OK, I give up. Somebody explain to me what I just watched. Explain to me what I think I saw Sunday and what I wish I could unsee. Tell me if I saw a glimpse of the future, the good kind of future.
The Bears played one of the worst halves in the history of sports that use halves, and they lost a game they could – should? – have won if not for one knuckleheaded decision late in the fourth quarter. Does that make sense? No? Good. Now you’re beginning to understand the disorientation that came with a 29-22 loss to the Vikings.
On their first offensive play, the Bears were called for a delay of game when they only had 10 men on the field. English majors will recognize this as foreshadowing. What followed was a mess, a mess that would lead to a 21-3 hole.
Minnesota outgained the Bears 307 yards to 95 in the first half, with Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins completing his first 17 passes. It looked like he was playing catch with his dad in the backyard. The Bears’ defense seemed surprised that Justin Jefferson, a two-time second-team All-Pro, was a good receiver. Nobody saw much of a need to get up in his face off the line of scrimmage. He could have built a two-car garage in the space defensive backs regularly gave him.
There was one bright spot for the Bears in the second quarter, one very bright spot, but after the way the Vikings had dominated the action, no one in their right mind would have dared call it a game-changer in the moment. Bears receiver Darnell Mooney made a ridiculously athletic one-handed catch for a 39-yard gain, helping to set up a touchdown and cut the deficit to 21-10. To reiterate: There was nothing that came before that would have inspired confidence.
The Bears ended up scoring 19 unanswered points, including a touchdown on their first possession of the third quarter. A failed onside kick after that score was followed by a blocked field-goal attempt by the Bears’ special teams. And quarterback Justin Fields, after struggling in the first half – after struggling in the first four games – came alive.
This is where the team and coach Matt Eberflus deserve praise. They were lost, and they found themselves.
“We were down 21-3,’’ Fields said. “A lot of the teams in this league would have just laid down and stopped playing. But I’m just proud of our guys and the way they fought.’’
They did. They really fought. And maybe the fog of war explains Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s bad decision in the waning moments of the game. Down 29-22, the Bears had every reason to think they could score on the Vikings again, grab a two-point conversion and sneak out of Minneapolis with a victory. But Smith-Marsette, after a 15-yard reception, inexplicably tried to get more yards rather than get out of bounds to stop the clock with about a minute left. Minnesota’s Cameron Dantzler pulled the ball out of Smith-Marsette’s hands and snatched a believe-it-or not victory from the Bears.
A game summed up: Ugliness followed by goodness followed by senselessness.
Fields finished 15 of 21 for 208 yards and a touchdown, with a passer rating of 118.8. It was the first time he threw for more than 200 yards this season. That’s not cause for a parade, just some hope.
He led the Bears with 47 rushing yards (on eight carries). He had a 52-yard touchdown run called back on a very flimsy penalty against Smith-Marsette for an illegal block. Column recap: Smith-Marsette had a very bad day. Whether the Bears’ offense is designed this way or not, it sure looks to be predicated on Fields’ ability to scramble. You’ll know he’s arrived when you can’t predict when he’s going to run the ball. Right now, you can. The good news is that defenders still can’t stop him when he decides to take off on third- or fourth-and-long.
Can an offense be designed around the threat of a quarterback scramble? Unless Fields’ accuracy as a passer improves, it might be the only way for him to succeed in the league.
“Justin had one of the best games of his career,’’ Eberflus said.
Exactly. Keep doing that, whatever it is. Scripted, unscripted … just go with it.
It’s hard to understand how the Bears could have come out so flat Sunday, especially against a team that played in London last week. A delay of game on the first offensive play? Teams rehearse their first 15 plays or so in the days leading up to a game, like a Broadway cast going over its lines. It was unforgivable.
But Eberflus told his players that, no matter how dark things might look, hope is built into the equation.
“In the NFL, it’s never going to be perfect, and it’s always going to come down to the end,’’ he said. “We learned that the last two weeks, and we have to make the plays to finish the game and seal the deal.’’
Good teams do that. The Bears are far from that. But they were entertaining Sunday, for better and worse.
