At this point, it might just need to be accepted that Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears are good at winning close games. Conversely, if you cannot bury them early, be prepared to deal with the consequences, as Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell noted.
The Bears, who do not really shy away from narratives as much as acknowledge how they hope to have learned from them, entered the contest looking to atone for their Week 1 loss.
They did that and then some, getting the game on a pair of critical plays.
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If it felt like the Vikings were close, but that the Bears continually did just enough, take solace in knowing that O’Connell felt the same way. He opened his postgame press conference by noting how the Bears are known for their ability to take the ball away.
The Bears entered the day with a league-leading 20% turnover rate defensively, per Pro Football Reference.
They got 2 more, both on interceptions of Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, on Sunday.
“We knew coming into the game that this team had won all their games by winning the turnover margin, and we lost that. 2 to 0, and did a lot of things as a football team to try to battle and continue to overcome the adversity that we kind of faced – in many cases, caused by ourselves – and just some certain aspects of the game today. Proud of the way they competed, but not good enough to win overall,” O’Connell told reporters postgame.
“I love the fight to get the lead at the end, and they made a play to get the ball in field goal range on the kickoff return. And they made that play, which ended up being a winning play in a game that was, quite honestly, something that we did a lot of the things that we talked about not doing. And the main thing being the turnovers.”
The Bears are undefeated this season when they win the turnover battle. Their three losses also saw them come out on the wrong end, including in Week 1 against the Vikings. This time, the Bears were able to put the Vikings away.
“Ended up with a couple of two-minute drives there, where we had to go and, maybe, became one-dimensional. But for the most part, the guys up front felt like we protected,” O’Connell said.
“We limited the negatives for the most part. We just felt like we were a play away all day.”
J.J. McCarthy: ‘Gut-Wrenching’ Loss
Again, Bears fans remember that feeling of Week 1. They felt like that was creeping back in as the Vikings took a late lead. Similarly, McCarthy espoused great disappointment with the outcome this week.
“Absolutely sucks. Gut-wrenching loss for us. Got to give credit to our opponent. They had a great game plan. They played really well in all three phases,” McCarthy said. “I need to do a better job of my decision-making, the accuracy. It needs to change. I need to be better in the overall execution of the offense. I need to be better on just doing my job at a higher level.”
After Week 1, the Bears had to see themselves frequently on the wrong end in replays of McCarthy’s heroics.
The Vikings scored 21 fourth-quarter points, all by the second-year QB. This time, McCarthy was not sacked, but he had 150 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs on 50% completion.
This time, it is Johnson, Caleb Williams, and the Bears who are seeing their legend grow. The Bears notched their first division win, and they can take over first place in the NFL North with a Detroit Lions loss on “Sunday Night Football.” The Bears will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, who saw starting QB Aaron Rodgers exit early in Week 11 with a wrist injury.