The Chicago Bears suffered a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football, where the start of the Ben Johnson era felt a lot like the end of the Matt Eberflus era (and the ones who came before).
That’s not to say one awful game will define Johnson’s tenure in Chicago (it won’t), but it was deflating to see the same result replicated with an improved coaching staff. Time is a flat circle for the Bears. The offense showed promise on their opening series, but there’s a lot of work to be done and progress to be made. Pre-snap penalties continued to be their Achilles’ heel, and penalties as a whole were a game killer.
Meanwhile, the defense — without its top cornerbacks in Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards — held the Vikings offense in check until the fourth quarter. They did enough to win the game. But, as always, the offense couldn’t do their part.
Despite the brutal loss, there were some standout performances for the Bears — both good and bad — that stood out among the rest. Here are our studs and duds from Chicago’s Week 1 defeat:
Stud: DE Dayo Odeyingbo
The Bears had several defensive standouts, but none as big as defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, who was signed in free agency. Odeyingbo totaled two tackles, including one tackle for loss, one sack, two QB hits and one pass breakup. He was a dominant force all game and made things tough on Christian Darrisaw’s replacement at left tackle. There were a couple of suspect penalties called on Odeyingbo, but it wasn’t enough to sour his impressive performance in his Chicago debut.
Dud: RG Jonah Jackson
The Bears offensive line had their share of struggles — outside of left guard Joe Thuney — but it was right guard Jonah Jackson who proved to be a liability all night. Jackson, who Chicago traded a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for and later signed to an extension, was flat-out bad. He had multiple penalties and struggled from an execution standpoint making the right side of the line a point of weakness.
Stud: Offense on first drive
The Ben Johnson era couldn’t have gotten off to a better start on the offense’s opening possession. Quarterback Caleb Williams led a 10-play, 61-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown run by Williams. On the drive, Williams started 6-of-6 for 51 yards. In the scripted series, the offense looked smooth and executed to perfection (even though the run game struggled). It was an encouraging start for Johnson’s offense.
Dud: Offense the rest of the game
But it was a different story after the scripted plays. The addition of Ben Johnson wasn’t enough to change Chicago’s offensive woes. Pre-snap issues were the offense’s downfall, and they were unable to recover in the second half despite a valiant effort from their defense to give them a cushion. Quarterback Caleb Williams started strong but regressed as the game wore on, including missing receivers in the second half. The run game struggled mightily, although D’Andre Swift fought for every yard. The offensive line had their struggles, as previously noted. There’s plenty of work to be done with this offense, which is still in the early phases of this Ben Johnson scheme. But it wasn’t a good start.
Stud: LB Noah Sewell
With T.J. Edwards sidelined, it was third-year pro Noah Sewell stepping into a starting role alongside Tremaine Edmonds. And Sewell did not disappoint (even if the team itself did). He was a standout throughout training camp and preseason, and he was able to showcase his potential in live game action. Sewell led the Bears with nine total tackles, and he was all over the field. While he struggled in coverage, he was more than a respectable replacement for Edwards. That depth at linebacker is important, should Edwards miss additional time or injuries occur.
Dud: K Cairo Santos
The Bears might have a kicker problem. That’s technically something I probably wrote last year, when Santos’ field goal was blocked to seal a late Packers win. But it’s also something I’m writing now after Santos missed a 50-yard field goal, which wound up being the difference between losing and a tie. While 50 yards isn’t 35 yards, it’s closer than in year’s past given most kickers can hit from 60 yards. But Santos’ leg strength has long been an issue, and it reared its ugly head in this one. The Bears offense is attempting to step into the 21st century with Ben Johnson. Now, it’s time to do the same at kicker, Ryan Poles.
