Patriots Notebook: New England breaks through with first road win of 2018

CHICAGO — This has been a very unique season for the Patriots.

A team that has established its road bonafides the last two seasons — New England had won 15 of 16 away from home in 2016 and 2017 — the Patriots started 2018 on a down note away from Gillette with a pair of road losses to Detroit and Jacksonville.

It wasn’t pretty on Sunday, but they were able to get their first road win of the season, holding on for the 38-31 win over the Bears.



For the record, this was one of the latest points on the calendar when it came to securing a road win — the mark is still 2009, when New England didn’t win away from home until Oct. 25, 2009.

“It means a lot,” Dont’a Hightower said after the game. “We play good at home. It was about time for us to get everything together (on the road). The only games we had on the road we didn’t play collectively all the way around. Today was a hard-fought game. We played for 60 minutes.”

“It’s huge. We know of the next four games, we’ll be on the road three times,” said Duron Harmon. “We know to was something we needed to get today to be able to understand and prepare and to be able to play on the road and to continue to grow and build.”

“It’s definitely good to walk away with a win,” said James White. “We definitely didn’t play our best game (but it’s) definitely better to correct the film with a win than a loss. Get back in there and try to fix things up. We have another tough road game, a division game against the Bills, and that will be a tough environment.”

 

Line holds Mack in check

The Patriots held Khalil Mack to one tackle, no quarterback hits and no sacks on the afternoon. Mack initially appeared to lack some of his traditional burst because of an ankle issue, but he went up against tackles Trent Brown and LaAdrian Waddle all day, and had almost no impact on the outcome.

Waddle got the call at right tackle after Marcus Cannon sustained a concussion last week against the Chiefs, and was unable to practice this week.

“We work hard at that stuff and try and prepare the guys who are starting that week to be ready,” said Waddle when asked about stepping in for Cannon. “Whoever is up for that game and be ready to go. We came out ready to go today. We did some good things. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to win.”

“I thought we competed well against a good front,” said Bill Belichick when asked about the offensive line. “Ran the ball and had some balance. You know, they do a good job mixing it up. They create some problems with some good players up there, but I thought our guys battled them. I mean, we battled hard the whole game. It wasn’t perfect but they fought hard.”

Waddle, who is one of the more chill guys in the New England locker room, mixed it up at one point with Chicago’s Aaron Lynch. He smiled when asked about the dustup.

“I just have to make sure everything is all right. I don’t scrap,” he said. “I just make sure everything is good. Make sure nobody is throwing too many punches. I got socked a couple of times. But it’s all good.”

White shines as pass catcher again

White had a team-high eight catches for 57 yards, and now has 45 catches on the season. With less than half a season in the books, he appears well on his way to challenging for the NFL mark for most receptions in a season by a running back — 102, set by Matt Forte in 2014. … J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones each had interceptions on the afternoon, which runs New England’s pick streak to seven consecutive games. It’s the first time the team has done so in seven straight games since 2013 when they did it in eight consecutive games. The Patriots team record for most consecutive games with an interception 11, set in 1985. … After they went all game last week against the Chiefs without a penalty, New England tied a season-high Sunday with seven flags (not counting those they were declined or offset). The 64 penalty yards against them was a season-high.