Chicago Bears Finish 2014 Season with 13-9 Loss to Vikings

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 Chicago Bears season has mercifully come to an end with a dud of a 13-9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in which the Bears failed to score a touchdown. It’s a fitting ending to the season and likely the Marc Trestman era. The game was emblematic of the trouble that has plagued this team throughout the season. There was no shortage of pre-snap penalties, dropped passes and sloppy offensive play. There was the requisite blown coverage that led to an easy opponent touchdown and Chris Conte wasn’t even on the field.

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I’d like to credit the defense for holding the Vikings offense to only 13 points, but I just don’t think the Vikings offense is all that good. The defense had their moments, most notably a 4th and 1 stop inside the 5 yard line that at least gave the Bears offense a chance for a potential game-winning drive. Shea McClellin had a nice 11-yard tackle for loss that I’m sure will be enough for Phil Emery to laud his first round draft pick’s progress as a linebacker.

Another bright spot for the Bears defense was a Kyle Fuller interception. It appeared that he’d scored on a pick-6, but a replay review found that his knee grazed the ground before he made it to the end zone. The Bears still had the ball in a goal-t0-go situation, but Jay Cutler’s apparent TD pass to Alshon Jeffery was overturned with Jeffery not getting his second foot down. So the Bears missed out on a touchdown twice in the same sequence on replay reviews. That’s just how the Bears season went.

It was a rough day for Chicago Bears wide receivers. Alshon Jeffery was limited to just two catches for 34 yards. That’s a far cry from the 249 yards that he piled up in Minnesota last season. Marquess Wilson and Josh Morgan combined for 3 catches for 31 yards. Tight end Martellus Bennett led all Bears pass catchers with 8 receptions for 59 yards.

Matt Forte, one of the few bright spots on the season, got over rushing 1000 yards on the season gaining 51 yards on 17 carriers and set the NFL record for most catches by a running back with 103, passing Larry Centers, with 8 catches on the day.

The loss assures the Bears will select 7th in the 2015 NFL Draft, but the way the season has gone the Bears will pull a Vikings move and not hand the pick in on time.

Thanks for hanging with us through this rough season. The real fun starts on Monday when anything less than a McCaskey appearing at the lectern will be a disappointment. We’ll be covering a coaching search and hopefully more. There will be questions about Cutler and what the Bears do with him, what happens with veterans like Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs, and of course what the Bears will do with the 7th pick in the NFL draft, which is coming to Chicago for the first time ever.

As always, it’s going to be an interesting offseason and we’ll be there every step of the way.

BEAR DOWN!!!

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