These 4 key stats defined Bears' heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Vikings in Week 1

The Chicago Bears' season opener is in the books, and the 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night proves that this team still has a lot of room to grow throughout the 2025 campaign.

While some silver linings should not be overlooked, there were many disappointing aspects of the Bears' performance that led to an 11-point fourth quarter comeback and the team's sixth straight home loss dating back to last season.

To truly understand what happened in week one, where the Bears need to improve going forward, and what they can hang their collective hats on despite the loss, here are four key stats that every Bears fan must know from the game.

3

Caleb Williams finished Monday night's game with just three fewer rushing yards than the rest of his offense combined. D'Andre Swift (53 yards on 17 carries) and D.J. Moore (eight yards on three carries) were the sole position players to tote the rock against the Vikings, but Williams (58 yards and one touchdown on nine attempts) out-gained both players on the ground.

Last season, then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson led his Detroit Lions to an impressive 146 rushing yards per game. Establishing the run is important for any offense, but especially so for Johnson's, which ideally looks to create play-action scenarios and more one-on-one looks downfield thanks to packed defensive fronts.

The Bears' runningback room may not have the one-two punch that the Lioins' have leaned on in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but Monday's rushing woes will certainly have to improve if this offense wants to find any identity between the tackles this season. If not, Williams will be forced to create more with his legs while seeing more of his targets in double coverage as a result of the lack of defenses' respect of the run game.

50

Last year, the Bears failed to score an opening drive touchdown in any of their 17 games. That changed quickly on Monday as Williams punched in a 9-yard rush to cap off a 10-play, 61-yard possession to start the season following a Vikings' three-and-out. After that, however, the offense went 50 minutes before returning to the end zone.

You do not need to be a football guru to understand that scoring points is fairly important. The Bears struggled to do so after their first drive until late in the fourth quarter, where Williams found Rome Odunze for a one-yard touchdown just before the two minute warning.

The offense did receive a boost from the defense with a 74-yard pick-six from Nahshon Wright, but nonetheless, the Bears offense needs to find a way to finish drives with seven points.

0

If there was one positive from the Bears' offensive performance in week one, it was Williams' continued ability to protect the ball. All in all, the offense finished with zero turnovers, a sign that the second-year quarterback may be closer to breaking through than what some other stats may indicate.

This is not particularly new for the former Heisman Trophy winner. Last season, Williams avoided turnovers in nine of his 17 games and finished as one of just four quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert) to throw six or fewer interceptions and at least 3,500 yards.

Granted, the 23-year old has a ways to go in terms of consistent accuracy and decisive decision making from within the pocket, but his judgement as a passer remains fairly sound. Williams does a good job of erring on the side of caution with potentially dangerous throws, but the next step in his development will be finding ways to be more aggressive, and accurate, down field while still remaining protective of the ball.

1/2

From a team perspective, penalties were a massive problem for the Bears on Monday night, and their 127 forfeited yards equaled exactly half of Minnesota's 257 yards of total offense. To put that ratio in a different, and slightly inaccurate, perspective, a third of the Vikings' offense came from the Bears' own mistakes.

Not all fouls are created equal, and certain judgement calls such as Darnell Wright's questionable holding penalty, Tyrique Stevenson's phantom pass interference and a ticky-tacky roughing the passer may look clean upon review, but the Bears can help themselves out by avoiding easy procedural errors such as illegal shifts and false starts.

Read more: Ben Johnson throws Cairo Santos under the bus after Bears Week 1 loss

Penalty problems are far from surprising in week one. Still, the Bears' inability to play a clean game might have ultimately cost them the contest in what was potentially always going to be a tight divisional fight. In the future, the team must find a way to limit these self-inflicted wounds and give itself a wider margin of error against the more established and disciplined teams on its schedule.