In their most important game of the season thus far, the Chicago Bears came away with a victory over the division rival Minnesota Vikings by the score of 16-6. From the very start of the game, things didn’t look normal for the Bears (3-1). Many players were out before kickoff due to injury and other reasons, while some left the game before barely breaking a sweat.
Only six plays into the game, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was knocked out the game after falling awkwardly on his non-throwing shoulder. On the other side of the ball, the defense played without three of their starters: defensive linemen Bilal Nichols (hand) and Akiem Hicks (knee), and inside linebacker Roquan Smith (personal reasons).
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Despite the subtractions from the starting lineup, Chicago still managed to take care of business, and took control of the game from start to finish. The offense didn’t light up the scoreboard, nor did they fill up the stat sheet. They accumulated only 269 total yards from scrimmage, but did win the time of possession battle by holding the ball for 35:27. Defensively, havoc was unleashed as usual, recording six sacks, forcing three fumbles, and recovering two of those fumbles.
With the win, the Bears find themselves in second place in the NFC North standings—although the Green Bay Packers have an identical record, they own the tie-breaker over Chicago for now. This current three-game winning streak could turn into four when they travel to London to face the Oakland Raiders next week. But as for now, let’s focus on the Bears’ report card for Week 4.