An ugly turn of events: McCarthy, Vikings rally in 4th quarter to stun Bears
Here we go again. New head coach, new offensive and defensive coordinators, new culture. Same ol’ Bears.
The offense stumbled, the kicker missed a kick he should have made, the defense collapsed, and the Bears blew a fourth-quarter lead in losing their season opener to the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 on Monday Night Football at Soldier Field. The Bears’ loss spoiled the head-coaching debut of Ben Johnson.
Three moments that mattered
1. Offense starts fast: A three-and-out series to open the season might have elicited boos so loud from the Soldier crowd that they could be heard in Arlington Heights, the Bears’ potential new home. Instead, Caleb Williams engineered a 10-play, 61-yard scoring drive that the QB capped with a 9-yard sprint to the left pylon.
2. Wright place, Wright time: Nahshon Wright, who spent last season on the Vikings’ practice squad, was called for a 42-yard pass interference penalty in the first half. The cornerback, starting in place of the injured Jaylon Johnson, more than made amends early in the second half by stepping in front of a J.J. McCarthy pass and returning it 74 yards down the sideline for a pick-six. The interception return hiked the Bears’ lead to 17-6.
3. McCarthy makes amends: McCarthy threw a go-ahead, 27-yard TD pass to Aaron Jones with 9:46 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings their first lead at 20-17. Nazareth product McCarthy, who was making his first pro start after missing his rookie season with a knee injury, improved as the game went along, unlike the Bears’ second-year QB.
Three things that worked
1. Dennis Allen’s defense, almost: Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and T.J. Edwards — three of the Bears’ best defenders — were inactive due to injury. That should have been certain trouble for new D-coordinator Dennis Allen and a unit facing arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver in Justin Jefferson. Instead, the Bears stymied McCarthy for three quarters, keeping the visitors out of the end zone until the fourth, which was an utter disaster for the Bears.
2. Negative plays limited: Williams wasn’t sacked until the fourth quarter and didn’t throw an interception. The former fact was particularly important after Williams was sacked an alarming 68 times as a rookie last season.
3. D’Andre Swift: The second-year Bears running back barely played in the preseason, and he didn’t have his best season last year, averaging a career-worst 3.8 yards per carry. With the Bears’ running back group banged up, they needed production from Swift, who delivered. He caught the ball, ran hard and was maybe the Bears’ most reliable player on offense.
Three things that didn’t
1. Discipline on offense: The Bears committed four false-start penalties — two by new right guard Jonah Jackson — in the first half. For an offense still sporting training wheels and still learning coach Ben Johnson’s schemes, pre-snap penalties are death and absolutely cannot happen.
2. QB’s decision-making: The Bears want the ball out quickly after the snap, and Williams had time to throw. Yet too often he held the ball, held the ball, held the ball. His athleticism and elusiveness helped him keep plays alive and avoid disastrous ones, but too often he looked indecisive and a lot like last year’s work-in-progress.
3. Cairo Santos: While Vikings kicker Will Reichard boomed a 59-yard field goal late in the first half, Cairo Santos squeaked in a 42-yarder and missed a 50-yarder in the fourth quarter that would have lengthened the Bears’ lead to 20-6. Every NFL team seemingly has a kicker who can rip the ball from 60 yards out. The Bears have one whose range is barely 45 yards.
What’s next?
The 0-1 Bears play the 0-1 Lions at noon Sunday at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, as Ben Johnson faces the team that he served as offensive coordinator the past three seasons.