Thursday night at Soldier Field, 8:15 p.m. Eastern on Prime Video. Two 4-2 teams, a short week for both, and two insiders who have been texting each other since Sunday afternoon. Walt Brenner keeps the Bears' family tree. Glen Tolliver keeps the Patriots' receipts. Gloves off, manners on.
Walt: Welcome to Soldier Field, Glen. Columns out front, the lake out back, and a city all around it. We play football in a city. You play next to a lighthouse in the suburbs.
Glen: The lighthouse is a nice touch, Walt. So are the six Super Bowl banners. How many do you have again?
Walt: One Super Bowl, plus eight NFL championships from before the Super Bowl existed. We didn't join this league. We built it.
Glen: And you've been telling everyone about it ever since.
Last week, Patriots: New England beat the Jets 26-19 for its third straight win and its fourth straight against New York. Drake Maye threw touchdown passes to Romeo Doubs (a diving 42-yarder), DeMario Douglas and Hunter Henry, his third straight game with at least three. The defense, with Christian Gonzalez back from a shoulder injury, held the Jets to 0-for-3 in the red zone.
Glen: Rings are receipts, but process wins the next one, and the process was sloppy. Two lost fumbles. And we lost three offensive linemen during the game: right tackle Morgan Moses (ankle), left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring) and right guard Ben Brown (knee). Doubs left with a shoulder injury too. With no official report out yet, that's the status sheet I'm watching all week.
Last week, Bears: Caleb Williams returned from a hamstring injury that cost him three games and completed his first 12 passes in Atlanta. Bears 31, Falcons 23.
Walt: And Kyler Gordon, activated off the PUP list before the game, had three sacks and two forced fumbles. From a cornerback! Bronko Nagurski would have stood up and clapped.
Glen: You also had more yellow flags in that game than a parade has streamers.
Walt: We like to keep the officials involved. It's a community thing.
The matchup: This one starts up front. A patched-together New England front five meets a Chicago pass rush that just sacked Michael Penix Jr. five times, three of them by a cornerback. Maye has thrown at least three touchdown passes in each of his last three games, and A.J. Brown is back from injured reserve after three catches against the Jets. On the other side, Ben Johnson's offense has its quarterback back, and Williams shares the ball: Burden, Loveland, Rome Odunze and Swift all got touches last week. Mike Vrabel and coordinator Zak Kuhr will try to keep Williams in the pocket. Chicago's Dennis Allen will try to make Maye see ghosts.
The numbers: Chicago has scored 150 points and allowed 119. New England has scored 136 and allowed 113. These two are as even as a Lake Michigan breeze is stubborn.
Glen: Speaking of which, Walt, does the wind off the lake count as a 12th man, or do you just blame it for the punts?
Walt: The wind is a Bear, Glen. It's been on the roster longer than either of us. Your wind is a cranberry bog breeze.
Glen: Last thing. We were in Super Bowl LX in February. We lost it to Seattle, 29-13, and I'll own that. When was your last February?
Walt: Long enough ago that the Shuffle was on the radio. It still holds up, by the way.
Glen: It does not.
Respect to both: two young quarterbacks, two first-place hopes, one Thursday night beneath the lights by the lake.
My call: Patriots 24, Bears 21.