. T.J. Edwards missed a second straight game with a hamstring injury, and Jack Sanborn was out in concussion protocol, so Jackson and Devin Bush started. Kyle Monangai (thumb, toe) missed a third straight game after 146 yards and two scores on 30 carries against the Jets on Oct. 4, which left Swift with the full load. The Bears still got the stop they needed on that red-zone throw. Maye finished with three total touchdowns and still left with the loss because that ball died in the end zone and because Odunze fell on the last kick.

Soldier Field Dressed for Ditka

It was Chicago’s first home game since Mike Ditka died on Oct. 9 at age 86, and the opponent was the franchise his 1985 team beat 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, the only Super Bowl title the Bears have. A crowd of 60,520 filled the seats. Williams ran out of the tunnel to a roar that had been waiting since September.

THE DITKA TRIBUTES INSIDE SOLDIER FIELD

• The giveaway: Fake mustaches went to every fan, and the first 10,000 through the gates got knit headbands modeled on Ditka’s sideline sweater.
• The silence: A pregame moment of silence, with Ditka-themed flags on the field and a video tribute on the board.
• The patch: Players kept the football-shaped No. 89 patch over the heart, after helmet stickers at Lambeau Field in Week 5, and will wear it the rest of the season.
• The stencil: A football with 89 went onto the northwest sideline grass, with a Pro Football Hall of Fame display set in the south courtyard.

Former center Jay Hilgenberg, on an on-field interview that played on the scoreboard, put the franchise debt in one line.

If it wasn’t for Ditka, we wouldn’t have the Super Bowl.

Jay Hilgenberg, former Bears center, on the Soldier Field board

Right guard Jonah Jackson arrived in a long-sleeved No. 89 jersey and then played through the hip injury that had taken him out in Atlanta. Chairman George McCaskey wore a navy Ditka jersey over a dress shirt. The analog clocks inside the building sat on 89:00 all afternoon, Ditka’s number as a Hall of Fame tight end, retired in December 2013 and the last Bears number taken out of circulation.

A 5-2 Start and a Trip to Seattle

Chicago is 5-2 and 3-1 at home. New England is 4-3 and 1-3 on the road, the three-game winning streak over. The Bears had not opened a season 5-2 since 2020. The league site lists them second in the NFC North. Minnesota came into the weekend 5-0. Green Bay is 4-2 and plays at Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 25. The Lions are 3-2. Those Sunday games will shuffle the division again. Thursday only moved Chicago.

Johnson’s team had been flattened 31-7 at Green Bay on Oct. 11, then won 31-23 at Atlanta on Williams’s first game back. Thursday was a short week against a Patriots club that had just taken down the Bills to start that three-game run. The Bears led from the first score to the last snap and still needed Santos from a distance he had never made as a pro.

Williams took a knee, and the clock ran out. They do not play again until Monday, Nov. 2, at Seattle, 8:15 p.m. EST, then host Tampa Bay on Nov. 8. The duel will get the tape. The kick got the win.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Far Was Cairo Santos’s Kick Against the Patriots?

Santos’s winner was 58 yards, and before Thursday his career long was 55. The kick is also listed as the third-longest field goal ever made at Soldier Field, on top of tying Gould’s franchise record from 2013.

What Was the Score of the First Williams-Maye Game?

New England won 19-3 at Soldier Field on Nov. 10, 2024. Williams was 16 of 30 for 120 yards with no touchdowns and was sacked nine times, while Maye was 15 of 25 for 184 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception, and Ja’Lynn Polk scored on a 2-yard catch.

Who Intercepted Drake Maye in the End Zone?

Linebacker D’Marco Jackson caught the ball in the end zone in the second quarter, the game’s only turnover. He started because T.J. Edwards missed a second straight game with a hamstring injury and Jack Sanborn was in concussion protocol, with Devin Bush starting alongside him.

How Did the Bears Honor Mike Ditka on Thursday?

Beyond the mustaches, headbands, moment of silence, and 89 patch, the analog clocks inside Soldier Field were set to 89:00 all afternoon, Jonah Jackson walked in wearing a white long-sleeved No. 89 jersey, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame put a memorabilia display in the stadium’s south courtyard. Ditka’s No. 89 was retired in December 2013.