Three Takeaways from Bears' collapse against Vikings

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 7 hours ago

You want to talk about an absolute gut punch? Look no further than the Chicago Bears' heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Vikings, 27-24, on Monday night. This was a game where the Bears seemed to be in control for three quarters, holding the Vikings to just 56 yards passing and barely 100 yards in total for those quarters, while maintaining a 17-6 lead.

However, as you all know, football is a four-quarter game, and after the Bears missed a field goal to open the fourth, the door was left open for the Vikings to kick it open, and they did more than that as they broke the door down with a massive 21-point fourth quarter that put the Vikings on top for good. They would go on to win 27-24, spoiling Ben Johnson's NFL debut, as this was another one of those games that the Bears let get away.

In a season of hope, some things never change, and one of the things that hasn't changed is the Bears' inability to put teams away when they need to. That happens when a team struggles to win games for a long time, and the Bears are a team still trying to find ways to win football games. Here are some takeaways from another heartbreaking divisional loss.

The injuries proved to be too much

As good as the Bears' defense was most of the game, you could see them wearing down late in the game, especially in the fourth. Despite Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon missing from the secondary room, Dennis Allen drew up an incredible game plan that had JJ McCarthy flustered for 45 minutes and had the Vikings offense seeing double.

Once the Vikings figured out how to give McCarthy the time he needed to make the basic throws, the rest was history, as the loss of Johnson and Gordon was evident in the fourth quarter. Even with Justin Jefferson being held to 44 yards on four catches, three of those catches came in the second half as Minnesota started to find ways to get him open.

That may not happen if Johnson and Gordon were in the game, but every team deals with injuries, and it is up to them to make the adjustments needed. Things won't get any easier for Chicago next week as they hit the road to take on Johnson's former team in Detroit, as the Bears aim to be healthy going into week 2.

More of the same from Williams

Everyone knew that the Johnson/Williams pairing had the potential to be special, but it would also take time to reach that level. If Monday showed us anything, the potential for Williams to thrive in this system is there, but until he gets out of his own way, Chicago will never reach their full potential as an offense.

As is the case in virtually all 18 of his career starts, you have the good Williams and the bad Williams, as consistency continues to be an issue for the second-year man. The good: Williams started the game 10-10 passing while rushing for a team-high 58 yards, as Johnson did a great job letting him play to his strengths most of the night.

The bad was his overall inconsistency under center, as he went just 11-25 after that fast start, with many of his misses not even coming close. That is something that has plagued him during his career thus far, as Williams has a tendency to miss his targets frequently, and you saw that at times again in this one. He needs not only to develop a better deep ball with better touch, but also to be consistent from start to finish; otherwise, these are the performances you could expect week in and week out.

Rookie mistakes

As well respected as Johnson is as a coach, this is his first time being a head coach in the NFL, and with that comes the learning curve going from a coordinator to a head coach. Facing off against one of the best coaches in the game, Kevin O'Connell, there were several times when Johnson was exposed, as he showed why he is a rookie head coach.

Some of the play calls during the second half were questionable. Challenging a non-fumble on TJ Hockenson was costly down the stretch, as it cost the Bears a timeout, and just the lack of knowledge on how to coach a team late in the game came to bite Johnson in the butt. He was clearly outcoached by O'Connell when it mattered, and that shouldn't surprise anyone, as it will take Johnson a little while to settle in as a coach. Expect better days from him as the season progresses, as each week will serve as a learning experience.