The Morning After...the Bears' brutal OT loss vs. Vikings

The Chicago Bears (4-7) suffered a 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings (9-2) on Sunday, which marked Chicago's fifth straight loss and another one-score loss for head coach Matt Eberflus.

For the second straight week, the Bears were poised to upset an NFC North rival, but they found a way to lose to the Vikings. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had one of his best games of his young career, which included leading his team to 11 points in the final minutes to force overtime. But, unfortunately, the defense collapsed, poor coaching cost them and the Vikings were able to pull out the win.

There was plenty to break down following Chicago's loss against Minnesota, including another loss on Eberflus, Williams' special play and what it all means for the future. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their thoughts following the Week 12 loss:

The Morning After...the Bears' frustrating loss vs. Vikings

Alyssa Barbieri

The only thing that matters to me for the duration of this season is the development of Caleb Williams. So I wasn't mad following the Bears' fifth straight loss -- another one-score loss for Matt Eberflus' tattered resume. Not after watching Williams do what he did against a Brian Flores defense that's among the best in the league. For anyone who was doing a redraft of the rookie quarterbacks through the first few weeks of the season -- and had Williams at third or worse -- just know that we're keeping the receipts and your take will age like milk. Because while this Bears football team is going nowhere, Williams is going places.

Williams had the best game of his rookie season against a top-three Vikings defense that had no answer for him. While he's posted better statistical numbers, this was the first time he did it against a talented defense where he made some absolutely insane throws that not many quarterbacks in the NFL can make. Williams also posted the third-highest passer rating against Minnesota this season, which speaks volumes. Interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown has done wonders for building Williams' confidence and letting him ball out the way he has, even if it is in losing efforts. Although this one falls on the defense.

Now on to Matt Eberflus. What else is there to say that hasn't already been said since the Hail Mary loss? He's completely lost this team. The one thing he had left to stand on was his defense, which has now collapsed and can't seem to get off the field in third-and-long situations. The longer Eberflus remains the head coach, the warmer Ryan Poles' seat gets as he could've prevented this whole thing.

Assuming the Bears lose to the Lions -- and I have every confidence they'll find a way to -- they should fire Eberflus and promote Brown to interim head coach and give him an extensive interview for the head coach job. But they won't. So I take solace in knowing that we have just six games left in the Eberflus era while Williams is the good hands of Brown for the duration.

Brendan Sugrue

As I sat in my football bunker watching Caleb Williams do whatever it took to will the Bears to a touchdown drive inside of two minutes, all I could do was think about how maybe for once, the Bears could be on the other side of one of these miraculous blown losses and actually snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I thought this team was due for something good to happen. And then it did, thanks to an onside kick recovery, a dart from Williams to Moore, and a field goal that wasn’t blocked to force overtime, where the Bears got the ball. This was it—the first signature victory for Williams to help turn the tides. Then the powers that be said that was enough and reverted back to the same old story, which was that the Bears lost another close game at the very end. Keep playing the hits, I guess.

Losing follows this team around like a lingering stench, and it all starts with Matt Eberflus. His excellent coordinating skills have vanished as his defenses have given up too many long touchdown drives in recent weeks. He’s already subpar at every other coaching responsibility he has on the sideline. With the defense struggling, he has no redeeming qualities as a coach. At least Williams was a bright spot.

The rookie had arguably his best day as a Bear, making some big-time throws in tight coverages to move the chains. I’ve seen a few people sum up this game by saying Williams is good and Eberflus is bad, and that’s all you need to know. That tracks. The quarterback is doing his best to overcome poor coaching, and he’s doing a heck of a job at it. You could also feel that his chemistry with his top weapons was the best it’s been all year long. Too bad it won’t mean anything when it comes to wins and losses.

This was another tough loss, and they all sting in different ways. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism, but I’m going to remember the sheer euphoria I had watching that fourth quarter. It will remind me that better days should be ahead for Williams and this group. It’s all I can do at this point.

Lucas Hunt

I knew the season had truly gone awry when it wasn’t excitement that overcame me as the Bears prepared to receive the opening overtime kickoff, but pure dread as I was almost certain another choke job was coming. My instincts had the right of it: the Bears predictably went three-and-out to begin the extra period, and every hair-pulling third down conversion the defense allowed only compounded the anxiety I felt as another crippling Bears’ loss grew near. An all-too-easy game-winning field goal for Minnesota later, and only one thought stood prominently in my mind: “how much more evidence do the Bears need for them to realize that head coach Matt Eberflus is the problem?”

If the conspiracy theories are true and the NFL truly does script out entire seasons ahead of time, then they got to hire better script writers – the game-to-game plot for the Bears is mind-numbingly dull. Chicago does the same song and dance nearly every week: start slow, quickly fall behind, make a second half rally, and ultimately lose in an almost comical fashion. I’d almost prefer if these ridiculous late-game collapses were predetermined, because the alternative presents a harder pill to swallow –Eberflus doesn’t know how to lead his team to wins. Chicago’s third-year head coach is an appalling 14-30 in his time with the Bears, having more than double the amount of losses than wins in his role leading the team. Eberflus is clearly no longer a fit with the Bears, yet ownership clings to their deeply-rooted traditions and refuses to fire a coach in-season, all but dooming the rest of Chicago’s year with their cowardice.

Any competent organization would have made the tough call and eliminated any variables that could hinder their team’s future success. The club’s complacency to sit on their hands and allow their season to wilt away reveals a very ugly truth about the Bears.

Vinnie Parise

Unfortunately, the Chicago Bears losing games is not a surprise. They do that quite a bit. It is honestly fascinating how they are finding new ways to have heartbreaking losses. This time, an overtime loss to a division rival in the Minnesota Vikings is the story. The Bears, who were down by two scores with under two minutes to go, found a way to get it tied. They did so thanks to some brilliance from Caleb Williams and the first onside recover by any team in 2024 with the new rules.

It is most unfortunate that they weren’t able to find that game winning score in OT before Minnesota did but that’s the reality of it. This is Chicago’s fifth straight loss following a 4-2 record going into their bye week. It honestly was a good game for the Bears if you look at it in a certain way. Matt Eberflus had another terrible game with clock management and decision making which puts them one step closer to making a change.

This was also another game that suggests that Caleb Williams is going to be a superstar. He made throws in tight windows that only a handful of guys can make in addition to making plays with his legs when necessary. Having him play well is the most important thing at this point and he played better than well. Now it’s a short week coming up for the Bears. They have the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. That one is not going to be pretty if Eberflus mismanages things the way he has against recent opponents. We can only hope that these games against Green Bay and Minnesota help Williams play well in Detroit.

Preston Comer

Yet again, Matt Eberflus has led the Chicago Bears to another one-score loss. I doubt that anything will happen during the season, but the last month of Bears football has hopefully put Ryan Poles and the McCaskey’s on the radar to move on from Eberflus. The Bears defense — his only saving grace — has given up points in the clutch way too often this season.

Special teams Richard Hightower should also be on the hot seat after this week. After the Bears lost the game on a blocked field goal, Hightower made no adjustments with Cairo Santos and the first field goal attempt of the game was blocked the exact same way. The field goal at the end of the game and the onside kick were successful, but that came at the cost of a horrible miscommunication on a punt return.

People talk about how close the Bears are to being 7-4 instead of 4-7. Let’s get real for a minute. These players have worked their butts off and have shown great flashes — especially since the firing of Shane Waldron. But Eberflus doesn’t deserve a 7-4 football team. The short-term goal for Chicago now should be to develop Caleb Williams and Thomas Brown.

Williams has played great the last two weeks, and arguably had the best game of his young career against the Minnesota Vikings — one of the NFL’s top defenses. Brown is helping him get easy completions and get the ball out quickly. But most importantly, Williams looks confident now.

The Bears have a short week to prepare for one of the best teams in the league, the Detroit Lions. While I may be pessimistic about the result of that matchup, I hope to see Williams and the Bears offense continue to grow.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: The Morning After...the Bears' brutal OT loss vs. Vikings