The Bears had lost 12 straight in the NFC North, but a surging defense shut down Josh Dobbs and the Vikings.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago Bears dominated the Minnesota Vikings in several areas Monday night, except on the scoreboard, and it looked like it would cost the Bears when the Vikings took the lead late in the fourth quarter. But Justin Fields orchestrated a final drive that resulted in a field goal and a 12-10 Bears victory.
The Bears are the first team to win without scoring a touchdown after teams previously went 0-28, and it was their first win when not scoring a touchdown since 1993.
The Bears (4-8) ended their streak of consecutive NFC North losses at 12 after Fields led the offense on a 10-play, 66-yard drive in the final 2:12 to take the lead for good.
Wins are important, but the way Monday’s victory played out leaves the Bears searching for plenty of answers as they head into their bye week.
Chicago’s offense was stuck in neutral after a game plan that relied heavily on screen passes struggled to capitalize off the extra possessions it received from the Bears defense, which came away with four turnovers for a second straight game.
Fields did enough to lead his team to a win, but lingering questions about his long-term viability in Chicago will remain.
Troubling trend: The Bears are forcing turnovers on a consistent basis — seven interceptions in the last two games — but the offense isn’t taking advantage. Chicago failed to score off multiple first-half turnovers in back-to-back games after Jaylon Johnson and Jaquan Brisker picked off deep passes in the second quarter. On each of the subsequent possessions, Fields couldn’t connect with his deep ball on third down, which led to stalled drives. Chicago dominated time of possession, the turnover battle and total yards in the first half but had three points to show for it. The Bears had three points total off four takeaways.
Biggest hole in the game plan: To counter Minnesota’s aggressive blitz, the Bears passing game turned horizontal. Fields reached a career high in passes completed at or behind the line of scrimmage (10) by the end of the first half and averaged 0.
