Bears’ late game clock management issue against the Vikings came down to one player who’s burned the team far too many times
A reoccurring problem at a critical position.
A lot went wrong for the Chicago Bears in the regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings for the final result to end up the way it did, and there’s a lot of finger-pointing to go around.
The Bears’ offense failed to adapt to defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ defense, quarterback Caleb Williams struggled to make routine throws and keep the unit on schedule, the run game had issues with consistency, and the defense got gassed in the fourth quarter after a strong start.
Sounds similar, right? How about the part where the Bears botched a clock management situation late in the final two minutes and had kicking issues to lose the game? Does that sound familiar?
Ben Johnson explains what went wrong on the final kickoff
Late in the final quarter, the Bears’ offense finally got back in the end zone after Williams hit wide receiver Rome Odunze for a touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the game. The Bears were still down three points and needed to find a way to get the ball back while having just one timeout.
The Bears had two options: attempt an onside kick or kick the ball out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. Bears head coach Ben Johnson settled for option two.
“The intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone,” Johnson said after the loss while speaking with reporters. “We did [consider an onside kick]. We felt like if we kicked it out of the endzone, and got the three-and-out that we got, we’d get the ball back with around 56 seconds.”
Instead, the kickoff was short and went halfway into the end zone. Ty Chandler took the ball out on the return, as requested by the Vikings sideline, to shave off the two-minute warning for the offense. After the Bears got the three-and-out defensively, the team’s offense instead got the ball with nine seconds remaining.
Once again, the leg of kicker Cairo Santos cost the Bears a better chance to win the game, much like it did more than once in 2024. Not to mention Santos’ 50-yard field goal attempt that went wide right at the start of the fourth quarter. The Bears ultimately lost the game by three points.
Earlier in training camp, the Bears held a kicker competition after bringing in undrafted rookie Jonathan Kim, who had a much stronger leg than Santos. The veteran kicker ultimately won the competition after kicking a 57-yard field goal in the preseason opener.
“That was pretty strong,” Johnson said of that specific kick. “I was joking with him that we probably didn’t even need that many yards. We could’ve kicked it from backed up the way he nailed that thing.”
Just a few weeks later, not getting those extra yards nor having accuracy from deep led to two missed opportunities for the Bears in the regular season opener. Enough should be enough.
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