3 and Out: Bears Comeback Falls Short in Minnesota
Bears lose second in a row, face quick turnaround with Thursday Night Football
Close but not quite enough.
The Chicago Bears nearly completed a notable comeback in Sunday's 29-22 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis.
In spite of a second half that they almost completely dominated, the 21-3 hole that the Bears initially got into was too much to dig out of. It was also the primary reason why the team is now 2-3 and suffering from a two-game losing stream ahead of their Thursday night battle against the 1-4 Washington Commanders, who come to Chicago for the first game at Soldier Field since Week 3.
Clawing Their Way Back
It felt like Kirk Cousins was never going to miss for a while there. After completing his first 17 passes in a row, the veteran play caller completed his first half going 22-for-26 passing with 217 yards.
That translated to the Vikings holding an near three score lead at one point. The Bears scratched back with some big plays near the end of the second quarter, including Darnell Mooney’s ridiculous one-handed, 39-yard reception that hit the top of highlight reels for the week.
In the 2nd half, Justin Fields led the Bears to 19 unanswered points in arguably his most impressive half of football as a professional.
After taking a slight 22-21 lead, the Bears yielded a back-breaking drive to the Vikings, who finished the game’s scoring with a touchdown and a two-point conversion capping off a seven-minute drive in the fourth quarter.
With 2:26 to go in the game, though, Fields and the Bears looked like they had a good shot of responding with a score as they marched downfield. With the clock winding down, Fields found Ihmir Smith-Marsette along the sideline. Unfortunately, just seconds after making the catch, Smith-Marsette was stripped of the ball by former teammate Cameron Dantzler and the Vikings were able to celebrate as they wound down the clock.
Small Victories
The Bears’ play so far this season can be best described as a mixed bag. That didn’t change against the Vikings, but in this loss the positives that can be taken away, particularly with the offense, seem a bit more real.
Fields had his best performance of the young season, throwing for 208 yards on 15-of-21 passing. There may be something about the Minnesota match-up for Fields, who has had the two best starts of his career against them (see Week 15 of last season for previous proof).
One thing is for sure, Fields is feeling a lot more comfortable.
“I think when I first got here you see big guys flying around D-line going fast like you just think you have to speed everything up,” said Fields at Wednesday’s press conference.
“But I’m just starting to figure out like you just got to play within your own rhythm and you know the way you know how to play and just stay calm in the pocket.”
His progress has not gone unnoticed by his teammates. Running back David Montgomery was asked about Fields on Wednesday.
“Justin is doing an incredible job being leader but being a quarterback and just picking this thing up. He's getting really good,” Montgomery said.
Now the young quarterback has another great opportunity to make a statement on the national stage.
TNF Preview: Bright Lights
The Bears now host the Washington Commanders on Thursday night to open Week 6 in what will be the first of back-to-back prime-time games (a Monday Night clash against New England follows to end Week 7).
Washington is a team that has had its own issues, they enter this match-up losing four of their first five contests. The Commanders are the odd man out in an impressive NFC East, which features three other teams with at least 4-1 records.
On Sunday they came close to a victory against the Titans, but quarterback Carson Wentz fouled up an otherwise fine day (359 yards on 25-of-38 passing) with a final throw was intercepted right on the goal line.
Unfortunately for Wentz such back-breaking mistakes have been a common occurrence, he has the second most interceptions (6) in the league this season.
To make matters worse, controversy between Commanders head coach Ron Rivera and Wentz has arisen in DC. Rivera, the former Bear player and defensive coordinator, appeared to be critical of his sign caller in a press conference last week when asked about why they are so behind the pack in the division.
Rivera said this week that he and Wentz spoke and have cleared the air.
As for the Bears’ game plan, after a hot start, the team’s run game has been quiet the last couple of weeks and defensively it remains deceptive to powerful opposing runners. Meanwhile, the Commanders handle the run well — they kept one of the NFL’s true stud ball carriers, the Titans’ Derrick Henry, to 3.6 yards per carry on Sunday.
Given Washington’s strength, the Bears may be forced to focus on the passing game much like it did in trying to come from behind against Minnesota. Fields momentum from his last game could carry over right away in this short week of play.
Defensively, Roquan Smith knows he and that Bears unit has to do better after Sunday's loss.
“(Kirk) made a lot of plays in the first half. But I'm over that. We’re over that,” Smith said on Wednesday.
“We’ve moved on so, just focused on you know learning from those mistakes but just focused on Washington this week. Great opportunity you know, live, national TV, the only game on. So, let's do it.”
Kick-off between the Bears and Commanders is set for tonight at 7:15 pm.
Bear Tracks
Cornerback Jaylen Johnson is expected to make his return on Thursday after missing the last four games with a quad injury.
Wide Reciever N’Keal Harry is expected to make his Bears debut following an IR stint stemming from an ankle injury he suffered in training camp.
Head coach Matt Eberflus named Darnell Mooney as this week's honorary captain.
TV: Prime Video (FOX 32 in Chicago)
Radio: WBBM Newsradio 780 AM and 105.9 FM
Spanish Radio: TUDN 1200 AM and Latino Mix 93.5 FM
Weather: 48 degrees, mostly cloudy
Saul Rodriguez is WARR Media’s associate producer and lead Bears reporter