Patriots vs. Bears odds, picks, predictions for Thursday Night Football New York Times (Online) Nick Kostos The Week 7 edition of Thursday Night Football features the second meeting between the first and third picks from the 2024 NFL draft. Caleb Williams and Drake Maye will look to build on strong recent performances when the Chicago Bears host the New England Patriots as short favorites, with Williams coming off a 305-yard game in his return from injury last week and Maye minimizing turnovers to lead his team to three straight victories. Our staff believes there's a clear edge in this one. Let's dive into their picks, then hear one expert's supporting case. Nick Kostos: This game should be awesome. The Patriots have exorcised their early-season demons with three straight wins. They managed to beat the New York Jets despite A.J. Brown returning to the lineup looking like Snoop Dogg, dropping the football like it's hot. The Bears seem to have realized their best defense is never letting the opposing offense touch the ball, as they possessed it for 40:08 in Sunday's win in Atlanta. And then there's the quarterbacks. Williams and Maye have both lived up to the hype. But if I had to pick one, I'd choose Williams. Maye is fantastic, but Williams' physical ability is nothing short of freakish, and his mind meld with rock-star head coach Ben Johnson is something to behold. I like the Pats to keep it closer than they did against the Bears in Super Bowl XX, but expect the same result: a win for Da Bears. The following is based on The Athletic' s NFL Playoff Simulator , powered by Austin Mock's model projections.