Instant Reactions: Bears swept by Vikings, lose eighth straight game

We’ve reached the point in the season where a two-score deficit seems insurmountable.

Caleb Williams was sacked just twice against Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy Vikings defense, but the offense failed to move the ball all night. On third downs, the Bears picked up just one on 12 tries, adding one successful fourth down on three attempts.

To add insult to injury, when the Bears finally got close to the end zone, Doug Kramer’s failure to report as an eligible receiver took a touchdown off the board for Chicago. Ain’t that a microcosm of the entire Bears’ season.

Mistakes, inconsistencies and an inability to find a rhythm – sound familiar?

While Matt Eberflus was not doing well as head coach of the Chicago Bears, things have somehow only gotten worse since his firing. Since interim head coach Thomas Brown moved down from the booth to the sideline after his elevation, the Bears offense has averaged 12.5 points per game.

Defensively, after only allowing 30 points once this year under Eberflus’ direction, the team has surrendered 38 and 30 in two games with defensive coordinator Eric Washington calling the shots.

Chicago falls to 4-10 after coming home from London and heading into the bye week at 4-2. What happened over the Atlantic?

Adam Hoge

This team failed to report eligible.

Nicholas Moreano

Every game, the Bears find a new way to embarrass themselves. Doug Kramer Jr. failing to report as eligible, which took away a D’Andre Swift touchdown, stole the show tonight. But the offense also failed to do much of anything in this Week 15 matchup. The defense struggled again to apply pressure. This team is done. A fun exercise would be to have the 2024 Bears play the 2022 Bears to see who would actually win. That’s what this year has come to.

Patrick Norton

Well, there’s always next year, right? Caleb Williams, for all his faults including his unwillingness to live a little and let the ball rip, is one tough S.O.B. If the No. 1 goal of the offseason is not to get that guy some protection and a half-decent head coach, then scrap the plan and make it the top priority. Yes, Braxton Jones was out and Kiran Amegadjie was eye-openingly bad in his first career start, but Williams and the entire offense could really benefit from some dudes and maulers on the line. It could also benefit from Keenan Allen not dipping his hands into the opposite of Stick-Em on the sidelines.

Only three weeks left of this madness is something we can tell ourselves, but the reality is we might be having this exact conversation in 365 days. Only time will tell.

Kevin Kaduk

I’m not ready to say this is the most depressing Bears season ever because lord knows there have been plenty of those the last four decades. But watching Monday’s loss to the Vikings was a particularly sobering experience and yet another reminder of how much this team has disappointed us from our preseason expectations. The worst part? There are still three games to go.

Greg Braggs Jr.

Three more to go. The only thing that matters the rest of the season is to keep Caleb Williams healthy for next season.

Get Chicago's Best Sports Content In Your Inbox!Become a smarter Chicago sports fan with the latest game recaps, analysis and exclusive content from CHGO’s writers and podcasters!

Just drop your email below!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Sign Up Now!

54726