Even though they entered Thursday night facing personnel questions at multiple positions, the New England Patriots had their chances to compete for a victory against the Chicago Bears. At the end of the day, however, they simply made too many mistakes to hang with one of the better teams in the NFC.

Whether it was a costly red zone interception, multiple missed tackles, coverage breakdowns on defense and special teams, or untimely penalties, the Patriots did not play as clean a game as they needed to. The end result was a 30-24 defeat.

The team of head coach Mike Vrabel therefore heads into its mini-bye with a 4-3 record.

Final score: Patriots 24 : 30 Bears

Thursday, Oct. 22, 8:15 p.m. ET | Soldier Field (Chicago, IL) | Broadcast information | Game day roster | Inactives | Weather forecast

The Patriots started the game on offense, and with an incompletion that sailed high over wide receiver A.J. Brown’s head. Drake Maye found more success targeting his running backs, hitting Rhamondre Stevenson for a gain of 19 yards and later finding TreVeyon Henderson on back-to-back plays. However, a Stevenson run on 3rd-and-6 didn’t get the proper yards and New England turned the ball over on downs after a sack on the subsequent 4th-and-5.

The Bears offense started its Thursday night in good field position, and with a chunk play to Luther Burden for 26 yards against Marcus Jones. However, an inaccurate pass on a subsequent 3rd-and-7 ended the drive and set up a 43-yard field goal for the game’s first points. | Patriots 0 : 3 Bears

The Patriots offense went nowhere on its second possession. After two short runs to start the series, quick pressure off another Bears blitz look forced a throw off the mark and Mitch Wishnowsky punt.

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Chicago’s offense did not fare much better, answering with a three-and-out-of its own. Two short runs set up a 3rd-and-6. A short Caleb Williams pass to D’Andrew Swift gained no yards thanks to Charles Woods and Christian Elliss quickly bringing down the ball carrier.

Drake Maye and company, meanwhile, went three-and-out in a similar fashion on their next series: a short Corey Kiner run was followed by two negative plays, including DeMario Douglas losing a yard on 3rd-and-8.

After neither offense managed to do much on the last few drives, the Bears not only gained a first down again but then beat the Patriots defense on a 58-yard catch-and-run to Luther Burden against a coverage bust involving Christian Elliss and Charles Woods. The play set the home team up with a 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line, and it took D’Andre Swift just one play to find the end zone for the first touchdown of the night. | Patriots 0 : 10 Bears

Deciding to focus more on the passing game to start the next drive, the Patriots finally picked up a first down again when Drake Maye connected with Eli Raridon for again of 15 to close out Quarter 1.

New England kept moving the chains to open the second period, driving into Bears territory for the first time all game. A 16-yard pass to Hunter Henry and a 13-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson then set up a goal-to-go situation, with Drake Maye capping the series on a touchdown scramble from 7 yards out. Maye initially was ruled down short of the goal line, but Mike Vrabel successfully challenged the spot and was rewarded with seven points. | Patriots 7 : 10 Bears

Momentum quickly shifted back Chicago’s way after Drake Maye’s touchdown. The team started its next series with a 47-yard kickoff return, and thanks to a tagged-on penalty found itself on the New England side of the field right away. The Patriots did get a chance to stop the Bears on 4th-and-inches shortly thereafter, but D’Andre Swift moved the chains. However, back-to-back penalties against the Bears — including one negating a 2-yard Joe Thuney run — ended the series with a field goal. | Patriots 7 : 13 Bears

New England started its next drive with a 16-yard pass to Efton Chism, and a couple of good Corey Kiner runs plus an Eli Raridon catch and Drake Maye scramble later found itself in the red zone. However, the opportunity went to waste when Maye was intercepted on an attempted end zone pass for Raridon.

The Patriots kept hurting themselves on the next drive. A Charles Woods hold negated a third down stop, while Gabe Jacas was flagged for roughing the passer to help the Bears get into field goal range again. New England did find itself in a favorable position on a 3rd-and-17 after a Marcus Jones sack, but Luther Burden again managed to make a big play when he took a short pass 24 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. | Patriots 7 : 20 Bears

The Patriots had only nine seconds on the clock, and they made them count. First, Drake Maye hit A.J. Brown for 18 yards, before finding Rhamondre Stevenson with three seconds left.The veteran running back took a short pass 48 yards into the end zone as time ran out on the second quarter. | Patriots 14 : 20 Bears

Starting the second half on defense, the Patriots were in a position for a quick three-and-out but surrendered a conversion to a scrambling Caleb Williams. A pair of short passes to D’Andre Swift allowed the Bears to set up shop in New England territory again, and not just that: they capped their nine-play, 72-yard drive with Colston Loveland breaking a tackle on a 12-yard touchdown. | Patriots 14 : 27 Bears

The Patriots could have answered with a big play right on the next drive, but a deep pass intended for A.J. Brown was broken up at the catch point. The pair did connect later on the series to pick up 16 yards. That play plus a pair of completions to Hunter Henry allowed New England to return into field goal range. The team’s ambition went beyond three points, though, and it capped the drive accordingly when Drake Maye hit Eli Raridon for a 30-yard touchdown. | Patriots 21 : 27 Bears

After taking some hits the last few drives, the Patriots delivered a big three-and-out following their touchdown to Eli Raridon. A short pass followed by two incompletions — prompted by the defensive front generating some pressure — allowed the ball to return to New England via punt.

That punt was fielded by Marcus Jones at the 7-yard line and returned 19 yards to improve what would have been some bad starting field position. The Patriots managed to get the ball out even further but right before the end of the quarter found themselves 2 yards short after a Drake Maye third-down scramble near midfield.

The Patriots started the fourth quarter intending to go for it on 4th-and-2, but a false start penalty against Matt Pryor cost them 5 yards and brought out the punt team.

The Bears’ subsequent drive looked similar to the Patriots’ last one, with the team driving the ball well early but eventually stalling near midfield to set up a 4th-and-2. Unlike New England, Chicago did go for it and moved the chains. However, the series still ended with no points when a Cairo Santos field goal attempt from 53 yards out hit the right upright.

Starting in good field position and with a chance to drive for their first lead of the day, the Patriots offense went three-and-out. An incomplete pass followed by a 9-yard sack put the unit in an unfavorable 3rd-and-long position, and a pass to Rhamondre Stevenson did not gain enough yards to prevent a punt.

The Patriots had the Bears on the ropes on the next drive, but Caleb Williams prevented another three-and-out by hitting Rome Odunze for a 21-yard pickup on 3rd-and-9. It would not remain his only big play on the series as he later gained another 21 yards on a catch and run. Ultimately, however, the defense did get a stop when Christian Barmore sacked Milton Williams on a 3rd-and-5. However, Bears kicker Cairo Santos made up for his earlier miss by splitting the uprights from 58 yards out to give his team a two-possession lead with 1:34 left in the game. | Patriots 21 : 30 Bears

Down nine points, the Patriots took some shots on their next drive and ultimately sent Andy Borregales out for a 47-yard field goal to get into theoretical striking range again. | Patriots 24 : 30 Bears

The ensuing onside kick after Borregales’ field goal was recovered by the Bears to seal the game.

The Patriots drop to 4-3 and will travel to Miami in Week 8 to take on the Dolphins.