That felt like another game the Chicago Bears could have won on Sunday at Soldier Field, letting some chances against the New England Patriots, dropping their second-straight game to an AFC South opponent. Chicago jumped out to a 17-7 lead and everything seemed to be going well until a big play on special teams turned the game around completely.

At the end of the day there were two big mistakes on special teams, no adjustments made on defense and some sloppy plays on offense that cost the Bears the chance to win the game against New England.

After starting the season 3-1, the Bears have dropped two-straight and now sit at 3-3 on the season. Here are 10 quick observations from Sunday's loss to the Patriots.

Ugly day for the special teams — You can't gift a team like the Patriots 14 points on special teams and expect to win the game. That's exactly what happened on Sunday at Soldier Field. After the Bears took a 17-7 lead after a 2-yard touchdown run by Jordan Howard, the Patriots responded with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the deficit to just three. But New England wasn't done. The Patriots would block a punt in the second half as tight end Ben Braunecker was run over and found himself on his back early on in the play. The blocked punt was returned 29-yards for a touchdown and gave New England a 31-24 lead they would never lose.

At Chris Tabor's media availability this week, he stressed the importance of keeping a player like Patterson in front of you and not letting him run free. Chicago didn't do them and it cost them. The 14 points were one of the biggest differences in this game, showing once again that all three phases do matter.

Mitchell Trubisky's struggles in the first half — For the second-straight week the quarterback got off to a slow start in the first half. Trubisky was just 8-of-20 for 92 yards in the first half but did have 42 rushing yards on 5 rushes including one for a touchdown. The Patriots gave Trubisky a few different looks in coverage and dropped into zone a lot early on. They also sent the nickel blitz which seemed to confuse the young quarterback and it worked.

Trubisky struggled throughout the game, throwing two interceptions in the second half including one deep in New England territory that the Patriots turned into points.

Inaccuracy hurts Mitch, again — The thing that really hurt Trubisky in the game was his inaccuracy. We've seen this year that when Trubisky is off, he's really off and delivers some inaccurate passes. That was the case again on Sunday as the quarterback overthrew a few receivers for what could have been a touchdown or a big gain. It's a thing the quarterback will need to continue to work on moving forward.

The Patriots went right after the Bears weaknesses' — New England took a page out of Miami's game-plan to beat the Bears and it worked. The Patriots opened up the game with two quick screens and designed runs that went right at Chicago's linebackers. They picked on both Leonard Floyd and the rookie Roquan Smith early and often, getting the ball to their playmakers in space and it worked. Chicago's defense really didn't have much of an answer for it and there were no adjustments made.

Mack coverage — It was obvious that Mack's ankle wasn't 100 percent on Sunday after he was limited or did not practice all week long. Mack gave it a go on Sunday and was pretty much ineffective all game long. But the thing that stood out the most was how many times Mack was in coverage on Sunday. The Bears had him in coverage against running backs and it didn't work at all. It was a little outside of the box for Vic Fangio, especially when the Bears struggled to rush the passer. Speaking off....

Where is the pass rush? Once again the Bears struggled to get to the quarterback and sacked Tom Brady just one time in the game. The pass rush was nonexistent and it's starting to become a big problem. The Bears allowed Brady to stand in the pocket like a statue and deliver the football anywhere he wanted too. With Mack not 100 percent, it was on others to step up and that didn't happen. Leonard Floyd continues to struggle opposite of Mack and Aaron Lynch has been quiet the past two games.

The Bears are going to need to ramp up the pass rush again otherwise it's going to be a big problem moving forward. That includes Akiem Hicks getting back on track after disappearing the past two weeks.

Bilal Nichols looks like a veteran out there — I've mentioned it before but I'm very impressed with how rookie Bilal Nichols has looked. He had another solid game on Sunday, recording four tackles, the forced fumble and fumble recovery. Nichols got through the line early to force a pressure on Brady and then a few drives later, he sniffed out the run play to force the fumble. It's clear he's putting in the work to get better and it's working.

The offense is putting up points but it could be more — Trubisky didn't have a great game on Sunday but he flashed some signs of positives. Yes, the overthrows and accuracy issues are becoming a problem at times but the offense is starting to put up points on a consistent basis. The Bears have scored 48, 28 and 31 over the past three games but have come up short in two of those games. There are some positives in this offense becoming consistent and putting it all together. It's a work in progress, but it right now the entire team has to be on the same page.

Jordan Howard's usage — This is something that has been a hot topic over the past three games and will continue to be moving forward. Howard didn't speak to reporters after the win against Tampa Bay and indications were that he was very frustrated with his role in the offense. Last week against Miami, he had 14 carries and finished with 69 yards rushing. But this week his carries were down to 12 and he had just 39 yards with a touchdown. It's clear that the game plan is starting to gravitate more towards using Tarik Cohen more in this offense which leaves Howard out.

Two winnable games ahead — I know this one feels crappy. Losing two in a row does that to you and it doesn't make it any better with how the Bears have played in these previous two games. But as it stands, they are 3-3 and are going into the final half of their AFC opponent schedule with games against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills ahead.

Those are two games the Bears should win and if they do so, will be 5-3 on the season going into a tough part of the second half of the schedule. The Bears can't afford to lose either of these two games if they want any shot at the playoffs.