Even Vikings Coach Noted Poor Rookie Bears Special Teams Play

High snaps and missed blocks eventually burned the Bears on a key field goal, a fact noted both by Ben Johnson and Kevin O'Connell.

Ben Johnson noticed a few bad things on the part of his field goal unit and someone else did, as well. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ben Johnson probably didn't need the help of Vikings coach Kevin McConnell but he received it just the same.

While talking with Vikings reporters on Monday after their big 9-3 win over the Bears, McConnell was praising his special teams players for handling the day-long rain well at Soldier Field. It was a commendable performance by specific players considering how the Vikings play indoors at home and in the majority of their games.

"Just watching the tape, there were some things just to highlight," McConnell said. "I mentioned the kickers and gave both our kicker and punter game balls, but I think ‘DePo’s’ (long snapper Andrew DePaola) got to be right up there with them. ... He never gets mentioned enough, but in those circumstances, you saw how it affected the operation on the other side a few times, and especially the blocked field goal. So ‘DePo’ deserves some absolute love."

Two good jabs there, though probably not intentional. For one, "DePo" is a former Bears long snapper. More importantly, O'Connell was right. The Bears' operation on field goals was poor, not just once but twice.

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— Swift Sports Network (@SwiftyNetwork) September 21, 2026

It probably wasn't the main factor in the blocked field goal by Isaiah Rodgers because the lack of a proper block by Bears tight end Sam Roush led directly to the blocked kicik. However, the snap by Bears rookie long snapper Beau Gardner definitely came in very high and caused holder Tory Taylor to reach high for it. It also was a factor in the blocked field goal.

The blocked field goal did not go by unnoticed on Johnson's part.

High snap. Wobbly spiral. Not great. #DaBears pic.twitter.com/RDL4z2zfjp

— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) September 20, 2026

Ugly Bears effort

“The operation was not clean," Johnson said on Monday. "A high snap didn't help. That first field goal was a warning shot, as far as I'm concerned. It was No. 2 (Rodgers), was right off the edge. If he didn't touch it, then he was darn close to touching it then (on the first kick).

"Something we addressed on the sideline, and we weren't able to get corrected the second time. Certainly, in a race to get that right.”

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— 👌 (@2kburden) September 20, 2026

It probably wouldn't be a stretch to anticipate some long snappers to appear as visitors for tryouts at Halas Hall. This sort of thing happens all of the time in the NFL whether a long snapper is in job trouble or not. And when they're making mistakes, it's even more likely.

As for Roush and his poor blocking off the edge, it wouldn't be a surprise if he appeared somewhere else on the line for place-kicking attempts. The edge is too critical to leave to rookie mistakes on kicks, and Sunday it was a deciding play in the game.

Bears rookies as a group haven't had the ideal start they'd like, so Roush and Gardner aren't alone, with the exception of DBs Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad. On Sunday, Zavion Thomas only got in for two offensive plays, his first two of the season. And his kick returning was so-so at 22.7 yards for three returns. Sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg has only one tackle in two games after an impressive preseason.

Malik Muhammad blitz sacks Carson Wentz.pic.twitter.com/1f1oQE7GLz

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