After putting up 31 points in the first half against the Carolina Panthers in the season opener, the Chicago Bears only managed to put up three points in an ugly first half against the Minnesota Vikings.
Penalties were a problem for the Bears in their season opener with 12 penalties for 57 yards. In the first half against Minnesota, they almost had more penalty yards with seven penalties for 53 yards. Four of those penalties were on one drive and center Garrett Bradbury had four penalties called against him with three of them enforced.
A rough first half for Bears center Garrett Bradbury.
— Matt Zahn (@mattzahnsports) September 20, 2026
He's had four penalties called against him (3 enforced).
The Bears have 7 penalties for 53 yards as a team.
This is about as ugly of a first half as you could
imagine. Chicago’s drive with four offensive penalties was particularly ugly. These are all unforced errors and the penalties took the Bears out of field goal range. They were down to the 30 yard line before an illegal shift was called on rookie tight end Sam Roush to negate tight end Colston Loveland’s first catch of the season.
This was followed by a holding call on Bradbury. Then quarterback Caleb Williams was called for intentional grounding. Then, on third and 24, Bradbury was called for a false start to force Chicago into a third and 29 practically from midfield.
The weather certainly does not help anything, but rain is no excuse for how the Bears came out in this half. Despite how bad they have looked on offense, Chicago is still very much in this game. Minnesota’s offense has not looked stellar either and they only have six points. The Vikings also elected to receive at the beginning of the game, so the Bears received the second half kickoff which gives them a chance to flip the narrative and take the lead for the first time in this game.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Penalties plague Bears in first half against Vikings in Week 2
