A Bears offense that looked like one of the best in the league the past two weeks doesn’t on Sunday.
The Bears trail the Vikings 12-6 at halftime Sunday at Soldier Field. Quarterback Justin Fields is 6-for-10 for 58 yards, an interception in the red zone and a passer rating of 36.7. He leads the Bears with 33 yards on six carries.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins drove the Vikings down the field at the end of the half, throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jordan Addison with 12 seconds left and his team out of timeouts. Cousins is 15-for-20 for 143 yards and a 111 passer rating, the majority of the damage being done on the 77-yard, 1:35 drive at the end of the half. Bears defensive end Rasheem Green blocked the extra point.
The Bears offense doesn’t look like a unit that had 10 days to prepare for their divisional rival.
Their only points came on Cairo Santos field goals — a 22-yarder and a 53-yarder 9 ½ minutes apart in the second quarter. The Vikings have scored on Greg Joseph field goals of 53 and 51 yards.
The blitz-happy Vikings sacked Fields on two of the Bears’ first five plays. The Bears ran six plays, gained only three yards, and punted on fourth-and-21.
Their second drive looked a lot more orderly. The Bears leaned on running back D’Onta Foreman, who became the Bears’ lead ball-carrier this week with three others hurt. New acquisition Darrynton Evans and even wide receiver Velus Jones took handoffs as the Bears ground the Vikings down the field. They stalled at the 4, though, with Fields throwing an incomplete pass on second down and taking a sack on third down.
The Bears went three-and-out on their next drive, which was slowed by Foreman fumbling for a loss of six on first down. They drove for Santos’ second field goal on their next possession, boosted by a 39-yard pass from Fields to Darnell Mooney.
Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds caught a Cousins pass — the ball flew forward as T.J. Edwards hit his arm — to give the Bears the ball at the Vikings 35 with about three minutes to play. It was officially ruled a fumble recovery.
Fields, though, was then intercepted when his arm was hit by edge rusher Danielle Hunter. The ball floated through the air and was picked by linebacker Jordan Hicks to start the Vikings’ only touchdown drive.
