Patriots down Bears

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Brady’s decision to run on two key plays was a surprise. That he didn’t fumble may have been more of a shock.

Cutting on new artificial turf instead of the mud that was there two weeks ago, Brady set up New England’s decisive touchdown in a turnover-filled game and the Patriots beat the Chicago Bears 17-13 Sunday.

“Must be the turf,” Brady said. “I don’t think that would have happened a few weeks ago.”

The Patriots (8-3) persevered despite five turnovers against the Bears (9-2), who had allowed the fewest points in the NFL going into the game with 120. New England was the second stingiest with 131.

“Our defense took the ball, did a good job of that and we didn’t do such a good job with it,” Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman said.

On third-and-9 at the Bears 14, Brady took off running for 11 yards, a scamper that left star linebacker Brian Urlacher behind.

“I’ll tell my kids one day I slipped Brian Urlacher,” Brady said with a grin. “They won’t believe me.”

Brady also had a 3-yard run for a first down at the 3, capping the drive with his 2-yard touchdown pass to Benjamin Watson that gave the Patriots a 17-10 lead with 8:22 left in the game.

Before that drive, the Patriots had turned the ball over three times inside the Bears’ 20-yard line against a team that leads the NFL in takeaways.

But the Bears committed four turnovers, three on interceptions by Asante Samuel. The last came with 1:46 left, clinching the victory just six seconds after Chicago’s Alex Brown had recovered Corey Dillon’s fumble.

“This is prime time against the team with the best record,” Samuel said. “They like to go deep and it was something we were expecting.”

The Bears didn’t expect to be so sloppy.

“It’s tough to win when you have four turnovers,” Chicago coach Lovie Smith said.

The Patriots won with five – three fumbles and two interceptions by Charles Tillman.

“It wasn’t pretty, not at all,” New England safety Artrell Hawkins said.

Both of Chicago’s losses this season have come against AFC East teams – New England and Miami.