Sunday was about as bad as it could’ve gotten for the Chicago Bears. They fell to the Minnesota Vikings 9-3, putting together a lackluster outing on offense after a stellar Week 1 performance. But most importantly, quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a non-contact injury to his right hamstring, taking him out for the rest of the game.
As of this writing, it’s still unclear how long Williams will be out. That said, his scream in pain, the fact that he needed help to get off the field, and the Bears’
carting him off, doesn’t bode well for his outlook, both in the short term and in the long run.
EDITOR: We’ll know more about the injury later today, but for what it’s worth, last night’s report was good news.
It’s tough to find optimism in how this game played out. That said, here are some of my notes from the Bears’ loss to Minnesota, breaking down both the good and the bad.
Brian Flores: mastermind
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores utterly outcoached Ben Johnson on Sunday. Flores predictably dialed up the blitz heavily, and the rain made it significantly easier for Minnesota to dial up the pressure and disrupt Chicago’s passing attack. The offensive line struggled in pass protection, and there were clearly major issues with penalties up front. Garrett Bradbury and Braxton Jones seemed to struggle in particular. The Vikings ranked No. 11 in the NFL in PFN Defense Impact Scoring in Week 1, and they’ll surely rank higher in Week 2.
It was uncharacteristic of Johnson’s offense to see such a straightforward defensive philosophy and not adjust accordingly to find a way to exploit it. That says a lot about how well the Bears’ offense has fared with Johnson as their head coach that it’s taken this long for that to happen, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be held accountable for a poor performance.
Reassuring play from rookie DBs
On the bright side, the Bears got encouraging play out of rookie defensive backs Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad. Thieneman was everywhere in run support and was flying all over the field, and Muhammad tallied the first sack of his NFL career on a nickel blitz. The All-22 will tell all, but upon first watch, both looked good in coverage.
If Williams is out for a significant amount of time, you’re not expecting the Bears to make a playoff run like they did last year. Now, the focus is on the future. Any encouraging play you can get from young players will be beneficial as Chicago aims to come back into the Super Bowl hunt in 2027. Thieneman and Muhammad were two bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season.
2026 might be a dud year
As deflating as it is to admit, if Williams is seriously hurt and will miss a significant part of the 2026 regular season, the Bears will not make the playoffs. They have a questionable defense to begin with, and their entire hopes relied upon having one of the best offenses in the NFL to remain at the top of the NFC North. With Williams injured, that very likely will not be the case.
It’s so frustrating to see the Bears’ season go up like this. I’m trying to stay optimistic and talk myself into thinking Tyson Bagent will keep this team competitive, but Williams’ physical attributes have gotten him out of so many sticky situations and allowed him to make plays most other NFL quarterbacks cannot. Bagent, respectfully, does not have those same attributes.
It’s possible Chicago’s offense will still be serviceable with him at the helm, but Sunday feels like it marked the beginning of the end for this season. Again, Williams’ severity of injury hasn’t been revealed, as of this writing. If it turns out he’ll only be out for a few weeks, it’s entirely possible they stay afloat in the meantime and could still make the playoffs. I hope I’m wrong, but it looked serious. Today’s MRIs will tell a lot about not only Williams’ outlook on the season, but the Bears’ season as a whole.
