Which Chicago Bears laid duds in Week 5 vs. Vikings?
The Chicago Bears lost to the Minnesota Vikings 29-22 after completing a hard-fought comeback in the fourth quarter. With a chance to tie or win the game, a costly fumble that was recovered by the Vikings sealed the Bears’ fate. There is a lot of blame to go around here, and the coaches should be called out for some of the bad decisions and use of personnel in this game. Still, the players did not execute well today, especially these specific guys.
The Chicago Bears needed the rookies to step up in the secondary today
Player one: Jaylon Jones
Jaylon Jones seemed to be the opposite boundary starter today from Kindle Vildor, with Kyler Gordon in the slot. Jones faced a tough matchup against the plethora of talent in the Vikings’ wide receiver room. The whole defense did for that matter. Jones, unfortunately, seemed to get the worst of it, and he made a lot of mistakes that cost the Bears dearly.
The whole defense should be on this list for the way they played in the first half especially. The Vikings looked like they were being led by a different NFC quarterback the way they were able to get whatever they wanted. Kirk Cousins started the game 19 for 19 passing. He could have closed his eyes and hit a wide-open receiver. A lot of that fell on Jones, a rookie, who was asked to carry a big responsibility in this game.
Without Jaylon Johnson, the cornerback depth is lacking. There are a lot of young players like Vildor, Gordon, Jones, and Lamar Jackson. The Bears should think about potentially adding some veteran pieces at corner to sure up the position, especially if Johnson is going to miss more time.
Jaylon Jones made a couple of key plays, but other than that he was exposed in coverage throughout the whole game. It seemed to be a focal part of the Vikings’ gameplan since Jones was the least experienced out of the super young secondary for the Bears. If Johnson is out again next week, we could see more of Lamar Jackson after the rough game that Jaylon Jones had against the Vikings.