Welcome back to the second installment of my new series for the 2026 season, where I recap what I believe were the three reasons the Chicago Bears won or lost the previous game.
In week 2, the Bears hosted the division rival Minnesota Vikings in their home opener at soggy and sloppy Soldier Field, where the play on the field was just as abysmal as the surface itself. In a game that featured 543 combined yards, it comes as no surprise that the team with the fewest penalties and turnovers won the game.
With all that said, Chicago still had multiple chances to win but failed to do so. And here are my three reasons why.
1. Ben Johnson
Much like to the quarterback position in how it garners praise in wins and ire in losses, the head coach of the Bears finds himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons this week. Did Ben Johnson fumble the ball at the goalline to give the ball back? Of course not, but he did sub Swift in for Monangai after the latter carried the offense on his back and into scoring position with 31 yards on three consecutive carries – energizing the crowd and his teammates in so doing. Was it Ben Johnson’s fault that rookie Sam Roush dropped a would-be TD or failed to block the edge rusher on the blocked field goal? Again, no, but as offensive coordinator Ben decides who goes into the game and when. While it may sound harsh, I feel the head coach is ultimately responsible for the penalties that a team commits, especially when he is in charge of the offense and it was his offense that committed 7 of the 8 accepted penalties in the game. Did he commit the false starts by the center? No! But who’s job is it to make sure the center knows what to do? Ultimately, that is the HC. And that’s before we get into the failed chess match against Viking’s DC Brian Flores where the offense looked out of sync and simply ineffective. Oh and the last play where you had a TE blocking their best Edge 1 on 1? Not a good look with the game on the line. You gotta be better, Ben. Sunday was clearly not your best, nor was it even good.
2. Sam Roush
Before I highlight the rough play of the rookie TE, I must first point out that I was and remain a fan of Chicago drafting him as their TE3 in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft. He is an elite athlete at the position and arguably best blocking TE in his class. When he finally caught a pass, I loved seeing him shoot forward like a heat seeking missile looking to punish a few feisty Vikings. That said, he had his roughest day as a pro – hopefully ever. He was one of many Bears offensive players to commit a drive-killing penalty but he also dropped a potentially game winning TD and missed his block on both field goal attempts which ultimately led to a block and 3 points off the board.
Roush will be a critical part of our offense as we look to run 13 (1 RB, 3 TE) personnel more this season. Games like these can be the turning point in a season for young players, motivating them to put forth just a bit more effort and attention to detail throughout the week of practice that can come up in the clutch in a game of inches. And considering he’s in a room with veteran Cole Kmet and selfless stuff Colston Loveland, I expect that is exactly what we will see.
3. Run Defense
Much has been said in the aftermath of this one about the improved effort and performance of Chicago’s defense. And while holding a team to 9 points, especially with our offense, will lead to a win 99% of the time, I just can’t let the team off the hook for how they performed when it comes to stopping the run. With RB1A out this week in Jordan Mason, Aaron Jones carried the load and despite being in his age 32 season, ran like the Aaron Jones of old to the tune of 105 yards and a 4.6 yard average. His highest total in almost two years. The way he was getting 5 yards down the field before getting touched and routinely making the first defender miss was simply unacceptable. Sure, we all anticipate our offense doing a better job of putting points on the board and winning games like these. But in the Black and Blue division and in black and blue weather, the run game is what travels and what makes the difference and it proved as much this week.
