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CHICAGO (WGN) — Injuries left their defense shorthanded before kickoff, but in classic Chicago Bears fashion, the defense could only hold the tide back for so long before the Bears played like the same old Bears in Ben Johnson’s debut as head coach.
Chicago came into the game down three key starters on defense, two of whom were in the secondary. Chicago ruled out Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and TJ Edwards—on top of Case Keenum, Roschon Johnson, Kiran Amegadjie and Shemar Turner—ahead of kickoff on Monday night.
Even with all those names on the injury report, the defense played admirably, but the offense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain—a familiar trope for Bears fans.
“I think the defense did a really good job up until the very end,” Johnson said postgame. “That fourth quarter, things got away from us a little bit, but up until then, they kept us in the ballgame.”
Here’s how the game played out.
Game Recap
The Bears’ defense set the tone, and their first offensive drive of the season went about as well as fans of the franchise could have hoped for.
Gervon Dexter Sr. sacked Nazareth Academy-alum and La Grange Park-native JJ McCarthy on third down to force a Vikings three-and-out just 2:15 into the first quarter.
When Caleb Williams and the offense took the field, the second-year QB played on time and in rhythm, on top of putting all his other intangibles on display—improvisation, arm talent, and the ability to take off on the ground.
Chicago started with a heavy dose of D’Andre Swift. The former Georgia Bulldog caught back-to-back passes out of the backfield to move the chains, before taking a toss for a 4-yard gain.
From there, Williams completed four straight passes for 40 yards in the span of six plays, before calling his own number to finish the drive on a 9-yard TD run. In total, the Bears gained 61 yards in ten plays and chewed up five minutes and 41 seconds of game clock by the time Williams crossed the goal line into the endzone.
Dayo Odeyingbo followed up Dexter with a third-down sack of his own to force a second consecutive three-and-out from the Vikings.
Aside from a defensive pass-interference call on Nahshon Wright that cost the Bears 42 yards, Chicago’s defense was lights out for most of the first half. Their only blemishes were two field goals from Will Reichard: a 31-yarder early in the second quarter and a career-long 59-yard boot just seconds before halftime.
Williams started hot throwing the ball, but after the first drive of the game, the Bears struggled to develop any momentum on the offensive side of the ball.
He completed ten straight passes to start the game—the most by a Chicago quarterback in a season opener since 1978, according to ESPN—but his 11th pass sailed wide of DJ Moore on fourth-and-3 for a turnover on downs midway through the second quarter.
After that possession, Williams only completed eight of his next 19 passes. Chicago’s next seven drives on offense went punt, field goal, punt, punt, missed field goal, punt, punt.
Williams finished his night 21/35 for 210 yards passing and one TD pass with six carries for 58 yards rushing and another TD on the ground.
“We felt like we were dominating the game and we were in control, up two scores coming out of [the] half,” Williams said postgame. “And that [aggressive] mentality is something that we have, something that we preach, and that didn’t happen today. It’s not a play call thing. It’s not anything like that. It’s just being able to go out there and execute the plays that are called, and be able to execute them at a high level.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s second half went like this: Interception, punt, punt, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, game-ending drive.
All three of those touchdowns came via the arm and legs of the aforementioned Nazareth alum in the fourth quarter.
He found Justin Jefferson for a 13-yard TD pass with 12:13 to go to bring the Vikings within five. less than three minutes later, McCarthy slung a 27-yard TD pass to Aaron Jones and followed it up with a 2-point conversion to Adam Thielen to take a 3-point lead, 20-17. A 14-yard TD run on third-and-1 with 2:53 left on the clock turned out to be the icing on Minnesota’s victory cake.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, the Bears’ loss was their fourth loss in the last four seasons when entering the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead. That’s twice as many as any other team over that span.
Had it not been for a Nahshon Wright pick-six and a Williams-to-Rome Odunze 1-yard TD pass near the two-minute warning, this game would have been a lot uglier than it was—a 27-24 loss for the Bears.
Up Next
The Chicago Bears travel to Detroit to face the Lions in Ben Johnson’s first game back at Ford Field since he left to take the Bears’ head coaching job in January 2024. Kickoff is scheduled for noon CT.
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Eli Ong
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