There was a lot of good for the Chicago Bears in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, but there was a lot of bad in the Bears’ 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a hamstring injury, the Bears never scored a touchdown and they turned the ball over twice without generating any takeaways.
Chicago’s run game had a rough go of things. Running back D’Andre Swift finished the game averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, his second-lowest ever in a game with at least 16 carries. Swift also had a costly fumble when the Bears were one yard away from scoring a touchdown that would have otherwise given them the lead.
Here is a look at the good, bad and ugly from Chicago’s first loss of the season to the Vikings:
The Good
This should be the worst loss of the season: I am genuinely not sure what happened to the Bears in this game. They looked like the Matt Eberflus Bears with sloppy penalties, especially in the first half, and a turnover in each half. The fumble was terrible and the blocked field goal was devastating. Chicago had 297 yards, their most yards in a game where they scored under 10 points since October of 2022. Odds are this will actually be their worst loss of the season and it was pretty bad.
Containing Justin Jefferson: Jefferson has a tendency to do well against the Bears. In the first 10 times he faced the Bears, he had at least 50 receiving yards and/or a touchdown in seven of those games. His three receptions against Chicago is also the second-fewest he has ever had against the Bears. In a game where not a lot went right for Chicago, at least they were able to contain Minnesota’s biggest playmaker.
James Lynch: Shoutout to James Lynch, who has bounced around the NFL since 2020 and actually used to play for the Vikings from 2020 to 2022. Lynch fought his way onto Chicago’s roster and had a solid performance in this game with seven total tackles including two solo tackles. The Bears need underdogs who can rise to the occasion and Lynch was that player for Chicago today even though they ultimately lost the game.
The Bad
D’Andre Swift: He had 99 scrimmage yards in this game, which is not that bad. However, the bad thing he did was fumble the football. Chicago easily could have won this game if the Bears got into the end zone on that drive. It was really that play that sealed Chicago’s fate even before Tyson Bagent came into the game. The weather conditions probably contributed to that fumble, especially because he had not lost a fumble since November of last season. Still, that is an inexcusable play from a veteran who just received a large contract.
Luther Burden’s production: I could single out any of the Bears receivers for their performance. Tight end Colston Loveland only had one catch for three yards while fellow tight end Cole Kmet never caught a pass. Rome Odunze only had three receptions; I really cannot complain about Kalif Raymond who caught all five of his targets. But, Burden was targeted the most out of any of Chicago’s receivers. Yet, he finished the game with just three receptions for 32 yards and all of those receptions were on the final drive of the game. He was supposed to step up as a top receiver for the Bears and he did not do that in this game.
The Ugly
Field goal protection: Chicago’s only points of the game were on one field goal. That was nearly blocked by Isaiah Rodgers, but he blocked the second one. The issues in protection should have been addressed after the first field goal, especially when Rodgers was about a millimeter from blocking it and the fact that it was not addressed came back and bit them in the fourth quarter.
Sam Roush: Who was supposed to block Isaiah Rodgers on the blocked field goal? Sam Roush was. Who had an illegal shift to negate a 14-yard catch by Loveland that would have set Chicago up inside the red zone? Roush did. Who only caught 33.3 percent of his targets? Sam Roush. This was about as poor of a showing as a player could have and it was in a game the Bears could not afford to have this kind of performance. In my estimation, Roush ultimately cost them the game. Maybe he should stay on the bench next week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Caleb Williams' injury: There was a lot of bad in this game, but the biggest loss was quarterback Caleb Williams going down with a hamstring injury. The good news is Williams appears to have suffered a major injury, per Tom Pelissero, where they haven't even ruled him out for next Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. But, in the moment, it was the ugliest moment of the game.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs Vikings: Good, bad and ugly after Bears loss 9-3 to Vikings
