Barely

There were tremendous highs, then sudden lows, and plays that simply don't take place in many football games.

Perhaps nothing summed it up better than when Brady scrambled 11 yards for a key first down in the fourth quarter, leaving linebacker Brian Urlacher in his wake to extend the team's clinching scoring drive. Brady for 11? Outrunning and outfaking Urlacher?

Then there was the time the Patriots fumbled twice on the same play in the third quarter. Or the time the Bears called timeout just before Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a just-before-the-gun second-quarter 52-yard field goal, only to see Gostkowski nail the kick with his second chance. And at one point, there were two referee's reversals on instant replay in three second-quarter plays.

In all, the teams combined for nine turnovers, the Patriots with five and the Bears four. The Bears also relied on a most unusual offensive play as their bread and butter -- long passes that were essentially jump balls, which two times led to penalties on Patriots defensive backs.

So it's no wonder that when Belichick summed up the team's victory, he simply said: "It's not exactly the way you draw them up."

No, it certainly isn't, but in authoring their second straight victory the Patriots improved to 8-3 as they begin their traditional post-Thanksgiving push. Samuel was one of the game's biggest stars with the three interceptions, while Brady finished 22 of 33 for 269 yards and led two 11-play scoring drives against the NFL's top-ranked defense. One of Brady's favorite targets was tight end Benjamin Watson, who finished with six catches for 89 yards and one touchdown.

The Patriots have now won 18 of their last 20 games against NFC teams, and Brady improved to 20-1 on artificial turf, as the contest was the first on Gillette Stadium's new FieldTurf. Meanwhile, the Bears -- the top team in the NFC -- dropped to 9-2.

Linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who finished with seven tackles, believed the Patriots needed a win against such a quality opponent, legitimizing their hopes to be a Super Bowl contender.