Chicago Bears Score and Recap (Week 2): Vikings 9, Bears 3 – Williams Injured in Loss
After a very promising beginning to the season for the Bears, things came crashing down to earth with a loss in the home opener against the Vikings at a rain-soaked Soldier Field Sunday. The offense bogged down in the mud, and to add injury to insult, quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a significant hamstring pull in the fourth quarter and had to be carted into the locker room.
Minnesota took the opening drive into Chicago territory and eventually settled for a 35-yard field goal by Will Reichard. The home team matched that in their first possession with a 50-yard Cairo Santos FG, that was shockingly their only points of the entire afternoon.
The defenses completely dominated from that point in the very sloppy conditions. The only score the rest of the first half was a 49-yard Reichard boot that gave the Vikes a 6-3 halftime advantage.
In a complete 180 from last week, the Bears defense kept them in the game as the offensive unit sputtered. They finally put a drive together in the fourth quarter getting down to the 6 yard line with a 1st and goal. Williams scrambled out of pressure on that play and then fell to the ground grabbing his hamstring in pain and needing help to get off the field.
Tyson Bagent came on to replace Williams and the drive stalled, resulting in a short field goal attempt by Santos that was blocked by Isaiah Rodgers. Minnesota then drove down the field and converted a third Reichard kick to go up 9-3 with about two minutes to go.
Bagent moved the ball into the red zone in the final 30 seconds but could not get Chicago into the end zone and they went down to a potentially very costly 9-3 defeat. (Box score)
Why the Bears Lost
They generated no turnovers and the offense completely ground to a halt in the bad weather conditions.
Key Moment
The Williams’ injury and the blocked field goal happened in a four play stretch in the fourth quarter. It might have a huge impact on the rest of the season.
Stats That Matter
- It was not a good day for Williams before going down. He had 138 passing yards with an interception and 42 additional yards on the ground.
- D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai had 92 combined rushing yards after topping 200 against the Panthers.
Bottom Line
Williams is getting an MRI on his hamstring Monday morning and if he has to miss significant time It’s going to be a huge problem for the Bears. He has the ability to turn plays going nowhere into huge chunks of yardage. No offense to Tyson Bagent, but he has nowhere close to that ability and it’s going to limit the offense when he’s out there. It’s just a real bummer for everyone involved.
Next Up
The Bears welcome Eagles to Soldier Field in Week 3 for Monday Night Football September 28 at 6:15pm CT televised on ABC/ESPN.
