Andrew Van Ginkel applies pressure as Caleb Williams tries to get a pass off outside the pocket in Monday night's Bears loss. / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
The losses all blend together now after eight straight.
The Bears suffered a 30-12 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings Monday night and took a physical beating.
Never mind that Doug Kramer returned for another disaster at the goal line or that rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie made a debut right out of a horror movie after an odd concussion suffered by Braxton Jones, or even the lopsided third-down and fourth-down numbers.
The Bears (4-10) kept trying but simply could not compete on either side of the ball with a Vikings team rolling downhill toward the playoffs, and now in first-place in the NFC North at 12-2.
“We wanted to be aggressive going into the game,†interim coach Thomas Browns aid. “It was a point off emphasis for our unit to kind of be able to stay on the grass and make some plays.
“It backfired early. Defense, I thought, played their butts off and put us in good spots, kept us in the game. For the most part I thought special teams also played particularly well. But when you end up having nine penalties, you’re 1-of-12 on third downs, it makes it very difficult to stay on the grass, sustain drives.â€
Williams eventually was pulled on the last series of the game after he went 18 of 31 for 191 yards with a touchdown and absorbed physical punishment all game, even though he was actually sacked only twice.
The Bears went through a third straight scoreless first half as they fell behind first for the 13th time in 14 games, which explains why all the games are starting to run together. Eventually Sam Darnold wore down the Bears defense with 24-of-40 passing for 231 yards and a TD to Justin Jefferson, who had seven catches for 73 yards.
“It’s tough when the other team is scoring in the first half and you’re not scoring and you’ve got to come out in the second half and have these comeback games,†Williams said. “You put pressure on the offense and the defense to hold them to where they’re at and you’ve got to go down and score.â€
Any chances for an upset seemed to disappear in the first half when the offense failed on two fourth-and-1 runs, one at their own 40-yard line, and also when Williams was blind-sided by Jonathan Greenard for a strip sack.
The fumble lost set up the Vikings at the Bears 39 for an easy drive to a 7-yard TD catch by Justin Jefferson and a 10-0 Minnesota lead. The Vikings converted the failed fourth-and-1 at the Bears 40 on the first drive into a 52-yard Will Reichard field goal.
Reichard’s 31-yard field goal made it 13-0 at halftime.
The chances were there for something more. The Bears reached the 1-yard line in the third quarter and sent in center Doug Kramer at fullback, like they did against Washington earlier this season. D’Andre Swift’s 1-yard run TD behind Kramer's block appeared to pull them to 13-6 But Kramer failed to report to officials as an eligible player on the play and the penalty wiped out the TD.
The Bears (4-10) went backward from there and settled for Cairo Santos’ 29-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 13-3 instead of 13-7.
“I believe right in that moment I heard him say that he reported and when he was on the field,†Williams said. “The ref didn’t see it, and so having self-inflicted wounds right there on that and then we get backed up and we score again and have another self-inflicted wound, it’s challenging.
“Scoring in this league is tough. Winning games is tough. You’ve got to score to be able to win. Taking those points off the board, I think it obviously hurt us in that moment because it was obviously such a big moment for us. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to not have the self-inflicted wounds, whether it’s a penalty, you know, facemasks or illegal substitutions and things like that.â€
Part of the reason for Williams taking a physical beating was Amegadjie starting. He allowed a strip-sack and committed four penalties, two holdings, an illegal man downfield and a false start.
“I have confidence in his ability,†Brown said of Amagadjie. “I think being able to kind of work him in that spotâ€"he had been rotating the last few days and weeks also behind Braxton.â€
After the 29-yard field goal, Aaron Jones started putting it away for Minnesota with a 1-yard third-quarter TD run. Santos added a 39-yard field goal and Williams found Keenan Allen for a 16-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota kept answering with scores. Â
Cam Akers’ 1-yard TD run and Reichard’s 46-yard field goal kept the Bears at a distance.
The Bears had a strong second half from D’Andre Swift, who ran for 79 yards, Tyrique Stevenson picked off a pass and special teams had a blocked punt from Dominique Robinson to make possible their lone TD in the fourth quarter. Other than that, they were outclassed. Again.
“I mean, I feel like we competed and clearly didn’t execute,†cornerback Jaylon Johnson told reporters.  “I mean there’s some fight left, I would say, but in the end of the day it didn’t go our way.â€
It hasn’t for quite a while, eight straight weeks to be exact.