The New England Patriots and Chicago Bears made history in a unique way on Thursday Night Football. Along with the game itself being exciting, the two teams were able to draw eyes as well. AOL.com reported this.
Prime Video announced earlier this week that the game averaged 19.86 million viewers. This is the second most-watched Thursday Night Football Game on Prime. This beat the record from last season’s Christmas night game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. That game averaged 21.1 million viewers.
In addition to beating the viewer record on Prime, it also beat an NFL record. It’s the most-watched Week 7 game on record across the history of Thursday Night Football. The previous record was set back in 2015.
Drake Maye and Caleb Williams Put On Show
This game had many interesting subplots and storylines. Perhaps one of the major selling points of the game was the two quarterbacks. New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams both came from the same draft class. They were highly-regarded signal-callers. The Thursday night contest showed exactly why.
Maye went 24-of-31, throwing for 321 yards and two touchdowns. In the meantime, Williams went 22-of-33 on the evening, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Both quarterbacks also played their role on the ground. Maye had four carries for 26 yards and a touchdown. Williams had five carries for 18 yards. Although Williams did not have as big an impact on the ground, he did just enough to confuse the Patriots defense.
Both quarterbacks had faced each other before last Thursday’s matchup. Maye was able to take the first game, as he threw for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception in 2024. The Patriots defense was able to keep Williams at bay and make life difficult for the quarterback. This time around, Williams was able to get the upper hand on a Patriots defense that was a much stronger unit than in the first matchup
Patriots QB Part of The Future
Now, it’s clear that these two quarterbacks are the future of the NFL. Both Maye and Williams can draw eyes, as evidenced by these ratings. The Patriots still have a ton of work to do, with their next opponent being from their own division, the Miami Dolphins. After that, they will continue to face several tough opponents as they look to continue building their resume throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
The Patriots are certainly not shying away from difficult competition this year. The schedule has the Patriots facing premier teams, and by extension, premier quarterbacks. Williams got the upper hand on Maye in this matter. However, the Patriots quarterback showed that he could go-to-to-toe with some of the league’s best. It certainly made for intriguing television.
It will be interesting to see what the Patriots do for the rest of the season. They currently sit at 4-3 and could have a chance to pick up some major wins against marquee opponents. However, the level of competition could prove to be a difficult thing to navigate for Maye, as the defenses will undoubtedly get tougher as a result.
Patriots’ Latest Game Makes History After Thursday Night Battle