The Morning After...the Bears' gut wrenching Week 2 loss vs. Vikings - Bears Wire
The Chicago Bears had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in their Week 2 showing against the Minnesota Vikings, where they mustered just three points in an NFC North loss while also losing their star quarterback to injury.
The last two weeks felt like two completely different seasons. Chicago went from scoring 59 points against a good Carolina Panthers defense to shooting themselves in the foot and mustering a single field goal all game, and that came on their opening possession. They committed eight penalties for 58 yards, which somehow felt much worse than the numbers indicate. To really drive the knife home, the Bears lost Caleb Williams to a hamstring injury that looked devastating in the moment, in the fourth quarter.
There's plenty to discuss from this game, including Williams' injury and the implications, the defense's bounce-back and how head coach Ben Johnson responds after his awful showing. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their thoughts on Chicago's Week 2 loss vs. Minnesota.
As a Bears fan, I've been conditioned to deal with some of the most gut-wrenching moments and games, and that continued into Year 25 during a time when this stuff wasn't supposed to be happening anymore. With Ben Johnson leading the charge, there weren't supposed to be glimpses at sloppy, offensive showings with the team shooting themselves in the foot and blowing multiple opportunities to win a key divisional game. In fact, there were a couple times where I got deja vu from failed coaches past. It was an abysmal overall game -- and I haven't even discussed losing quarterback Caleb Williams to a hamstring injury yet.
Overall, this was a sloppy, putrid showing from the offense while the defense was able to bounce back, with an assist from the rainy weather that set the tone for the day. But, let's be honest, the only thing that any Bears fan cared about after this game was the status of Williams -- Week 2 loss be damned. In the moment, it felt like the world ended. Williams' reaction -- which now appears to be out of fear of the severity of the injury -- made my blood run cold. Watching him get helped off the field by trainers was reminiscent of Gale Sayers getting carried off the field (although that one I thankfully didn't witness live). Watching Caleb emotional on the cart and giving the Soldier Fields crowd a thumbs up made my body numb. In my eyes, the season was over after just two weeks. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be a severe injury, although there's still a long way to go before anyone feels comfortable about Williams' status this season.
As for the game, Week 2 is starting to look cursed. The Bears' most brutal losses (2026 season, to be continued) seem to happen in the second game, and it seemed like everything bad happened all at once. Even before Williams' injury this was an abysmal showing. The offense went from scoring 59 points to just three points -- on their opening drive, no less -- and they were outplayed and outcoached in arguably Ben Johnson's worst game. Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze continue to be non-factors, and Sam Roush is getting way too many looks for a rookie who's had a rough showing through these first two games.
The Bears had several opportunities to win this game, but like Bears teams of the past, they found ways to give it to their opponent. Whether it was penalties or drops or other miscues or D'Andre Swift fumbling on the 1-yard line, Chicago gave away multiple chances to win a game where their defense didn't allow a touchdown. The good news is, it can't possibly get worse than this, right?
Sunday’s Bears game made me feel physically ill. Forget the putrid offensive showing that we thought would never come back with Ben Johnson in charge, the injury to Caleb Williams is all that matters at this point. That sequence of Williams going into the medical tent and carted into the locker room filled me with a sense of hopelessness and dread that I haven’t experienced in a while. It’s tough believing the season could be done in the middle of September. But if the preliminary reports are true that the injury isn’t as bad as initially thought, then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. This team only goes as far as No. 18 takes them.
As for the game, Johnson was outmatched by both the opposing coaching staff and the weather conditions. He seemed ill-prepared for what was coming in the forecast, and his offense couldn’t stand up to Brian Flores’ defense, something we’re not used to seeing. Couple that with some of the personnel decisions he made, and this was a downright stinker for the second-year coach. At least the defense tightened up and kept the Vikings in single digits, too. Especially after allowing 37 points a week earlier.
There was so much that went wrong on Sunday. The constant penalties, the lackluster line play, poorly timed turnovers, bad drops—you name it. These games happen, but they can’t happen against a divisional opponent early in the season like this. The Bears need to regroup and rally behind Tyson Bagent before taking on the Philadelphia Eagles next Monday night to avoid falling under .500. No pressure.
This feels like the worst loss in a very long time. This is by pure definition an insult to injury with Caleb Williams going down and even before that the offense being a complete shell of themselves while Brian Flores once again got the upper hand. Chicago’s gonna have to figure out a way to get right quickly, as the Eagles will be out for their revenge game on Monday night, no matter who is in that quarterback.
I’m not ready to wipe the season as a complete loss, no matter how long Williams is out for, but here’s where we find out just how good of a coach Ben Johnson is. The only way to bounce back from a loss like the one suffered to the Vikings on Sunday, is to quickly turn the page and focus next week on the task at hand.
One week after an all time great offensive performance and lackluster defensive performance, things flipped on a dime for the Chicago Bears. In Week 2, things couldn’t have gotten any worse on offense, while the defense only allowed 3 field goals for 9 points. The rain played a role in neither team finding the end zone, but it can’t be the only thing to blame.
Carson Wentz, playing in place of the injured Kyler Murray, did what he needed to do behind a great defensive performance for his team to escape Chicago with a win. It was a major letdown for the Bears, who are now looking up at the first place Minnesota Vikings.
Caleb Williams left the game with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. It looked worse than that on the field, but the initial reports make it sound like the Bears dodged a major issue. Tyson Bagent may have to go for a few weeks, but an MRI will reveal more on Monday.
For now, all of Chicago will hold its breath. It was a sloppy dark day for the franchise, which is a shame because of the good will that they’ve built up, but brighter days could still be ahead.
When Caleb Williams initially went down and had to be carted off the field, I thought his season was over. Based on the initial reports and the photos that emerged of him walking under his own power after the game, it does not seem like Williams is going to be out the entire season but not knowing the severity of his hamstring injury is still concerning for the future of the season.
Turning to the game, I was physically ill watching this game before Williams went down. The offense was terrible in every way imaginable. D’Andre Swift’s fumble was gut-wrenching and the blocked field goal was awful. While the weather did not do Chicago any favors, the Bears certainly found every way possible to secure the victory for Minnesota.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with this game - why was Sam Roush in so much? He is a rookie against a Brian Flores defense. So many of the mistakes in this game had something to do with Roush and he was also the one who was responsible for blocking Isaiah Rodgers on the blocked field goal; Roush never even got out of his stance. I would like to see him on the bench for Monday’s game against the Eagles.
It was not all bad as the defense looked much better. Rookie safety Dillon Thieneman had another solid game and rookie corner Malik Muhammad recorded his first sack. James Lynch had a good game. Jordan van den Berg even had a solo tackle. So, it is not all doom and gloom and I doubt the Bears could look much worse than they did on Sunday (they better not).
After a Week 1 performance which looked like the inverse of almost every game every Bears fan, of any age, has ever watched, the team decided to give us something much more familiar in Week 2. Putrid offensive play against a quality defense, with the latter unable to do enough to seal a win despite not allowing a touchdown. There would be something almost comforting about it if I hadn’t actually watched those 60 minutes play out.
Ben Johnson had circles coached around him by Brian Flores. The weather obviously didn’t help, but there was not a point at which the Bears looked prepared for Flores’ aggression on the defensive side. Conditions notwithstanding, it was overly conservative in a way that we haven’t really seen from Johnson. Play action? Not today (yesterday, as it were). Garrett Bradbury committing five penalties should have him stapled to the bench while Sam Rousch’s astounding combination of dropped passes, penalties, and failure to move even an inch on the blocked field goal should have him sitting alongside the veteran. The Caleb Williams of it all is, of course, the most concerning. He’s able to compensate for so many of the shortcomings they possess, and while Tyson Bagent can help them to tread water for however many weeks his services as a no. 1 will be required, there is no evidence he can pull a win from the jaws of defeat in a way that has become Williams’ signature.
Ultimately, as good as Bears fans might have been feeling after Week 1, their second game has left just about everyone on the completely opposite end of the spectrum. There won’t be much nuance to the discussion, and there probably shouldn’t be. Philadelphia hasn’t looked great yet, but a primetime game against an NFC contender isn’t something that’s going to lend itself to much optimism on the Bears’ side of things after what we saw on Sunday.
