The Chicago Bears went into Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field short-handed. A total of 14 players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including the entire starting secondary.
Needless to say, the margin for error was slim to none.
But, as the Bears usually do, they made the prime-time matchup with their NFC North rival even more difficult. From turnovers to penalties to bad play-calling, the Bears embarrassed themselves in every way possible in their 17-9 loss to the Vikings.
On the night, the Bears had three lost fumbles, were penalized nine times for 91 yards and finished 1 of 5 in the red zone. All represent the dysfunction that has been plaguing this team for the last three years.
The Chicago Bears keep making multiple mental errors
Bears quarterback Justin Fields talked about these self-inflicting blows the offense has made all season.
"That’s been the story. That’s been the story of the year for sure,” Fields said. “It’s just shooting ourselves in the foot. Once we eliminate those penalties, sacks on my part where I should just throw the ball away, throw the ball down to the ground, once we eliminate those, then we start seeing more points come up on the board and more success from the whole team."
Fields had a suggestion the team could try to adopt if the mistakes continue.
"We’re going to have to come up with something, a punishment during practice, run a lap or something,” Fields said. “That’s what we did at Ohio State. If you jumped offsides, you ran the whole lap. I don’t care who you are. They even had me running laps if I would do something wrong. We’re going to have to do something to fix that, and I know whatever that is, I know everybody is going to be on board with it and we’re going to get it fixed."
Running is a start, but what members of this Bears team need to start doing is to look at themselves in the mirror and have accountability for their actions. Coach Matt Nagy called the plays against the Vikings because offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, and right on queue, he had fans scratching their heads after certain plays.