ClutchPoints
Many factors contributed to the Chicago Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but several fans are quick to point toward a controversial holding penalty on right tackle Darnell Wright as a turning point that led to the comeback.
The Bears were deep in Vikings’ territory with a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter when the penalty occurred and knocked them out of the red zone. An ensuing intentional grounding call on Caleb Williams led to a missed 50-yard field goal, after which Chicago got outscored 21-7 and lost the game.
The penalty drew ire from fans, particularly after FOX Sports analyst Geoff Schwartz called attention to it following the game.
Yo NFL. We have to do better on this snatch trap/splash “holding” calls. It’s just not holding. This is one of the cleaner splash technique executions. If you don’t see the entire block you shouldn’t flag the end result. It’s bad. Please stop. pic.twitter.com/GuhihTgH3f
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 9, 2025
Many Bears fans, who were already upset with the result, were irate after watching Schwartz’s video. Most recognized that Chicago still blew several opportunities that led to the loss, but could not fathom how Wright’s “penalty” was called and forced the team to attempt a longer field goal.
“The ref needs to be disciplined!” one fan commented. “Bears were about to go up 20 or 24 to 6. The biggest play of the game.”
“They need to add replay assist to more (sigh, all…) calls,” another fan wrote. “The game is so fast, the crew has so much to look at, they just cannot be expected to see everything properly.”
Another analyst reacted to how impactful the penalty truly was. The holding call was a part of the sequence that “swung” the game, according to Bears analyst Adam Hoge.
“Bears would have been deep in the red zone with a 17-6 lead if this wasn’t called,” Hoge tweeted. “Instead, they miss a 50-yard field goal. Gotta make the FG (and can’t have the intentional grounding) but the game swung on this sequence.”
Had the penalty not been called, the Bears would have likely taken a commanding three-score lead. However, they still missed several opportunities to put it away.
After executing a near-flawless opening drive, Chicago only scored a touchdown on one of its ensuing 12 drives the rest of the game. Of the Bears’ 317 yards of total offense in the game, nearly half of them came on their two touchdown drives.
Meanwhile, the Vikings scored three consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter, during which the Bears amassed just eight plays for -1 total yards. The game ended with frustrated fans booing the team off the field.
The post Bears fans livid over phantom holding call that ‘swung’ game vs. Vikings appeared first on ClutchPoints.
