CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears officially entered a new era on Monday night. Ben Johnson's first game as head coach for the Bears was a national spotlight event, as they hosted the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field for a Monday Night Football clash.
The stakes were clear. Johnson was brought in to rectify the direction of the franchise following Matt Eberflus' rocky collapse. He was also brought in to coach and elevate prized second-year QB Caleb Williams. The architect of one of the league's best offenses for three years was asked to bring and make his magic in Chicago.
The first game of the era was against a divisional rival with their own QB intrigue. JJ McCarthy -- a Chicago kid and childhood Bears fan -- made his first career start in his hometown, albeit for another team. For the Vikings, it was also the start of a new era.
Starting off on the right foot would be huge for both teams as they start to write the narratives of their new faces of the franchise.
In the end, the Bears melted down in the second half and never got out of their own way, blowing an awful game in a manner that we've seen all too often. Disappointing, sad debut for Ben Johnson.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on X @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (PREGAME) -- Hoo boy. No Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, or TJ Edwards in this game. If you wanted a challenge to start the season, you got one. The worst part was the Bears didn't elevate a DB before the game, which meant there must've been optimism that they'd be OK. My guess is the pregame warmups, coupled with the leaked reports of the actual field turf being brutal, led to them to err on the side of caution. Still, the defense came into the game quite handicapped.
2. About as perfect a start as you could want for the Bears. They won the toss and deferred to the second half to put McCarthy in the spotlight right away. And a great pass rush on third down (Dayo Odeyingbo with a great job collapsing the pocket) let Gervon Dexter and Tremaine Edmunds sack McCarthy to end the Vikings' first drive.
A great punt return set the Bears up at their own 49. And then Caleb Williams drove the Bears methodically down the field -- relying on the running backs (D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai) to move the ball. A great third down conversion (total missile from Caleb to Rome Odunze) kept the drive alive. And Williams finished it off with a touchdown run in the red zone to put the Bears up 7-0.
Presnap, things looked good. Pass protection was pretty good. And Caleb took what was the defense gave him and moved down the field. It was a great start.
Not to be outdone - Odeyingbo brought the pressure again on the Vikings' next third down that led to another sack. Bears' big ticket free agent acquisition starting off well.
3. Things starting to turn a little bit. Vikings' defensive front is getting good pressure and penetration - Williams has just erased it so far. But he turned down an open hole shot against a cloud coverage to DJ Moore that eventually led to a punt. Those are the kinds of things he needs to act on with conviction to take the next step. He was looking at it.
Nahshon Wright is going to have to work on getting his head around when in coverage... a gross 42-yard DPI call on an underthrown pickable ball led to an eventual field goal. He's a backup for a reason. But those are costly plays. He was in coverage on Aaron Jones.
4. Good for Ben Johnson to go for it on 4th and 3 near the red zone. After a run on 3rd and 11 gained eight (which included 2 false starts)... Johnson burned a timeout to go for it. He dialed up and open DJ Moore and Caleb missed him by a mile. Should've been a completion and extended drive, and instead was almost picked because it was so far off.
They need to hit these plays as the season goes on.
5. D'Andre Swift has really struggled after a hot start. He's missed several openings on the LOS and - as a result - the Bears' running game has suffered. It's allowed the Vikings' front to tee off. They need more from this unit in the second half. Maybe Monangai will get some carries to take advantage of his vision.
6. Oh man, that's not a good ending to the first half. After a field goal put the Bears up 10-3 with :19 left, McCarthy hit a crossing route to Jalen Nailor to set the Vikings up in field goal range. And then Will Reichard hit a 59-yard field goal to make it 10-6, Chicago. Honestly, that throw will probably give McCarthy significant confidence after a rough half, and that's a momentum buster. A win for the Vikings after the Bears have largely outplayed them.
Chicago needs points on the opening possession of 2H.
<HALFTIME>
7. Well, you'll take 'em any way you can get 'em! Caleb and the offense had a disaster first drive out of the half -- firing 3 incomplete passes (two really bad misses) to punt it away.
After a phantom roughing call gave the Vikings good field position in Bears territory, Nahshon Wright stepped in front of JJ McCarthy's pass to the sideline, snatched it, and galloped 74 yards to the house. A beautiful game-changing play when they absolutely needed it. Just like Tyrique Stevenson's last year against Will Levis.
On the Vikings' ensuing drive, a sack on McCarthy and a delay of game (thanks to a RAUCOUS crowd) led to another punt. With Chicago up 17-6, a nice drive here would be a great way to support that defense.
(Narrator: they tried... and then failed. At least they flipped the field.)
8. Man, oh man. This game has taken a terrible game for the worse. After what seemed like would be a killshot drive, a phantom hold on Darnell Wright and a bad intentional grounding where Caleb tripped on the turf turned a promising TD drive into a long FG attempt -- one that Cairo Santos missed wide right. He'd barely snuck in his other kicks, so that one sailing wasn't too big of a surprise.
And the Vikings immediately took a short field for a touchdown to make it 17-12, Bears. Just a brutal turn of events.
Caleb hasn't looked good since the first drive and the Vikings' offense has now technically outscored the Bears' offense... not a good sign.
9. Nightmare. Another three and out where Caleb got sacked and almost threw a pick-six on a screen to Andrew van Ginkel, and a huge return set the Vikings up in Bears territory.
And then JJ McCarthy took advantage of a bad DPI call to hit Aaron Jones for a deep touchdown to put MIN up 20-17 after the 2-pointer.
The Bears have truly been hosed on some bad calls tonight. But the offense hasn't done its part overall, and they're where they deserve to be.
10. Another implosion on an offensive series and the Bears officially have a Caleb Williams problem. He's shaky, missing throws, and just overall looking nothing like an upgraded QB we hoped to see.
Lots of penalties, injuries, and work to do. It was worse than anyone imagined, and I don't know how Caleb and Johnson both are able to sleep this week.
11. I'll just leave this here:
12. Bears go to a desperate Ford Field next week to take on Ben Johnson's old team. A very different feel than what most fans were expecting going into this game. Both teams looked bad in Week 1. The winner of this game saves their season. But with how sloppy the Bears looked at home, why will it be better on the road?
Early prediction: Lions 23, Bears 17
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