CHICAGO – As an encore for their historic Week 1 victory, in which the offense scored 59 points, the Chicago Bears presented … epic sloppiness.
The Bears’ offensive operation, confronting rainy conditions during the first half fo the home opener against the Minnesota Vikings, was plagued by miscues that resulted in three first-half points and seven penalties for 53 yards. Center Garrett Bradbury, acquired this offseason from the New England Patriots after the sudden retirement of Drew Dalman, was the culprit four times (three holding, one false start).
Indeed, the Vikings’ defensive front of Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Levi Drake Rodriguez and Jalen Redmond all held their own against the Bears’ offensive line that paved the way for 291 yards on the ground
and six rushing touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers last week.
During one particularly brutal stretch of play near the two-minute warning in the second quarter on Sunday, the Bears reached the red zone with a Caleb Williams completion to tight end Colston Loveland. Just as it looked like middle of field was opening up for the passing attack at critical moment, that progress was called back due to an illegal shift – an example of the operational woes that head coach Ben Johnson has bemoaned since taking over in 2025.
Fans started booing when referees threw a flag for one of Bradbury’s holding offences, and Williams’ intentional grounding penalty – on a throwaway attempt that didn’t make it past the line of scrimmage – didn’t help. And neither did a false start coming out of two-minute warning.
Minnesota carried a 6-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago Bears follow historic Week 1 with disastrous half vs Vikings
