GOAT? No Argument from Bears

Tom Brady rarely faced the Bears but when he did he almost always got the best of them, starting with a thriller in Champaign, Ill. in 2002 and ending with his 600th TD pass in a game at Tampa this season.

It's safe to say most teams will say good riddance concerning Tom Brady now that he is retiring, particularly those who faced him most often.

The Bears definitely don't fit rank among all time door mats for Brady because they faced him only seven times in his 22-year career.

However, on a percentage basis on they were beaten with very good regularity by the former Michigan quarterback.

The Bears were 1-6 against Brady. He had a .857 winning percentage against them, completing 185 of 276 for 2,059 yards at 67% completions with 7.5 yards per pass attempt. Brady averaged 294.1 yards passing against the Bears in games, and had 19 total touchdown passes to four interceptions. In seven games they sacked him only nine times and he had a 105.9 passer rating against them.

Considering all that, they should be thankful he was in the other conference. They did have a few memorable games against him even if they weren't usually successful.

In 2018 Matt Nagy's team fell to 3-3 on the year by dropping a wild shootout 38-31 to the Patriots at Soldier Field, a game when Mitchell Trubisky made a sideline to sideline touchdown scramble, and wide receiver Kevin White came up short of tying on on the final play by hauling in a Hail Mary pass on the 1-yard line before being tackle.

The last game this year will be remembered because Brady, the all-time leader in touchdown passes, hit No. 600 with a 9-yarder to Mike Evans over the middle in a 38-3 Tampa Bay rout of the Bears.

The best Bears game against Brady was probably the first one. In 2002 he came to Memorial Stadium in Champaign when the Bears were rebuilding Soldier Field and took the Patriots on a 56-yard touchdown drive in the final two minutes and hit David Patten for a 20-yard winning TD with 28 seconds remaining in a 33-30 New England win.

TOM BRADY'S RETIREMENT

TOM BRADY'S SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVERS

TOM BRADY IN HIS OWN WORDS

TOM BRADY THE ULTIMATE TEAMMATE

SI COVERAGE OF TOM BRADY THROUGH THE YEARS

Some Bears will have better memories of the GOAT, especially one in particular.

Nick Foles finished 2-0 lifetime against Brady, including the Super Bowl win with Philadelphia after the 2017 season.

Then Foles led the Bears to a 20-19 win over New England on Thursday Night Football in 2020, a game best remembered because Brady couldn't remember—what down it was. Brady was thinking the final pass to Cameron Brate that DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up was third down.

Tom Brady Against the Bears

Tom Brady vs. the Bears

USA Today

In 2006 it looked like it might be Brady against Urlacher in the Super Bowl and it never came off as Peyton Manning had something to say about that.  Here's how he did facing the Bears over the years.

Patriots 33, Bears 30

USA Today

Nov. 10 2002 at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL.

David Patton caught a 20-yard TD pass with 28 seconds left for the win as Brady threw 55 passes, completed 36 for 328 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, that by Brian Urlacher in the Bears loss.

Patriots 17, Bears 13

Nov. 26, 2006, at Gillette Stadium. A classic, best remember for Brady faking Urlacher out in the open field to pick up a crucial third-down on a scramble as New England held off the Bears in a season when Chicago went to the Super Bowl. The Bears lost Tommy Harris in the game to a torn hamstring and it was an injury that haunted them in the Super Bowl against the Colts with no interior pass rush. Ben Watson's 2-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter was decisive.

Patriots 36, Bears 7

Patriots 36, Bears 7

Dec. 12, 2010, at Soldier Field. Spice Adams got a good hit in on Brady here and the Bears would go on to the NFC championship game that year. But on this day they were down 33-0 by halftime to Brady. He threw for 369 yards on 27 of 40 with touchdowns to Gronk and Deion Branch.

Patriots 51, Bears 23

USA Today

Oct. 26, 2014, Gillette Stadium. Marc Trestman's Bears began descending into the lower regions never to return with this blowout loss, and then one the next week to Green Bay. Brady had the Patriots up 45-7 in the third quarter before they let off the gas pedal. Jimmy G even got to play. He threw three passes against his hometown team that day and completed all of them.

Patriots 38, Bears 31

Oct. 21, 2018, Soldier Field. Brady hit James White on a 2-yard TD pass out of the backfield with Leonard Floyd in tow, and the Patriots had a 38-24 lead in the fourth quarter, but Mitchell Trubisky rallied the Bears with an 11-yard TD throw to Trey Burton, then heaved a Hail Mary on the last play that Kevin White caught but he was on the 1-yard line instead of in the end zone. The Patriots survived. Brady was 25 of 36 for 277 yards and three TDs.

Bears 20, Buccaneers 19

Oct. 8, 2020, at Soldier Field. Nick Foles threw for 243 yards and a touchdown and Khalil Mack sacked Brady twice in the only Bears win over Brady. The Tampa Bay QB threw for 253 yards on 24 of 41 but Foles, who beat him in the Super Bowl with Philadelphia after the 2017 season, was 30 of 42. Brady then forgot what down it was on fourth down when throwing to Cameron Brate over the middle, a final incomplete pass that DeAndre Houston-Carson defended well.

Buccaneers 38, Bears 3

Oct. 24, 2021, Raymond James Stadium. Brady gets his revenge and it was over by the second quarter, as he hit Chris Godwin for a 4-yard TD and Mike Evans for a 9-yarder to put New England up 21-0. Later he found Evans for a 2- and  8-yard TDs. The 9-yarder in the first quarter was his 600th career TD pass. Brady was 22 of 39 for 226 yards.

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