Windy City Gridiron
For the first three quarters, it was bliss for the Bears. With a 17-6 lead, ESPN’s analytics department gave Chicago a chance to win as high as 94.2%. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to get the job done.
The Bears gave up that lead, allowing the Vikings to score 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter in a 27-17 loss at Soldier Field. The loss gives the Bears an 0-1 start to the regular season in Ben Johnson’s debut as the team’s head coach.
After a hot start offensively and a pick-six from the defense in the third quarter, things fell apart for the Bears on both sides of the ball. Here are some of the key
Things started off well enough for Chicago’s offense, as Caleb Williams didn’t throw a single incompletion and ran the ball in for an opening drive touchdown. He looked accurate, poised, and athletic going through his progressions and making the right play, whether it was with his arm or with his legs.
The Bears gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. It’s pretty hard to win a game when your defense doesn’t execute. After showing some aggression early in the game, the defense got passive late in the game retaining the lead, which was an issue that plagued them under Matt Eberflus last year, as well. While it makes to play preventive defense with a pass-heavy approach to be expected, it allowed Minnesota to pound the ball down the field on the ground. A strong Vikings rushing attack took the Bears by surprise, allowing the passing attack to open things up after that initial shell shock.
Santos missed a field goal from 50 yards out, and one of his makes was erratic, as well. The latter is more of a nitpick when he ended up hitting the kick in the end, but it’s still worrisome to see a player the Bears signed to a four-year, $16 million extension missing a kick from a distance that’s become generally routine for many NFL kickers elsewhere in the league. He was a lot more efficient from deep in 2024, but Santos has struggled with consistency from 50+ yards in the past.
In the end, Williams needed to be better. He had a handful of erratic throws, showing significant inconsistency hitting his receivers in stride down the field. Intermediate and deep accuracy proved to be an issue of his as a rookie in 2024, but he didn’t show much improvement in his first game of his sophomore season.
Ben Johnson is used to working with Jared Goff, who’s a strict pocket passer but one who is surgical with his accuracy and ball placement. The offense is expected to be different with a new roster, and it’s only Week 1 of the regular season. But the early returns were not strong for...
