CHICAGO -- The Bears had 10 days of good vibes coming off their Week 5 win over the Washington Commanders. They had 10 days to plan for a Vikings team that is circling the drain.
None of that mattered Sunday as the Bears fell 19-13 at Soldier Field in a game that quarterback Justin Fields left in the third quarter due to a right-hand injury. X-rays were negative, and Fields will get an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.
On the field, the Bears' defense authored its best performance of the season, giving them a chance to climb to 2-4. But Fields and the offense were stuck in neutral, and backup quarterback Tyson Bagent's late interception sealed the Bears' fate.
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Here's the report card from a dispiriting day at Soldier Field in which the outcome was secondary.
Passing offense
Whatever rhythm the Bears' offense found against the Broncos and Commanders, Brian Flores and the Vikings quickly snuffed that out.
The Bears knew that the Vikings blitzed a lot, but Minnesota threw some curveballs at the Bears they did not expect. This led to Fields being pressured on 23.5 percent of his dropbacks and sacked on 28.6, per TruMedia.
The Vikings did everything they could to take DJ Moore out of the game. Moore and Darnell Mooney had just two targets combined at halftime.
Fields went 6-for-10 for 58 yards and an interception before exiting with a right-hand injury.
CHICAGO BEARS
Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent entered and was a mixed back. Bagent completed his first NFL pass to Velus Jones Jr. but was strip-sacked two plays later. The Vikings recovered the fumble and ran it back for what would wind up being the game-deciding score.
Bagent shook off the strip-sack and engineered a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive in which he went four-for-four for 55 yards. Bagent capped the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak.
The good vibes didn't last, though.
Bagent had a chance to lead a game-winning drive, but he underthrew Moore and was picked off by Byron Murphy Jr. with two minutes to go, cementing the Bears' fate.
There was no rhythm to the Bears' passing game Sunday. The plan was odd, and the protection was bad.
Bagent should be commended for doing some good things while being thrown in the fire, but the Bears will need a lot better from him if Fields is forced to miss extended time.
Fields GRADE: D
Bagent Grade: C-
TEAM GRADE: D-
Rushing offense
With no Khalil Herbert and no Roschon Johnson, D'Onta Foreman got his chance to show the Bears what he could do.
Foreman ran hard Sunday, tallying 65 yards on 15 carries. He was very close to breaking several big runs, but Vikings defenders ended up barely clipping his shoes. Foreman lamented being unable to slip out of the shoe-string tackles after the game.
Darrynton Evans rushed for 32 yards on nine carries, while Fields gained 46 yards on eight carries before leaving.
The Bears also showed a new wrinkle by lining Velus Jones Jr. up in the backfield. Jones rushed two times for 15 yards.
The run game was adequate but not as explosive as it has been over the past two weeks.
GRADE: C
Pass defense
No Justin Jefferson helped, but the Bears (almost) fully healthy secondary played pretty well Sunday.
The Bears held Kirk Cousins to 181 yards (5.8 per attempt) and one touchdown. They didn't pick off Cousins but did a good job defending K.J. Osborn and Jordan Addison (seven catches, 76 yards combined). Tight end T.J. Hockenson caught six passes for 50 yards but was relatively held in check by a combination of Jaquan Brisker and Tremaine Edmunds.
The lone blemish on the secondary's card was the two-minute drive they gave up at the end of the first half. Leading 6-3, Cousins led an eight-play, 77-yard drive, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Addison to extend the lead to 12-6 after a blocked PAT.
That lone defensive break was the difference in the game. However, it was a positive sign that the Bears finally held a team under 20 points. They also get points for T.J. Edwards' strip sack that Edmunds recovered—pretty good day for the linebackers.
GRADE: B
Run defense
The Vikings entered the game as one of the NFL's worst rushing offenses.
That trend continued Sunday as the Bears held the Vikings to 46 yards rushing on 22 carries.
That's probably the best performance by a Bears run defense since I started covering the team. (I'm not going to count the Commanders game since they didn't hand the ball off after the second quarter.)
GRADE: A
Coaching
I can't say there were any glaring coaching issues today from Matt Eberflus.
Luke Getsy's offensive plan of attack was disjointed, but that could have just been a function of the Vikings throwing things they weren't ready for at them.
Still, the lack of offensive adjustments is concerning.
GRADE: C-