5 Pathetic Reasons the Bears Blew a 17-6 Lead to the Vikings

Opening night was supposed to be different. New coach, new quarterback confidence, new vibe. Instead, the Chicago Bears coughed up a 17-6 fourth-quarter lead and face-planted in primetime, losing 27-24 to the Minnesota Vikings. Ben Johnson’s debut as head coach started like a dream but ended like every Bears fan’s recurring nightmare.

If you want to know why this meltdown happened, it’s not just one thing — it’s a cocktail of the same bad habits that have haunted this franchise for years. And yes, I’m going to drag Cairo Santos, Caleb Williams, and Ben Johnson all in the same breath, because they each deserve it.

Here are the five major reasons why Chicago blew this game:

1. The Defense Turned Into a Pumpkin in the Fourth Quarter

For three quarters, Dennis Allen’s defense looked like it came straight out of 1985. They bullied J.J. McCarthy into irrelevance, holding him to scraps. Justin Jefferson? Just one measly catch for four yards in the first half. The Vikings had 85 total yards and five first downs after three quarters. That’s straight-up domination.

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And then the fourth quarter hit.

The Bears gave up 169 yards and nine first downs in just 15 minutes. Minnesota scored on three straight touchdown drives, and Jefferson got loose for a 13-yard dagger of a TD. McCarthy suddenly had time to throw, missed tackles started piling up like beer cans in the Soldier Field parking lot, and Chicago’s pass rush just… disappeared.

Defensive Splits

Yes, the Bears were banged up — no Jaylon Johnson, no T.J. Edwards, no Kyler Gordon. But this wasn’t about bodies. This was about collapsing when it mattered most. Elite defenses close games. This one folded like a lawn chair.

2. Penalties That Belonged in a Pop Warner Game

Twelve penalties. One hundred twenty-seven yards. That’s how you beat yourself.

Four false starts in the first half alone, including two from new right guard Jonah Jackson. That’s not jitters — that’s sloppy football. And it didn’t stop there. Nahshon Wright got hit with a 42-yard pass interference in the first quarter that basically handed Minnesota three points.

But the backbreaker came in the fourth quarter: Tyrique Stevenson’s defensive pass interference on Jalen Nailor. The Vikings went from sputtering to sitting on Chicago’s 27-yard line, and of course, they punched it in.

This wasn’t just bad timing — this was a team that looked unprepared and undisciplined. You can’t claim to be a contender and give away that many yards for free.

3. Cairo Santos: The Silent Killer

Look, I’ve defended Cairo Santos in the past. But Monday night, he screwed the Bears.

First, he missed a 50-yard field goal late in the third quarter that would’ve stretched the lead to 20-6. Instead, Minnesota immediately flipped momentum with their first touchdown drive of the game. That kick was the hinge moment — hit it, and the Vikings are gasping for air. Miss it, and you give them life.

Then came the special teams blunder from hell. After Chicago scored late to cut the lead to 27-24, Santos kicked it five yards deep instead of out the back of the end zone. Minnesota’s Ty Chandler returned it, burning precious seconds before the two-minute warning. That mistake cost the Bears around 40 seconds of game clock. When they finally got the ball back? Nine seconds remained. Game over.

Special teams screwups like this don’t make the highlight reel, but they kill you just the same.

4. Caleb Williams Regressed When It Mattered

For a while, it looked like Caleb Williams was ready to arrive. He completed his first 10 passes, marched the Bears down the field on the opening drive, and looked every bit like the No. 1 pick who was supposed to save this franchise. His first half? 13-of-16 for 112 yards. Smooth, confident, in control.

The second half? A horror show.

Williams went 8-of-19 for 98 yards. He held the ball too long, missed open receivers, and even picked up an intentional grounding penalty that sabotaged a scoring drive. Most painful of all: he flat-out missed a wide-open D.J. Moore on what should’ve been a touchdown.

Caleb Williams’ Passing Splits

That’s not just regression — that’s falling off a cliff.

This is exactly the kind of regression Bears fans feared. It wasn’t just about stats — it was about composure. When Minnesota punched back, Williams didn’t. He shrank. And if he’s supposed to be the difference-maker, that can’t happen.

5. Ben Johnson’s Debut Was a Coaching Clinic… for the Wrong Team

The Ben Johnson hype train pulled into Soldier Field, and fans were ready for fireworks. Instead, they got a master class in how not to manage a game.

Let’s count the sins:

• Wasted timeout: Challenged a Hockenson “fumble” that was clearly not a fumble.
• Left points on the board: Went for it on 4th-and-3 from the Vikings’ 24 instead of taking a field goal. Williams overthrew D.J. Moore, and Chicago got nothing.
• Conservative play-calling: After going up 17-6, Johnson’s offense produced just one field goal across eight drives.
• Discipline failures: The penalty mess reflects on the head coach, period.

If you wanted to see the difference between a rookie head coach learning on the job and a team that knows how to close games, Monday night gave you the perfect example.

Final Verdict

Here’s the brutal truth: this isn’t just one game. This is a trend. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Bears have now blown four games since 2023 where they led by 10+ in the fourth quarter — the most in the NFL. That’s not bad luck. That’s their DNA.

Bears Blown Leads Since 2023

Ben Johnson was supposed to change that. Caleb Williams was supposed to change that. But when the lights were brightest, the Bears defaulted to the same old script: collapse, undiscipline, excuses.

Until this team proves it can finish, they’ll just be another franchise with hype in September and heartbreak by December.

Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance

 Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher

The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.

Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”

And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.

Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’

Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.

“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”

That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.

“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”

Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board

Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.

“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”

Packers Have Commanders Next

And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.

“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”

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