The Chicago Bears played Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings without 14 players who were on the reserve/COVID-19 list and a handful of others who were out with injuries.
Precision, discipline and anything resembling winning football were missing too.
The list of Bears mistakes in the 17-9 loss — which officially eliminated the Bears (4-10) from playoff contention — was lengthy.
Quarterback Justin Fields and running back David Montgomery each lost a fumble in the first half.
Kicker Cairo Santos had a 49-yard field-goal attempt blocked.
Returner Damiere Byrd muffed a punt that the Vikings (7-7) recovered.
The Bears had nine penalties for 91 yards. Some might have been questionable officiating. A couple might have been coach Matt Nagy and rookie left tackle Teven Jenkins showing fire. All, however, cost the Bears.
Fields was sacked three times for a loss of 30 yards, including twice in the third quarter. One was for a loss of 14 yards to ruin a drive. Another was on a botched fourth-and-1 play.
The Bears went 0-for-4 in the red zone before a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game. That included stalling on consecutive fourth-quarter drives at the 9- and 13-yard lines.
A Bears defense missing its entire starting secondary did its best to contain a Vikings offense that entered with the fourth-most yards per game in the NFL.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins completed just 12 of 24 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns, and Dalvin Cook had 28 carries for 89 yards.
Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks, playing after a four-game absence due to an ankle injury, each had two sacks. Safety Deon Bush intercepted Cousins in the first half.
And after Cousins led a 12-play, 77-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, capped by a 7-yard pass to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, the Bears defense gave the offense a shot to pull off a win late in the game.
The offense, missing top wide receivers Allen Robinson (COVID-19) and Marquise Goodwin (foot), couldn’t come through.
Fields completed 26 of 39 passes for 285 yards, and Montgomery had 18 carries for 60 yards. Fields’ stats were helped by a game-ending drive that included a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jesper Horsted as time expired for the final score.
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<mark class=”hl_yellow”>Here’s how the Week 15 game unfolded:</mark>
Inactives announced
Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks are active Monday night against the Vikings.
Smith suffered a hamstring injury against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. He hasn’t missed any starts, but he aggravated the injury last week against the Green Bay Packers.
Hicks missed the last four games with an ankle injury.
The Bears activated offensive tackle Germain Ifedi from injured reserve, and he will play Monday. Ifedi has been out since Oct. 10 with a knee injury and returned to practice last week.
The Bears elevated eight players from the practice squad, and all are active: wide receivers Nsimba Webster and Dazz Newsome, defensive backs Thomas Graham Jr., Dee Virgin, Michael Joseph and BoPete Keyes, linebacker Charles Snowden and defensive end LaCale London.
Inactive for the Bears are cornerback Xavier Crawford, left tackle Jason Peters, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin and defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga.
All 14 players who entered the day on the reserve/COVID-19 list also are out.
For the Vikings, quarterback Kellen Mond, wide receiver Adam Thielen, linebacker Chazz Surratt and guard Wyatt Davis are inactive.
Halftime: Bears trail 10-3 after losing 2 fumbles
The Bears lost two fumbles in the first half and trailed the Vikings 10-3 at halftime.
Quarterback Justin Fields and running back David Montgomery each had a turnover. Fields’ lost fumble led to a Vikings field goal, and one drive later, Montgomery lost the ball in the red zone.
The Bears defense, which was missing all of its starters in the secondary because of COVID-19 and injury, did a decent job slowing the Vikings offense.
After Robert Quinn recorded his second sack of the night against Kirk Cousins — his 16th sack of the season — Cousins threw an interception right to Bears safety Deon Bush, who was all alone down the field.
The Bears had a chance to score late in the second quarter, but Vikings defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson blocked Cairo Santos’ 49-yard field-goal attempt. Santos made a 34-yarder earlier in the quarter.
Cousins’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 5:03 to play in the first quarter. On the third-and-5 play, Jefferson beat Bush in the end zone.
Jefferson also caught an 18-yard pass with Marqui Christian in coverage on third-and-8 during the drive to get the Vikings to the 34-yard line.
The Vikings made it 10-0 on a drive that started after Fields fumbled when Cameron Dantzler hit him on a run. Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr recovered.
The Vikings had first-and-10 at the 12 after Bears coach Matt Nagy was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing with an official. But the Bears forced Cousins to throw incomplete and stopped Dalvin Cook for no gain before Quinn sacked Cousins on third down. Greg Joseph then made a 37-yard field goal.
Cousins completed 9 of 16 passes for 60 yards and the touchdown, and Cook had 10 carries for 44 yards.
Fields completed 10 of 12 passes for 93 yards, and Montgomery had 11 carries for 45 yards.
Bears punt returner Jakeem Grant, who was named to the Pro Bowl before the game, left to be evaluated for a concussion.
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