Which Chicago Bears were winners from Week 6 vs. Vikings?
The Chicago Bears are now 1-5 on the year as they were once again unable to win in front of the home crowd. They fell to their division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, by a final score of 19-13 in a very ugly game for both sides. Although most of the Bears played poorly, there were a couple of players who will make the winners list for the first time this season.
The gritty defensive performance by the Chicago Bears was a breath of fresh air.
It was a very solid effort defensively this time out, even with the Vikings missing Justin Jefferson. This is the first time all season that the Bears have been able to hold an opponent to under 20 points. One would think that this would be a Bears win or at least a near win as the offense had been humming as of late, but they could not take advantage of what the defense got done.
Chicago Bears Week 4 Winner No. 1: The New Linebackers
The new look linebacking core was supposed to be the key to the success of this defense. The hope was that they would make up for the lack of talent on the defensive line with their athleticism and veteran experience. So far the returns have not been great and there has been a real lack of notable production from both T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds. They both had an impact game against the Vikings as they made key plays to keep the Vikings out of rhythm.
Edwards especially was strong in this game. He has sneaky athleticism that allows him to be versatile as a linebacker, especially in coverage. He was one of the best coverage linebackers in the league last year, and this year he has struggled a bit. He finished the game against the Vikings with seven total tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble, which was recovered by Edmunds.
The Bears' defense has been terrible this season, and if they are going to turn it around and start to be more competitive, these two guys need to continue to make plays. There was another play that got ruled dead because Edwards was ruled to not have possession in bounds. It was definitely the wrong call, but regardless it showed the veteran instincts of Edwards. He and Edmunds will have to continue to force and recover turnovers to anchor this defense and live up to the contracts they received.