The Chicago Bears were beaten in a totally unexpected way in a 9-3 Week 2 loss against the Minnesota Vikings, a game that included a potentially serious non-contact injury to star QB Caleb Williams. The Vikings' Brian Flores-led defense made Williams and his teammates look stupid all day long and Williams felt the pressure, injuring his right hamstring late in the game without being touched.
The Bears are a team that has been built up by head coach Ben Johnson to be accountable for their mistakes, and there is plenty of blame to go around after Week 2's game.ÃÂ Four Bears deserve the brunt of the blame after their Week 2 letdown, including some of the brightest offensive minds in football who may have gotten a little ahead of themselves against a tough defensive team.
Bear #1: Ben Johnson
Johnson is still learning the ropes as a head coach even after an NFC North title-winning first season in the Windy City, but that doesn't excuse his team's performance in a crucial game against Minnesota. Johnson boasted before the season that he wants to have the NFL's best offense of all-time, but his boast appears to have inflated his team's ego a bit based on their uneven results from Week 1 to Week 2.
The Bears put 59 points on the Carolina Panthers' heads in Week 1 before scoring just three points against Minnesota. Chicago should be focusing on improving as a team and as individuals, not on setting records as the only record that truly matters is a Super Bowl championship.
Chicago hasn't won a Super Bowl title since 1986. Those Bears Super Bowl shuffled their way to the top led by the bravado and skills of quarterback Jim McMahon, but this season's Bears don't appear to have the same swagger. It's fair to wonder if Williams and Johnson are the right fit after Week 2's disaster, from a personality standpoint, not necessarily a talent standpoint.
Bear #2: Press Taylor
The Bears' offensive coordinator did not have the right gameplan in place against the Vikings and it showed with a miserable performance. Taylor praised the Bears' offense's mentality heading into the weekend but the exact opposite of what fans expected unfolded at Soldier Field.
Taylor failed the Bears' offense with a gameplan that yielded four sacks and a running game that was mostly below par. He left Williams out on an island and Williams crumbled under the pressure. Williams looked like he was pressing way too hard late in the game as he injured himself on a play that included zero contact.
Bear #3: Colston LovelandÃÂ
The former first-round pick out of Michigan looks like he has regressed after a strong rookie season that has given way to mistakes and ineffectiveness so far in year two. Loveland looked like the perfect target for Williams headed into the season among an impressive group of wide receivers but has made mistakes as a blocker and as a pass catcher with mediocre production.
He was bowled over by Vikings LB Dallas Turner on a sack that clinched the game, looking helpless as Tyson Bagent was dragged down to the turf. Loveland is too big and too talented to be made to look foolish the way he was by Turner, regardless of Turner's immense talents.
Loveland needs to look in the mirror and realize that he has too much talent to play the way he's been playing so far. Bagent has major deficiencies in his passing skills and will need Loveland and the rest of the Bears to step up and bail him out if Williams isn't able to go in the coming weeks.
Bear #4: Caleb WilliamsÃÂ
Williams is the straw that stirs the drink for Johnson and Taylor's offense but he didn't look like his usual self. Williams puts a ton of pressure on himself as a former Heisman winner in one of the United States' biggest cities and he wasn't able to match he and Johnson's near-impossible expectations in Week 2.
Williams saw an opening on a bootleg late in the game and put the cart before the horse on a run that ended with a hamstring injury and a woefully disappointed fanbase. Williams has learned to rein in his emotions since entering the NFL, and appeared to encounter another difficult one to face in Week 2: impatience.
He was sacked three times, threw an interception and generally had a forgettable performance that he ironically will never forget because of his hamstring injury. Williams will now have time to watch and remember the skills and discipline that made him a star in the first place.
The Bears still have plenty of season left to make a run, but Week 2 was an outright disaster for Williams, his teammates and coaches. The Bears and their fans deserve better, now the question is what each player and coach can do to make better days a reality.