Bears and Vikings In-Game Analysis

Fourth Quarter

Final Score Vikings 19, Bears 13
Justin Jones with a TFL at the 45 but clock will run to 49 seconds before next Vikings play.
Bears use last time out after a 2-yard run to Bears 42.
Big second-down run by Mattison for the first down. Should let the Vikings kill the clock off. An 8-yard run. Bears defense can't let that happen at this point in the game.

Too bad for the rookie. He had them 35 yards from going ahead or winning and tried to go deep and got burned. Murphy actually fumbled it on the return but the Vikings got it back. Moore knocked it out but Murphy recovered. It looked like he was down beforehand but the officials did rule it a fumble and with the return the Vikings are at their own 45. TWO-MINUTE- WARNING!!!

1:51

Bagent underthrew Moore for an interception by Byron Murphy Jr. Moore had gotten way behind Murphy, too, but Bagent threw it short like he thought back-shoulder or 50-50.
Short pass to Moore and he's dancing too much or he could have had the first down. Third-and-4 at the 42. Bagent calmly stands in pocket and drills it to Tyler Scott near the sideline at the 35 for 7 yards and a first down.
Foreman bursts up the middle and then Bagent runs around left end to Vikings 46.
Bagent eludes the rush and finds Scott for 5 yards on a pass he had no right completing. Threw it 20 yards across field against the rush for 5 yard.

Big third-and-4 play. Foreman explodes through the hole off left guard behind Teven Jenkins for 6 to the 36.

6:35

Another good punt, 48 yards and OB.
They play way to soft in zone coverage and let the Vikings out of the hole with a 13-yarder over the middle but it means a punt coming.
At their 15 now, and the defense is swarming with the crowd getting louder, Cousins throws incomplete over the middle. It's third-and-20
Heavy pressure on a blitz and Vikings have the perfect call but not enough time to execute it. Cousins is called for intentional grounding when he throws it out to nowhere.

7:46

Vikings start at their 25.
Vikings lost guard Ezra Cleveland to a foot injury, and his return is questionable.
Gutsy play by the rookie on that drive. He got blasted from behind on one short pass completion.
Bagent with an old-fashioned QB sneak for a TD on a 1-yard run. No tush push needed. After PAT, nine plays, 77 yards. Vikings 19 Bears 13
Foreman barrels ahead off right tackle for 8 to the 1. Second-and-goal.
Meanwhile, Bagent hits Tonyan at the 9-yard line. The Bears are in business.
Lucas Patrick playing center for Whitehair now. Maybe the poor snaps were a factor in this?
No problem. Moore back after a Foreman 6-yard run.
Bagent to Moore for 24 and the Bears go no-huddle. Moore took a big hit from behind but stayed in the game. Moore being taken off the field by officials. Might be a concussion?
Bagent adeptly sidesteps the rush and finds Moore for a first down, and then Moore keeps going for 18 yards to the 45. The Bears need a TD this drive to have a chance.
The one 39-yard pass to Mooney accounted for all but 22 of their rushing yards.
Bears start from their 23. Attendance today announced at 62, 167 for a day to remember Dick Butkus.

Moore still with two catches, although he has been targeted four times. Ten targets for Bears wide receivers overall.

12:52

Tyrique Stevenson's pass breakup on third down forces a punt from the Vikings 34.
Bears have five catches for 58 yards from wide receivers. The Vikings defense had given up more yards to wide receivers than any team in the league coming into this game.
Every other team treated the Vikings defense like nothing to worry about. The Bears came in trying to avoid being thrown for big losses. Their game plan was tentative and they put Fields at risk with too many QB runs. Sure, they didn't have Khalil Herbert but running the QB as much as they did against a blitzing defense is inviting trouble.
Bears goal here to the end is to get out without further injury at QB. Vikings have five sacks.

Third Quarter

Evans runs for no gain and quarter ends. Who would have thought a week ago after the Washington game that the third quarter of the next game would end with Tyson Bagent handing off to Darrynton Evans? Bagent an undrafted rookie from D-2 and Evans was in Miami on a practice squad.

0:13

Kick had legs but was wide right by about a yard.

Vikings facing third-and-1 at Bears 32. Bears benefit from a holding call and the drive dies. Vikings trying a 57-yard field goal.
Edwards missed a tackle in the open field on Cam Akers, who has surfaced in Vikings offense for a 7-yard gain on a pass. Edwards rarely misses tackles but bounced right off of Akers.
Fields ruled out for the game with his right-hand injury. That's not a good sign.
Bagent missed two receivers who were wide open for the first down, threw to Scott on fourth-and-3 and he caught it but was knocked OB for an incompletion. The Vikings have it at their own 45.
Another bad Whitehair snap and Bagent gets it out for a 9-yard completion but then they lose 2 on the next pass. Two straight attempts to throw wide receiver screens for no gain and fans are booing. Second one incomplete.
Bagent throws deep and they get pass interference call against Tyler Scott at the Bears 47. Practically a horsecollar ahead of the ball arriving and one official looking at it was going to let it go. Fortunately the other one wasn't blind.
Fans booing because Foreman runs straight into another wall and loses a yard but there's no way they're taking chances with a rookie undrafted QB on his own 10.

Foreman with 2 yards on a run off right guard.

Rookie starts at his own 10 since it was a spot foul.

Velus Jones Jr. with just what the Bears needed with a return past the 50 but holding against Joejuan Williams. Really questionable whether a block was even made.

6:44: Vikings 19, Bears 6

Bears have done a poor job protecting Fields and the passing attack has been

Justin Fields' health check: He has a right hand injury and his return is questionable.

Baget sacked on a strip sack, Josh Metellus with the hit, then Hicks returned it 46 yards for a TD and the Vikings lead 19-6.
The rookie hits his first pass and then D'Onta gets the first down on a 6-yard burst.
Tyson Bagent in. It could be a Justin Fields injury either after the sack or just before it.
Davis isn't going to return, they announced, but not expecting it after he appeared to be so badly injured.
Vikings' biggest question coming in was their defense's poor showings and the Bears have 6 points.

8:07

Another good punt by Ryan Wright and Bears take over at their own 41. A 46-yarder with no return.
Dylan Cole jumps offsides in a lame-brain play but it's still fourth-and-1 at the Vikings 14.
Make it third-and-longer. Delay of game. Then a dump-off pass to Hockenson so they have room to punt.
Mattison drops a pass at the 7 and Vikings face third-and-12, a perfect down to burn the Bears. They can't stop third-and-long
Minnesota at its 5 and the entire right side of Bears defensive line finds him at the 3, TFL going to Jack Sanborn and assist to Andrew Billings.

Velus Jones downs a perfect 60-degree wedge shot by Gill that backs up at the 5-yard line

.On third-and-7 at Vikings 48, Fields sacked by Danielle Hunter and gets up slowly. He took a beating on that drive thanks to Hunter, who had tackled him at the sideline on a 3-yard scramble and slammed his left shoulder into the turf.Fields scrambles out against the blitz on second-and-4 and gets 11 to the Bears 49.

Great fair catch by Trent Taylor racing across field and nearly crashing into a Vikings player to get it after just a 38-yard punt. Bears at the 32.

A three-and-out made possible by T.J. Edwards' wrapping up Hockenson for only a 2-yard gain on a second-down pass. They tried throwing downfield on third down incomplete. Minnesota receives to start the second half and it's a touchback.

If the Bears ever consistently get a push on Cousins up the middle, that extra point could come to be a big factor. Otherwise, he'll just sit back there and pick them apart whenever the Vikings need points. T.J. Edwards' sack was one way to get there but they give up too much when they blitz because they're not very good at it.

Second Quarter

Bears sit on ball and half ends.

Fields 6 of 10 for 58 yards and an interception with a 36.7 passer rating. Cousins 15 of 20 for 143 yards with a TD and 111.0 passer rating.

:12: Vikings 12, Bears 6

Jordan Addison wide open at the back of the end zone against zone coverage with no pass rush. How often does that happen to the Bears defense, especially without Jackson. A TD and the PAT is blocked by Rasheem Green with Dominique Robinson recovering and trying to score but he didn't get too far. Vikings 12, Bears 6.
Stevenson called for holding prior to a short pass completion and on replay it looks more like offensive pass interference. He was being blockced before the completion. Vikings at the Bears 10 after another completion with 17 seconds remaining.
A third-and-3 pass over the middle form the Bears 34 to Hockenson goes to the Bears 22. Hockenson hadn't been much of a factor earlier, when Jackson was in the game. Elijah Hicks is in there and not as quick to recognize things, maybe.
Vikings move it to their 37 on a 9-yard pass with 1:23 left in the half, then Hockenson beats Brisker for a pass at the Bears 41 going OB.
Fields hit as he throws and a flopping duck of a pass is picked off by Jordan Hicks.
Turnover being ruled as a fumble recovery and sack by Edwards. Strip-sack with Edmunds recovering.
Bears getting spotty offensive line play. Some plays it's tremendous, others there are total breakdowns. It's probably what you'd expect facing an opponent that blitzes as much as the Vikings do.
Fields gets one yard around left end. No one blocked the defensive end on a QB sweep. Then he hits Kmet for a gain of 7. It's third-and-2. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!

Bears blitz the blitzer. Edwards hits Cousins as he throws and it pops into the air and Tremaine Edwards comes up with it. Bears ball at the Vikings 35.

Eddie Jackson has reinjured his foot and is questionable to return.

Getsy tries to get cute and catch the Vikings on third-and-7 with a run up the middle that gets only 3. Santos tries a 53-yard field goal and gets it through toward the north end zone. It ends a 5-play, 45 yard drive. Bears 6, Vikings 6
The big play to Mooney looked like they actually came to attack the Vikings.
The forgotten man! Darnell Mooney coming across, 39 yards to the Vikings 41.
Bears have it at their 20 after the punt goes a whopping 63 yards to the end zone.
Vikings consider themselves fortunate, throw a couple short balls under the zone and punt. It's still unclear on replays that Edwards was OB. Depends on when you rule he had possession of the ball.
Officials rule it's Minnesota's ball because Edwards receovered OB. Another angle appears to show he has it in bounds.
TJ Edwards picks up a flip along the sidelines that wasn't completed by the scrambling Cousins and officials give Bears the ball but it appeared to be a forward pass. Replay shows it was backwards. Replay looking at this. Could be Edwards was out of bounds and Vikings get the ball back.

Jaylon Jones onto the field at left cornerback.
Perfectly executed wide receiver screen nets Vikings the first down of 12 yards. CB Tyrique Stevenson injured on the play and leaves but appears allright. Swinging his arm and he goes into the tent. A shoulder or stinger maybe?
Vikings start at their 27 and Jordan Addison beats the coverage but drops a deep ball as he hits the ground.
At some point you have to say you're going to block the blitz and throw it down the field.
Whatever the Bears found last week isn't here today as their offensive game plan is more to wait around and be cautious than to attack the Vikings.
Field scrambles for 10 but they have to punt. Gill was knocked to the ground punting but no penalty. Not sure of the logic there. Probably none.

Another series where Bears act like they're terrifed of Vikings blitz.

Foreman fumbles on a run off left tackle and Bears' Robert Toyan gets it back for a 6-yard loss. Offense in another hole

Jones returns kick 34 yards to the 29 and Bears are 4 yards ahead of the game.

8:56: Vikings 6, Bears 3

The Vikings line up for a 51-yard field goal. Joseph drills it with plenty of room to spare. 8:56 left in half, ending a nine-play, 42-yard drive. Vikings 6, Bears 3
Marcus Davenport with an ankle injury and is questionable to return for Vikings.
Vikings face third-and-long, 12 yards, worst Bears defensive situation.
No pass rush and Cousins finds Osborn for the first down of 12 yards at Bears 35. Lack of rush killing Bears so far today again.
Who says Yannick Ngakoue can't defend the run? A TFL on an end around for a yard loss. Nate Davis has an ankle injury and return is questionable.

A second-down pass to Osborn at the Vikings 48 for 21 yards. Explosive plays in the passing game burning the Bears again.

Carolina beating Miami 14-0 can't be good news for the Bears, who would love the Panthers to go winless.

Devin Hester and Raymont "The Ultraback" on the field doing interviews.

13:41: Bears 3, Vikings 3

Fields sacked for the third time in the game but without a loss. So the Bears settle for a Santos 22-yard field goal. Ends a 14-play, 71-yard drive in 7:43, almost all on the ground. Bears 3, Vikings 3
Vikings came after Fields on second down and hit him as he threw, incomplete.
Foreman barrels ahead to the 3 on first down. Almost looked like another false start.

Bears at the 7.

First Quarter

Evans refuses to go down and plows ahead to the 7 on a 13-yard run with the line and everyone else pushing him. Quarter ends. Vikings 3, Bears 0
Running game keeps working as Foreman gets 6 off right guard and then Darrynton Evans 11 off left tackle to the Vikings 20.
Velus Jones answers the lack of running backs due to injuries by running a toss play and gets 17 yards around right end. That's something Jones can do.
No yards after catch but Moore gets the first down on a quick 8-yard throw. YAC will be hard to come by unless they pop a receiver free.
Great block by Darnell Wright and D'Onta Foreman gains 8 but on third-and-1 attempt to tush-push Whitehair false starts on the snap. Third-and-6. Presnap misery again.
Ja'Tyre Carter on to replace Davis.
Fields fell on Davis' leg. Davis assisted off the field and walking with a bad limp.
On first-down pass to Khari Blasingame, Fields and Nate Davis were down on the field. Fields is all right apparently but Davis still down.
A 2-yard-pass to Cole Kmet barely gets the first down. Bears appear overly worried about the blitz.
Fields has to pull down another bad Cody Whitehair snap on second-and-3 and is forced to dive into the line for a 1-yard gain. Costly this time. In Washington, they got away with it.

6:24: Vikings 3, Bears 0

Jones botches up the kick return, lets it hit at the goal line, picks it up in the end zone and runs it back to the 10. After talking, the officials decided it was a touchback because the new rules say a ball hitting in the end zone untouched is a touchback. Bears at the 25.
Bears offense looked disjointed and like they were expecting the blitz on every play their first series, but they didn't get it.
Brandon Powell upset that Jaylon Johnson didn't get flagged for interference but it went incomplete, so Greg Joseph booms a 53-yard field goal through. Vikings 3, Bears 0
Vikings in another third-down, third-and-7 at Bear 35.

Tush push initially fails but then Cousins kept going and they kept pushing until he got it. Again, this play needs to be banned. It's bad football, rugby in helmets.
Vikings hit one pass into zone coverage but on third-and-4 at the Bears 42 Cousins finds KJ Osborn for a 3-yard gain to the 39. Vikings going for it.
Butkus tribute playing during timeout. One of his best games was against the Vikings on a Monday night, 13-10 Bears win in 1972
Trenton Gill's punt was so bad and low the Vikings return man, Brandon Powell, couldn't get to it until it hit the ground. Vikings start at their 32.
Drive going nowhere as a toss to Darrynton Evans loses 5 and then Fields is sacked a second time. A third-and-21 is an open invitation to get Fields sacked. Bears punt.

First three plays end with the ball in Fields' hands. He runs QB draw for first down on 8-yard gain. Hoping to catch Vikings blitzing.
First two plays a totally different result. DJ Wonnum came in unblocked and sacked Fields and then he ran around right end for 13 to set up third-and-4. Spotty start.

Bears finally got a kick to return, a low one, and Velus Jones Jr. with an outstanding 36-yard return to the 32.

The Bears will receive after losing the toss.

Inactives

Bears inactives are:

CB Terell Smith

RB Travis Homer

RB Roschon Johnson

T Aviante Collins

QB Nathan Peterman*

Smith (ankle), Homer (hamstring) and Johnson (concussion) are injured this week.

*Emergency QB

Vikings inactives are:

S Lewis Cine

TE Nick Muse

OLB Andre Carter II

T Hakeem Adeniji

DL Jaquelin Roy

Pregame

Cody Whitehair introduced as starting center.
First time for the full Bears secondary on the field since Week 1. They had their full first-team defense together in that opener for a short time until Kyler Gordon's injury, and that was the only time this year.
Hard to tell from warmups what the Bears will start out with on the offensive line. They had Dan Feeney centering for a while, Lucas Patrick and also Cody Whitehair. They had all sorts of combinations, including Ja'Tyre Carter at right guard and Nate Davis at right guard. We'll see when they take the field or if they announce offensive starters during player introductions coming out of the tunnel.
After gloom-and-doom weather forecasts, the sun is out and temps are perfect for football. Wind is 16 mph, though.

The biggest Bears tribute for Dick Butkus will be there the rest of the season. They're wearing the "51" patch on jerseys throughout the rest of the season.

The #Bears will be wearing the #51 patch in honor of Dick Butkus. Pregame and in game commemorations are planned as well. pic.twitter.com/2Yft7ACkk0
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) October 15, 2023

The Bears also have Dick Butkus tributes at various places in the stadium for today's game. This one is in the United Club, as Jay Hilgenberg found.

Let’s go Bears! Get the Win for Dick.#Bears #GoBears #51 #Butkus pic.twitter.com/mgUMZJQetX
— Jay Hilgenberg (@JayHilgenberg) October 15, 2023

Not all the Butkus tributes are as noticeable as the patch they are wearing on their jerseys, however. They said they were putting his No. 51 on the field near the 10-yard line in the northwest corner of the field but I think when they said that people were assuming it would be a bit larger and out on the field by the 10. It's actually on the 6 and out of bounds on the sidelines, about a foot outside the white sideline chalk.

Only recognition I've seen for Dick Butkus so far is a very small '51' painted at the 5-yard line in the NW corner of Soldier Field. Yes, the photo quality is suboptimal as well. But you gotta zoom for this. pic.twitter.com/mutEmad2Vb
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) October 15, 2023

Another tribute was very tastefully done.

Bears honoring Dick Butkus (if you’re at Soldier Field, this is at Gate 1) pic.twitter.com/jqSYjk4ei9
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 15, 2023

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven