Almost everything the Chicago Bears needed from their defense Sunday happened. That's what makes their 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings so frustrating.
A week after surrendering 478 yards and 37 points to the Carolina Panthers, Chicago's defense delivered the response everyone wanted to see. Minnesota finished with just 246 total yards.
The Vikings didn't score a touchdown. Carson Wentz threw for only 143 yards. Justin Jefferson finished with three catches for 55 yards. And Minnesota averaged just 4.8 yards per play.
It should have been more than enough to win. Instead, Chicago's offense scored three points.
That's the strange reality of the Bears' first two weeks.
In Carolina, Ben Johnson's offense exploded for 59 points and 552 yards while the defense struggled to get stops. Against Minnesota, the defense kept the Vikings out of the end zone for 60 minutes and watched the offense fail to score a touchdown.
Chicago answered its biggest Week 1 question
The defensive performance shouldn't disappear because of everything else that happened Sunday.
Carolina quarterback Bryce Young threw for 361 yards in Week 1. The Panthers accumulated 478 yards overall. Despite Chicago's comfortable win, the performance raised legitimate concerns about Dennis Allen's defense.
Against Minnesota, the Bears were significantly better.
Wentz completed only 11 of 20 passes. Jefferson's longest reception went for 30 yards, but Chicago prevented Minnesota's best offensive player from taking over the game. The Vikings' only sustained success came on the ground.
Aaron Jones rushed 23 times for 105 yards, but even that didn't translate into touchdowns.
Minnesota's scoring drives ended with Will Reichard field goals from 35, 49, and 39 yards. Holding an NFL opponent to nine points should result in a victory almost every time. But on Sunday at Soldier Field, it didn't.
(Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
The offense wasted it
Chicago actually outgained Minnesota 297-246. The Bears also ran 70 offensive plays and held the ball for more than 32 minutes.
But the numbers that mattered were considerably uglier.
Chicago turned the ball over twice, committed eight penalties for 58 yards and failed to score on all three trips into the red zone.
D'Andre Swift's third-quarter fumble was especially brutal.
The Bears had driven to first-and-goal at Minnesota's 1-yard line while trailing 6-3 when Swift lost the football. Isaiah Rodgers recovered for the Vikings, and Chicago's best chance to hit the paint came up empty.
Later, after Caleb Williams suffered his hamstring injury, Rodgers blocked Cairo Santos' 23-yard field-goal attempt that could have tied the game. Those were the margins in a 9-3 loss.
Bears need to find some balance
Two games are far too small a sample to make sweeping conclusions about this team. But the contrast is impossible to miss.
Week 1: 59 points scored, 37 allowed.
Week 2: three points scored, nine allowed.
The Bears have now shown that their offense can overwhelm an opponent and their defense can suffocate one. They just haven't done those things at the same time.
And the challenge becomes considerably greater from here.
Philadelphia visits Soldier Field next Monday night, and Chicago may have to face the undefeated Eagles without Williams depending on the results of his MRI. The Eagles improved to 2-0 Sunday with a 24-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
Before the Bears turn completely toward Philadelphia, however, Sunday's defensive performance deserves recognition. The unit that looked like Chicago's biggest problem after Week 1 became its greatest strength seven days later.
The Bears simply wasted it.
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