Bears Somehow Lose Opener To The Vikings

By Peter Mann

As opening weekend’s go, the one just finished, Stateside, was exciting enough wasn’t it? At Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, the Monday Night Football clash saw them hosting Minnesota Vikings, in a game which would have numerous intricacies throughout. 

The Bears, they dominated on the main. Leading 10-6 at the half, and 17-6 come the end of the third quarter, as the visiting Vikings, under HC Kevin O’Connell and QB JJ McCarthy, struggled to maintain any kind of momentum.

Meanwhile Ben Johnson, in his first outing as HC of the Bears, must have thought he was in dreamland as his charges, ably led by Caleb Williams pushed all the right buttons and had their visitors on the ropes.

A 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, Williams was the first round draft pick for the Bears in 2024, and registered an impressive debut season, claiming numerous Franchise Rookie records.

Here, on this night, it would be Williams who’d get the football rolling when, following a 10-play, 61yds move, he’d spin off on a 3rd-and-6 on his left and scramble home a nine-yard, rushing score – all of this after hitting five different receivers on the Bears possession.

The second quarter was all about those FGs, the Vikings keeping themselves in the contest with a pair, and the Bears sandwiched one in between; Will Reichard kicked two for the visitors, his first from 31yds (12:48) and the second, a career best 59yds (0:06), which also tied the record for FG length at Solider Field.

In the meantime, Bears QB pulled a nice move when locked up with an attempted release, before snaking and slithering away from several Vikings tackles on a 3rd-and-10; shortly after the Bears found themselves within FG range and Cairo Santos put one through from 42yds (0:24).

Santos, despite going undrafted back in 2014, has forged a decent career for himself in the NFL over the past decade or so, primarily early stages with Kansas City Chiefs (2014-17) and then at Chicago Bears (2020-present), with spells at New York Jest, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tennessee Titans in-between, oh, and brief spell at Chicago in 2017 for added measure.

Monday Night’s loss to the Vikings was game number 87 for the placekicker; Reichard meanwhile is on his second season with the Purple, Gold and White, thirteen games in his rookie season, and was a sixth round draft pick last year from Alabama Crimson Tide.

McCarthy and the Vikings however were having no luck whatsoever and, having been 10-6 down at the halfway stage, the hosting Bears extended their advantage to eleven points after a quick, three-play, 17yds score in the third (12:51), a score that was of the Vikings, and McCarthy’s, own doing.

Going for a strong pass, the Vikings’ 2024 first round pick from the Michigan Wolverines last year could only stand and watch as his pass was intercepted perfectly by cornerback Nahshon Wright, and the former Vikings player burst for the end zone with a pick six score, on 26yds down the touchline.

With Santos kicking well for the Bears, they were certainly looking good, very good in-fact, for the win, and with Williams showing some good movement and wherewithal, the final outcome shouldn’t be too disheartening for him, and for his teammates, RB D’Andre Swift (ex-Detroit Lions), and WRs DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, all having standout games.

McCarthy though, deep in the fourth quarter and still trailing by eleven, suddenly found rhythm and turned the contest on its head in a manic, ten -minute close for the Vikings.

He first hit WR Justin Jefferson over 13yds following a 3rd-and-5 to move withing five, then, minutes later, fired them in-front following a foul from CB Tyrique Stevenson of the Bears; first he connected with RB Aaron Jones over 27yds, then, on the two-point conversion (the previous attempt failed), he connected with WR Adam Thielen.

From being eleven down heading into the fourth, the Vikings now found themselves three ahead and with less than ten remaining, and McCarthy still wasn’t done, dragging the Vikings further ahead when, with less than three minutes on the game-clock, rushed himself over 14yds to score the game-winning score.

The Bears still had time to register another score of their own, Williams connecting on the end zone with Odunze just outside of the two-minute warning but it was too little, too late, for the deflated, defeated hosts.

Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams though, they can take a lot from the game, despite the defeat, and will certainly learn from closing games out as that fourth quarter, the less said the better; as for Kevin O’Connell, JJ McCarthy and the Vikings, it’s a 1-0 start to the season that, for most of the contest, they really didn’t expect happening.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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