The Morning After…the Bears’ encouraging loss vs. Vikings in Week 5
The Chicago Bears (2-3) suffered a 29-22 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings (4-1), but there were some encouraging things to come out of the loss.
It was a tale of two halves for Chicago, who struggled mightily in the first half only to battle back from an 18-point deficit with an impressive second-half performance. That included quarterback Justin Fields’ development, and there’s no denying he took a step forward in the loss.
The one thing that must stop? The Bears fumbling away their chances at victory.
There was plenty to break down following Chicago’s loss against Minnesota. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their thoughts following the Week 5 game.
The Bears’ Week 5 loss vs. Vikings
Alyssa Barbieri
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
I know it was a loss, but I actually came away from this game feeling optimistic about the future. Well, not the immediate future. But the future for quarterback Justin Fields, who had his best game of the season. Fields completed 71 percent of his passes for 208 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions and a 118.8 passer rating. But, most importantly, he took a step forward in his development.
This season isn’t about winning for the Bears; it’s about development. And the most important development happened with Fields. It wasn’t an otherworldly performance. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t going to be with that supporting cast. But Fields take a big step forward in this game as he looked confident, comfortable and poised, carrying the team on his back as the leading passer and rusher. We’ve still got a long season to go — including a short turnaround this week — but, for once, I don’t feel like this game was a detriment to Fields’ development. And that has me feeling pretty damn good.
Elsewhere, the Bears continue to prove that they’re a second-half team, which is the exact opposite of the team under Matt Nagy. Of course you’d like Chicago to play an entire game of football, but it was nice to see the Bears continue to battle despite being down 21-3 in the first half. That’s what this team does under Matt Eberflus, they fight. In fact, they never stop fighting.
Now, we’ll see if Chicago can respond with a victory heading into a short week against the Commanders on Thursday Night Football. Because there are plenty of things to clean up. But there’s also plenty of things to build upon.
Ryan Fedrau
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The Bears looked better in the second half, but couldn’t do enough to get their third win of the season. Justin Fields looked solid in the second half, going 12-for-13. I was impressed with how well the offense played after falling down 21-3.
It’s all up to Fields. If he can build off of the second half, this team will be competitive. They’re going in the right direction.
Brendan Sugrue
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Due to some unique circumstances this week, I felt like I watched two separate games between the first half and the second half of Bears and Vikings. Watching the first half in real time at a bar just outside Dayton, OH (shout out to Capri Lanes for such incredible hospitality as the unofficial Chicago Bears bar of Dayton), it felt like the beginning of a blowout that we haven’t seen since the Marc Trestman days.
The defense couldn’t force any sort of negative plays and Kirk Cousins looked like Tom Brady in his prime. Even a late score on offense to make it 21-10 couldn’t lift my spirits, despite a beautiful connection from Justin Fields to Darnell Mooney. At the end of two quarters, I deparated to drive over six hours home, knowing the Bears mounted a comeback that nearly resulted in a win, but not being able to see or hear it.
Finally watching the second half hours later, I saw an offense that built on that late first half score and a defense that firmed up its play after looking abysmal early on. Fields and the offense looked so much more confident, and it feels like the coaching staff finally took off the training wheels. They were more aggressive in their play calls, as well as game situations such as the surprise onside kick in the third quarter. It was as if a light bulb came on that told Matt Eberflus they needed to push the envelope to have a chance in this game. It was also encouraging to see more progress from Kyler Gordon and Kindle Vildor, both of whom had game-changing plays that gave the Bears a chance.
The fumble by Ihmir Smith-Marsette will be the major talking point and it’s understandable. The Bears were on their way to scoring for a chance to tie or win. With just one timeout and a minute to go, you want to give yourself as many chances to move the ball forward. That includes stepping out of bounds when you’re surrounded by defenders while already clearing the first down marker. It’s unfortunate, but I’m still happy to see progress being made. Fields says this is the most comfortable he’s felt this year and it shows. Let’s see it carry over on Thursday against a terrible Washington Commanders team.
