Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Chicago Bears found a way to win a football game after nearly losing it in the final minutes. This time, it was against a divisional opponent, as the Bears defeated the Minnesota Vikings 19-17 on a last-second field goal from Cairo Santos to improve to 7-3 on the season.
It should have been a much bigger and less stressful victory for Chicago, who had numerous opportunities to put the Vikings away. Quarterback JJ McCarthy threw two interceptions and couldn’t do much on offense for three quarters. It wasn’t until the final drive that he started connecting consistently with his receivers, when he found Jordan Addison for the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to go.
The Bears, who had led for most of the day, had to put together one final scoring drive to get the win. Thanks to a big kick return from Devin Duvernay, Caleb Williams and the offense were in position to get points one last time. They needed to rely on Santos, who missed a field goal earlier in the game, to deliver his first game-winning kick of the year.
With the win and the Detroit Lions falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bears are in sole possession of the NFC North for the first time under general manager Ryan Poles. Here are our takeaways from Sunday’s game:
1. You can never count this team out
Does the entire Bears team have the clutch gene? Did Pope Leo XIV call in a favor to God? Is Virginia McCaskey creating some divine intervention for this team from the heavens? No one really knows how this team continues to find ways to win after so many years of blowing big leads, but one thing is for sure. You cannot ever count the Bears out of a football game. If that wasn’t clear last week, it should have been clear today.
For the first time in years, I had no doubt the Bears were going to find a way to win that game. There’s just something about this group where they collectively dig deep when their backs are against the wall to do what it takes to win a game. That’s coaching and culture showing up in a big way. There was plenty of panic on social media late in the game, something the 2023 and 2024 Bears probably would have done as well. But as Kevin Byard said, these aren’t your same old Bears. It’s foolish to ever count this group out of a game.
2. Brian Flores got the best of Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams
A big question I had coming into this week was how Johnson would approach this game with it being a repeat matchup. The Bears folded when the Vikings stormed back in Week 1 to steal a win, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores had the offense in a blender for much of the game. Would Johnson be able to devise a better game plan, and will Williams be able to run it better? The answer, unfortunately, was no.
Flores once again got the best of Johnson and Williams, holding them to their third-lowest yardage output and second-lowest point total of the season. Williams wasn’t accurate enough for much of the game and felt the pressure consistently. His 68.9 passer rating is his second-worst of the season, as he couldn’t consistently find open receivers.
As for Johnson, it felt his rhythm was off as well. There were multiple third-down calls that felt out of place, like the stretch run to Travis Homer, the deep shot to Rome Odunze on third and one, etc. Even when the Bears were leading, it felt like they didn’t have control of the game as a whole. Promising drives stalled, and the Bears had more negative plays than they’ve had in recent weeks.
They still got the win, and that’s what matters most. Flores, however, continues to be a thorn in the Bears’ side. For their sake, hopefully a team sees value in him as a head coach and gets him out of the division.
3. Cole Kmet was the unsung hero on offense
The offense as a whole wasn’t good enough, but one man stood out as the best player on that side of the ball. Veteran tight end Cole Kmet, who has seen his role diminish this season with the emergence of rookie Colston Loveland, was the unsung hero on Sunday.
Kmet caught all five of his targets for 45 yards, which led the team. He was a key factor in all of Chicago’s scoring drives, whether it was through the air by keeping the chains moving or with his blocking in the run game. That part of his game stood out in a big way last week, and Kmet was rewarded for it with extra targets, his most since Week 4.
The Bears are utilizing 12 personnel quite a bit in recent weeks, with Kmet and Loveland each playing 50+ snaps on Sunday. For the last few years, they have tried to find the ideal TE2 behind Kmet to provide mismatch opportunities. It turns out the best TE2 option was Kmet all along, who has found an ideal role playing next to Loveland.
4. The Bears secondary cannot get healthy fast enough
Just like I said last week against the Giants, the Bears were lucky this game wasn’t worse. McCarthy’s passing woes, coupled with the Vikings’ six drops, kept this one from going in a different direction. That being said, the Bears’ secondary cannot get healthy fast enough.
Even though McCarthy struggled mightily and the Bears’ defensive backs came away with two interceptions, competent passing attacks will pick them apart. We already saw it two weeks ago in Cincinnati, and with matchups coming against more explosive offenses, guys like Nahshon Wright and Nick McCloud can’t be relied upon for a full 60 minutes. With Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon inching closer to a return, this unit could go from boom or bust to dependable in a matter of weeks.
Jaylon Johnson is one of the best cover corners when healthy, and Gordon’s versatility makes him a nightmare for opposing offenses. With those two back, plus Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, and CJ Gardner-Johnson seeing snaps, the Bears could suddenly have a deep secondary going into the most important part of the season.
5. Cairo Santos isn’t going anywhere
This takeaway feels a bit more obvious now that the Washington Commanders signed away Jake Moody from the Bears’ practice squad, but the point remains that this team has all the belief in the world in Cairo Santos. Time will tell whether or not that benefits or burns them.
Santos was once again in the crosshairs for missing a makeable field goal while kicking in a controlled environment that would have never allowed the Vikings to retake the lead late in the game. Still, the coaching staff didn’t waver when it came to the confidence in their kicker and did what they needed to do to put him in position to succeed. Williams went out of his way to bring Santos with him to the postgame interview, and Johnson gifted him a game ball for his efforts.
There’s a reason Santos is a team captain. His teammates wholeheartedly believe in him as a person and as a player. That belief is important for a position as volatile as kicker, and it goes to show the team chemistry this group has. However, results matter, and the fact is Santos is converting just 80% of his field goals this season, his lowest rate since rejoining the Bears in 2020. If the Bears have postseason hopes, and they most definitely do at 7-3, then they need to be absolutely confident Santos is the guy they can rely on for big kicks. While it’s great to see the parallels from the 2018 season, we don’t need to hit all of the same beats if you catch my drift.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Vikings: Takeaways from Chicago’s comeback win
