Well, it was fun while it lasted. For the last two weeks, the Chicago Bears had their offense running like a fine-tuned engine. The ball moved down the field and it found the end zone consistently. Then, playing one of the weakest defenses in the NFL, everything reverted back to the struggling, inept offense we have seen for years. The Bears fell in frustrating fashion, 19-13.
Minnesota came in with one of the top offenses in the league. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins led the league in touchdowns. Bears quarterback Justin Fields came in scorching hot. He had 617 passing yards and 8 touchdowns in the last two games.
With both the Bears and Vikings having less-than-stellar defenses and struggling against the pass, this was billed as a shootout. Instead, we got a defensive battle. The Vikings overwhelmed Chicago's offensive line and were all over Fields. In fact, he hurt his right hand and left the game in the third quarter. Rookie Tyson Bagent came in relief and things were the same.
The Bears' defense, for its part, also came through. The defense had its best game of the year and arguably the best game in head coach Matt Eberflus' tenure as head coach. They pressured Cousins, forced turnovers, and made the Vikings work for every yard they got.
The Chicago Bears' inability to move the ball consistently had all the earmarks of their previous struggles -- too many three-and-outs, too many screens and flare passes, and not enough trust. The result was another frustrating loss.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy saw how the pressure was getting to the offensive line. Instead of adjusting to the pressure, Getsy went back to his conservative ways. He went back to calling the majority of the passes behind the line of scrimmage. That, of course, resulted in a lot of long-yardage situations.
The lack of ball movement affected DJ Moore, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He had 8 catches for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns. On Sunday, he had just 5 catches for 51 yards. That still led all Bears receivers (Darnell Mooney had 48 yards on 2 catches).
Now there is a concern about Fields' health. He suffered a thumb dislocation on his throwing hand. He popped it back in but was unable to grip the ball. The X-rays were negative but they will run an MRI on Monday to see the severity of the injury.
Let's take a look at the studs and duds of the Chicago Bears' loss to the Vikings
Stud: Velus Jones, Wide Receiver
Velus Jones has taken a lot of grief since the Chicago Bears drafted him in the third round of last year's draft. He struggled on punt returns and his lack of route-running prevents him from getting onto the field. However, when he has a good game he has to be lauded for it. He had a good game on Sunday.
Jones took the opening kickoff from five yards deep in the end zone and took it to the 32-yard line. That was an excellent 37-yard return. He did have a bobble on the next return after a Vikings field goal but it was a touchback. On his next return, he took the ball at the one and got to the Vikings' 46 for a 53-yard return. He finished the game averaging 30 yards per return. He did his best to give the Chicago Bears offense good field position.
Jones also did a pretty good job running the ball. He ran two sweeps and got 15 yards. He also added a catch for five yards.
Had the Bears won, Jones would have gotten some attention for his play. This was his best all-around performance in a Bears uniform.
Dud: Luke Getsy, Offensive Coordinator
Many people thought that the Chicago Bears were turning the corner offensively. With 922 yards and 68 points in the past two games, They thought that Getsy and FIelds were finally on the same page and things could continue to improve. That, however, did not happen on Sunday.
Fields got sacked on the first play of the game. The Vikings decided to be aggressive and blitz the Bears. It was similar to what the Washington Commanders did in the second half of last week's game. The results were similar as well.
The Bears did not handle the aggressive nature of Minnesota's defense. Minnesota defenders kept harassing Fields the entire time he was on the field. They finished the game with five sacks.
Getsy did not do anything to adjust to the Vikings' defense. In fact, it seemed that he lost trust and forgot about trying to go downfield. He reverted to the same old thing that has not worked. He kept calling screen after screen and flare passes behind the line of scrimmage. Moore had just one target in the first half.
Fields and Getsy just aren't a good fit. Sure, they will have some good games. However, there is no consistency in play-calling. Getsy does not trust Fields to make the plays. Fields is not the type of quarterback Getsy wants. He does an awful job of consistently utilizing Fields' best assets.
When Fields is on a roll, Getsy will call some good plays. Then, when something goes wrong he will revert to the stale, conservative play-calling that does not work. Something has to be done about this soon. If not, the Bears could end up with the top two picks of next year's draft.
Stud: TJ Edwards, Linebacker
As I mentioned, the Chicago Bears defense had its best performance of the season and probably the last two seasons. The unit is improving. After allowing 25 points or more in every game during their 14-game losing streak, the offense allowed just 20 last week. This week, it was 19 but seven of those came on a Minnesota fumble recovery for a touchdown. In fact, after allowing a touchdown before the end of the half, the defense did not allow any points in the second half.
A big reason for that was linebacker TJ Edwards. He was all over the field. He had eight tackles and a sack. Also, he was pressuring Cousins and forced him to make a bad throw that was intercepted by Tremaine Edmunds. He also had a fumble recovery that was reversed even though it looked like he was in bounds when he got possession of the ball.
When the Chicago Bears signed Edwards and Edmunds to man the linebackers spots they wanted to see them dominate and make big plays. That is what happened. Edwards himself gave an incredible effort and had a big game.