Three Takeaways from the Bears’ 12-10 Victory over the Vikings
The Bears secured their first victory over a division opponent in the Matt Eberflus era this past Monday night against the Vikings, winning 12-10. That should be a good thing, right? Well, not exactly, as the Bears blew another fourth-quarter lead and were lucky to find a wide-open D.J. Moore on their final drive of the game to put them in field goal range. The Bears lucking themselves into this victory amplifies just how this team has yet to learn how to properly win football games. With that in mind, these are the three biggest takeaways from the Bears' lackluster victory over the Vikings.
Jaylon Johnson continues to show ball hawking Ability
Photo Credit: Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson has shown his ability to make plays on the ball the past two weeks. Last week against the Lions, Johnson was around the ball the whole game. However, he dropped two interceptions. Additionally, one of those interception chances would have been a pick six, so missing that was disappointing. Even though dropping interceptions is not optimal, being in position for the interceptions shows how well he is reading opposing quarterbacks.
Johnson’s ability to correctly read the quarterback’s eyes was shown again this week against the Vikings when he secured his third interception of the season.
While Johnson securing that interception was exciting, he also had another dropped interception. Like last week this dropped interception would have been a pick six. Sadly, it was not to be.
Johnsons’ interception drops are only hurting his chances of getting the money he thinks he deserves from the Bears this offseason. The Bears definitely see value in having a player who’s always around the ball, but they may say, “ Hay Jaylon, you weren’t able to capitalize on your interception chances, so you don’t deserve top cornerback money”, and that would be very hard to argue with.
Justin Fields Late game mistakes return
Photo Credit: Chicago Bears
Bears quarterback Justin Fields has been known for mistakes late in games throughout his early career. That was no different this week against the Vikings after he fumbled twice in the fourth quarter. Fields first fumble happened deep in Vikings territory, which, with how the Vikings’ offense had been playing up to that point, shouldn’t have been a huge deal. However, off that fumble, the Vikings finally got their offense going and scored a touchdown. That meant the Bears needed to drive down the field on the next drive and score points to take the lead back.
However, on the next drive, Fields fumbled on a quarterback run in the Bears’ own 43-yard line. That gave a Vikings offense who just had their best drive of the game a chance to add more points. Thankfully, the Bears defense bailed Fields out by forcing a Vikings punt. After that punt, Fields was able to drive the Bears down the field and win the game. Yet, if Fields had not fumbled at all in the fourth quarter, he wouldn’t have needed a comeback drive. All that to say, if Fields can’t protect the ball h in crunch time, he will not be this team's quarterback going forward.
Luke Getsy needs to get fired.
Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is one of the most confusing coordinators in the league. Against the Lions, it looked like he finally learned how to utilize Fields correctly again. Then, this week against the Vikings, he went back to misusing Fields by running mainly screens with no downfield passing and little play-action bootlegs.
Changing the game plan a little against the Vikings makes sense because they are a blitz heavy team. However, the game plan should not be so vastly different that it looks like a completely different offense. Seriously, other play callers like Kyle Shanahan, whose quarterback is not as talented as Justin Fields doesn't even change his game plan that drastically from week to week. That is why the fact the Bears have not fired Getsy yet is baffling and needs to be rectified before the end of the season. If the Bears do not fire Getsy before the end of the season, they will have wasted their chance to fairly evaluate Fields and continue to have up and down offensive play.