FOXBORO, Mass. – In a game that at times looked more like hot potato than football, the Bears won the turnover battle but lost the war Sunday in New England.

Chicago generated five takeaways on defense but couldn’t overcome three Rex Grossman interceptions and a lost fumble on a center-quarterback exchange in a 17-13 loss to the Patriots.

Bernard Berrian hauls in a 47-yard pass from Rex Grossman despite tight coverage by Asante Samuel in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to New England.

“Any time you go on the road, you know you have your work cut out for you, especially going on the road against a good football team like the Patriots,” said coach Lovie Smith. “It’s a tough chore, but we had our opportunities.

“Offensively, it’s tough to win when you have four turnovers. It’s kind of as simple as that. I thought we did some good things—got our running game going with both running backs (Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson)—but you can’t turn the football over.”

Despite the setback, the Bears (9-2) still maintain a four-game lead atop the NFC North over the Minnesota Vikings (5-6) and a two-game cushion over the rest of the NFC field.

Charles Tillman had two interceptions and Lance Briggs and Danieal Manning each forced two fumbles and recovered one. But Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel picked off three passes, the last of which thwarted the Bears’ final chance to rally with 1:46 left in the game.

Trailing 17-13, Manning stripped the ball from running back Corey Dillon and Alex Brown recovered at the Chicago 22 with 1:52 remaining. But on the next play Samuel intercepted Grossman’s pass intended for Rashied Davis down the middle at the New England 37.

Samuel was in single coverage on the play with no safety help over the top.

“We had a good look for it,” Grossman said. “The guy made a great play. He jumped the route. They do a great job of pattern-reading and understand where the play is going to go.”

Trailing most of the game, the Bears rallied to tie 10-10 on Benson’s 1-yard TD run on the second play of the fourth quarter. The score was set by a 45-yard pass interference penalty that Bernard Berrian drew on safety Artrell Hawkins, resulting in a first down at the New England 3.

The TD came after Tillman intercepted his second Tom Brady pass of the game, hauling in the ball at the Chicago 44 after it deflected first off receiver Troy Brown and then off Manning.

The Patriots (8-3) responded with an 11-play, 73-yard drive capped by Brady’s 2-yard TD pass to tight end Benjamin Watson, giving New England a 17-10 lead with 8:22 remaining.

After Watson beat Manning for a 40-yard reception on third-and-three, Brady faked out Brian Urlacher in the open field on an 11-yard scramble on third-and-nine, giving the Patriots a first down at the Chicago 14.

“I thought he was going to slide,” Urlacher said. “It was a good play by him. He juked me and they ended up scoring on the drive. It was a big play. If I get him down, it’s probably fourth-and-three or fourth-and-four.”

Berrian drew another pass interference penalty, this time a 30-yarder on cornerback Ellis Hobbs that resulted in a first down at the New England 18. But on fourth-and-six from the 14, Smith sent Robbie Gould on the field to kick a 32-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 17-13 with 3:31 to play.

“I thought that was the right thing to do at the time,” Smith said. “I felt like we would get the ball back, which we did, and have an opportunity there. To win the football game, we were going to need two scores.”

Jones (23 carries for 99 yards) and Benson (10-46) combined to rush for 145 yards on 33 attempts against a Patriots defense that entered Week 12 ranked fourth overall in the NFL and second against the run, yielding an average of just 76.1 yards per game on the ground. But the Bears failed to capitalize on golden opportunities to score.

“They were a great defense, but we ran the ball and we moved the ball pretty well on them the whole game,” Grossman said. “We just didn’t finish our drives or take care of the football. That’s a bad combination.”

With the game scoreless late in the first quarter, Berrian wrestled the ball away from Samuel for a 47-yard reception to the New England 7. But on third-and-goal from the 5, Grossman fumbled the exchange from center Olin Kreutz, and defensive end Richard Seymour recovered at the 8.

“I fumbled it,” Kreutz said. “I shorted the snap and Grossman didn’t get it. I’ve got to get the ball to Grossman. Grossman’s going to take the blame, but I know what happened. I didn’t get the ball to him. That’s my job. In a situation like that I’ve got to get the ball in his hands.”

The ball seemed to be in everybody’s hands on one third-quarter play. Watson hauled in a 23-yard pass, but Briggs punched it loose at the Chicago 22. Receiver Reche Caldwell caught the ball in the air and advanced it eight yards before Manning stripped it and recovered it at the 13.

Charles Tillman's second interception of Sunday's game set up the Bears' only touchdown in a 17-13 loss to the Patriots.

The Bears advanced to the New England 29, but Grossman’s underthrown pass intended for Desmond Clark down the middle was intercepted by Samuel at the 7.

Under consistent pressure, Grossman completed 15 of 34 passes for 176 yards and a 23.7 passer rating. His favorite target was Berrian, who caught five passes for 104 yards, all in the first half.

The Bears pass rush was virtually non-existent. Chicago did not record a sack and mustered only three hits on Brady, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 269 yards and a 76.5 passer rating.

“We didn’t get good pressure,” Smith said. “They max-protected a few of the times, but we need to get more pressure on the quarterback also and make him get the ball out of his hands.”

The Patriots took a 7-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first half on Maroney’s 1-yard TD run, which capped an 11-play, 92-yard drive. Brady completed 5 of 5 passes for 68 yards on the drive.

Gould’s franchise-record streak of 26 straight field goals ended in the first quarter when his 45-yard attempt was deflected by Seymour. But the second-year pro bounced back to hit a 46-yarder, drawing the Bears to within 7-3 with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter.

Moments later, Smith called timeout an instant before rookie Stephen Gostowski’s 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. The Patriots kicker made the most of his second chance, widening the margin to 10-3 with :01 left in the first half.

Devin Hester had retreated into the end zone on the play, hoping to replicate his record return of a missed field goal two weeks ago against the Giants. But the dynamic rookie could only watch in vain as the kick sailed over his head and through the uprights.

It was that kind of day for the Bears, who lost for the first time in six road games this season.