Pain. A guttural scream. Rolling around in the rain-filled grass. A stadium of 60,000 fans fell silent.
Those fans had the misfortune of watching their franchise quarterback, Caleb Williams, be surrounded by trainers and medical staff. What looked to be one of his famed scrambles turned out to be anything but.
An entire city held its breath, fearing that the boundless hope they had before the contest would be the very thing that sent them tumbling back down the mountain.
THE LEADUP
Going into the game, Chicagoans had plenty of reasons to feel optimistic. Just a week earlier, they watched their team score a whopping 59 points against the Carolina Panthers. A game in which the team’s rushing attack combined for 291 yards and six touchdowns, earning lead back D’Andre Swift NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. A game where Caleb Williams made brilliant plays with both his arm and his legs. A game that made it seem like anything was possible.
This would turn out to be true, just not in the way they hoped.
On the other side of the docket was their division foe, the Minnesota Vikings, who also won their season opener over the Green Bay Packers with a dominant fourth quarter led by the defense. This was despite starting quarterback Kyler Murray being injured early and replaced by veteran backup Carson Wentz.
All the hype coming into this game was about the exciting matchup between Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s high-octane offense and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ lockdown defense. This would surely be a showdown for the ages.
STUCK IN THE MUD
Not if Chicago weather has anything to say about that.
A general view of Soldier Field during the first quarter of the game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (Patrick Gorski / Imagn-Images)
Pellets and pellets of relentless rain meant there would be very little offense to speak of in this matchup. Both teams settled for field goals on their opening drives with little else to speak of aside from a filthy juke move by Williams to set up his team’s kick and a terrible interception on the very next drive.
High highs and low lows are the name of the game. Minnesota chugged along just enough to set up kicker Will Reichard for another field goal. Meanwhile, Chicago got all the way down to the Minnesota 30 but slid back to midfield through a series of buffoonish penalties.
At halftime, an offense that had scored 31 points in the first half last week had just three this week, and trailed 6-3 at the break.
Fans were understandably frustrated and likely had many questions on their mind, such as: Why is Garrett Bradbury starting? Where is Colston Loveland? Why is the offense being run through Kalif Raymond? All valid questions that may never get an answer.
STARTING TO SPUTTER
In the second half, the Bears appeared to finally gain a little traction thanks to a couple of first-down runs from running back Kyle Monangai and a miraculous pass from Williams to Raymond on third down that set the team up with First-and-goal on the one-yard line.
Johnson devised a seemingly wise plan of handing the ball up the gut to Swift, his lead back who received an award for his performance the previous week. However, as the saying goes, the best-laid plans of mice and offensive gurus often go awry.
Vikings defensive lineman Jalen Redmond punched the ball out of Swift’s mitts right at the goal line, and defensive back Isaiah Rodgers recovered. Slipping and falling right at the finish line.
Minnesota Vikings defensive back Isaiah Rodgers (2) celebrates recovering a fumble during the third quarter of the game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (David Banks / AP Photo).
Thanks to a stiff Bears defense and the rain not letting up, the offense would have another chance to tie or take the lead deep into the fourth quarter. The time the Bears became famous for saving all of their energy for and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Swift did his best to make up for his error by taking a screen pass over 30 yards into Minnesota territory. A bullet pass to receiver Rome Odunze put Chicago in the red zone. A pop pass over the middle to rookie tight end Sam Roush finally scored the first touchdown of the da- scratch that, he dropped it.
A tough run from Monangai kept the drive on a crucial fourth-down conversion. On the next play, Williams rolled to his left and saw the tight end Loveland open in the flat. He waved him off and told him to go block.
He scampered to avoid the outstretched arms of Vikings edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, but then he fell. Awkwardly. He lay on his back like he had many times before, only this time he didn’t get up right away.
CURSED
He dug his head in the grass and grabbed his facemask in agony. He tried his best to get up, but he couldn’t.
As Oduzne said after the game, “I’ve never seen him be down like that – he usually pops back up. I’ve seen him pop back up after hits and all sorts of things.”
This wasn’t just any hit. In fact, it wasn’t a hit at all. Williams was well past Van Ginkel when he went down. A non-contact injury. The worst kind.
Just a couple of months ago, EA Sports announced Williams as the cover athlete for the new video game Madden NFL 27, which was released in August. It would appear that the “Madden Curse” against cover athletes had struck again.
Williams was eventually helped off the field by medical staff and carted into the locker room as he gave a thumbs-up to all the Bears fans in their brightly colored ponchos on a gloomy day.
Out goes No. 18, in comes No. 17. Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who had thrown just six passes in the previous two seasons, was in the game. The offense stalled out and was forced to settle for another field goal from Cairo Santos, who would, at the very least, tie the game and give the Bears a fighting chance.
That was a lie, actually. Off the edge, Isaiah Rodgers blocked the kick, keeping the score at 6-3 Vikings. Even the special teams had a bad day.
A few chunk passes to receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson allowed the Vikings to churn the clock and allowed Reichard to doink in a field goal to make the score 9-3. Way to kick the Bears while they’re down.
ONE LAST GASP
However, this gave the Bears 60 seconds to go 65 yards to score the go-ahead touchdown to win the game. A backup quarterback doesn’t tend to inspire a lot of confidence in these situations, but a chance is a chance.
Bagent appeared to take advantage of his chance with big passes to receivers Luther Burden III and Odunze that helped get Chicago all the way to Minnesota’s twelve-yard line. The best the passing game had looked all day.
With one second left, Chicago had one shot left. One more opportunity to turn a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day into a terrible, horrible, no good, hey, at least we won day.
Bagent wouldn’t even get to fire the shot.
Minnesota edge rusher Dallas Turner blew past Loveland to sack Bagent before he could get the throw away.
Game over. Minnesota emerges victorious.
In a sloppy, touchdown-less defensive struggle. The Vikings made fewer mistakes and had a little less misfortune, which was all they needed to pick up their second division win of the year, while the Bears fell to 1-1 and face an uncertain future.
WHAT’S NEXT?
On the schedule, the Bears will stay home for a primetime showdown on Monday Night Football against the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles, who haven’t looked overly impressive despite the good record.
The more pressing matter than the game next week is, of course, Williams’ health. Early reports stated that he suffered a hamstring injury, and MRIs confirm that he will be week-to-week.
Bagent will likely get the starting nod in the meantime and have a chance to show the world why he received a two-year, $10 million contract extension before last season. The season isn’t over just yet, but if the Chicago Bears want to stay afloat, they’ll need to get back to not being outscored by both of the city’s baseball teams.
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