On its first play of overtime Sunday, the Chicago Bears defense got exactly what it wanted.
Pro Bowl pass rusher Montez Sweat, singled up against Minnesota Vikings left tackle Brian O’Neill, won his one-on-one and did enough to turn the corner. And as quarterback Sam Darnold tried to find a deep shot down the field, he never felt Sweat coming.
Seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, Sweat engulfed Darnold from behind and almost punched the football free. It was a big play in a big moment, pushing the Vikings well behind the sticks.
In the midst of a huge momentum surge that saw the Bears rally from 11 points down in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force overtime, Sweat’s sack felt like another game-winning contribution, the kind of splash play that could stifle Minnesota’s OT drive and get the ball back for Caleb Williams and the offense.
Alas, in what turned out to be their fifth consecutive loss, the Bears couldn’t keep the Vikings in the hole they shoved them into. Minnesota got those 7 yards back on second down with a Darnold completion to T.J. Hockenson. And after a Bears timeout, the Vikings converted on third-and-10 with an inexplicably easy 13-yard reception by Jordan Addison.
Safety Kevin Byard offered a 9-yard cushion on that play, affording Addison free access to slip open for an easy catch on a basic out route. Byard’s first contact with the Vikings wide receiver came 13 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
First down. Missed opportunity.
“We called a defense that we like for that particular situation,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. “We’ve just got to get down a little bit tighter on that in terms of where our alignments are. We have to affect them more with the (pass) rush on that one too.
“Again, it’s about being in position and making good plays. That was one of our main calls that we always call.”
Go figure, right?
Asked how the defense could have handled that play better, cornerback Jaylon Johnson was curt.
“Breaking the ball up. That’s what could have been better,” he said Monday. “And that didn’t happen.”
In a critical moment on a critical drive, the Bears again were discombobulated just enough. And their misfortune was just beginning. Twice more on that possession, the Vikings fell behind the chains — first because of a false start and then after a Blake Brandel holding penalty. But both times, Darnold rallied to produce first downs.
First-and-15? No big deal. Darnold hit Justin Jefferson for 20 yards.
First-and-20? Piece of cake. Two plays, 21 yards.
Darnold punctuated his 6-for-6 overtime hot streak with a 29-yard completion to Hockenson to set up the walk-off chip-shot field goal in a 30-27 win.
“It’s about me as a coach putting us in position,” Eberflus said, “and the players executing from there.”
Neither is happening consistently enough. Which is why the Bears will head to Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday 46 days removed from their last victory and in last place in the NFC North by four games.
The season is in a disorienting free fall, and the defense’s unraveling is among the most startling developments. The Vikings averaged 7 yards per play Sunday and piled up 452 total yards, the second-highest output against the Bears this season.
Darnold threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns while posting a 116.1 passer rating. Addison had 162 receiving yards. Aaron Jones turned 22 carries into 106 yards and converted a third-and-13 with a 14-yard catch from backup quarterback Nick Mullens during the Vikings field-goal drive on their final possession of regulation.
On that play, slot cornerback Kyler Gordon couldn’t shed a block by Vikings wide receiver Trent Sherfield. Middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was shoved out of the play by Hockenson.
“You’ve got to get off blocks,” Johnson said. “That was pretty much a designed screen play, and we didn’t get off blocks and hit him early enough.”
After leading the NFL in rushing defense in 2023, the Bears have dropped to 20th (129.7 yards per game) as they prepare to face a Detroit Lions offense averaging 150.8 yards on the ground.
Perhaps worst of all, the defense has been unable to close out games the way it should. In Week 8, the Bears couldn’t protect a three-point lead with 25 seconds remaining against the Washington Commanders and lost when they badly bungled their Hail Mary defense on the final play.
Three weeks later, the Bears were protecting a five-point lead with 4:17 remaining and surrendered a four-play, 78-yard, game-losing touchdown drive to the Green Bay Packers. The biggest play in that series came when Johnson tripped in coverage on a 60-yard catch by Christian Watson. The game ended soon after with a dispiriting one-point loss.
On Sunday, with a chance to deliver in overtime, the defense again couldn’t get off the field.
“It’s not a mentality. It’s just execution,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to find ways to get put in the right position and then find ways to execute.”
No wonder the aggravation inside Halas Hall is peaking. Johnson spoke Monday with undeniable irritation as he watches his fifth consecutive season with the organization circle the drain.
This is not the time, Johnson said, to go grasping for hope.
“Right now we’re in a slump,” he said. “I’ve been in slumps four, five years in a row now. At the end of the day, I don’t look for, ‘OK, what is going to be better in the future?’ It will be better when it’s better. And right now it’s not better. That’s all I can go off of.”
The Bears have gone from 4-2 with legitimate playoff aspirations in mid-October to 4-7 with another Halas Hall reboot imminent.
“I mean, none of this is ideal,” Johnson said. “Nobody walks around — well, at least I don’t walk around with a smile on my face. There ain’t nothing to be happy about.
“So obviously my frustration is at a high. Everybody’s frustration is at a high.”
Perhaps the biggest question now is whether the Bears defense can keep from crumbling entirely.
