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After The Whistle: Caleb Williams injured in dreadful 9-3 loss to the Vikings
The Bears lost 9-3 to the Vikings in sloppy, sluggish and gross football game. To make matters worse, Caleb Williams was injured. We discuss the game on After The Whistle.
It really was a day where everything went from bad to worse for the Chicago Bears.
Not only did they lose 9-3 to a division rival, but they lost their franchise player, could barely move the ball and had to suffer through it all in a disgusting day.
Here are our takeaways from a dreadful day at Soldier Field, where Caleb Williams got hurt and the Bears found the most frustrating part of their team.
The city of Chicago holds it breath now
It seemed like a script we had seen before.
The Bears, down in the fourth quarter, had Caleb Williams leading the charge. The comeback felt on. Everything felt like it was so back.
Then, a slip. Then, the screams.
Viewers could hear Williams writhing in pain through the screen. It was as deflating as it was worrisome. The Bears’ quarterback of the future was hurt.
"You could kind of see in real time," Ben Johnson said.
In what was a worst-case scenario for the Bears in any regard, Williams came off the field just as the offense was finding some footing. As soon as the Bears found that spark, it was gone.
Tyson Bagent came in. The Bears settled for a field goal, and that kick was blocked. The Bears would go on to lose 9-3. A week after scoring 59 points against Carolina, the Bears only mustered three points.
That all felt secondary, though.
What happened to Williams is what’s going to be on everyone’s mind in the near and distant future. Luckily, the Bears did get some good news.
"I'm actually happy it's nothing with the knee, that was my first inclination," Johnson said. "Yeah, the hamstring could be pretty damaging as well. So, we'll see how bad it is tomorrow and we'll go from there."
Monday will be the true testament of the short-term outlook for the Bears.
"He’s a very resilient guy," Bears receiver Rome Odunze said of Williams.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 20: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears is carted off the field after an injury against the Minnesota Vikings during the third quarter of the game at Soldier Field on September 20, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo b …
It's Bagent's turn, and he's got the trust
When Williams goes down, he’s leaving on a cart shortly after. The moment was a lot to process for everyone, let alone the Bears themselves.
"In the game, it was tough to see," Bears wide receiver Kalif Raymond said. "Everybody’s mind’s racing."
Imagine how Tyson Bagent felt.
The Bears’ second-string quarterback had to go in a sloppy game and try and lead the Bears to a win from the jaws of defeat. Bagent led the Bears to the Vikings’ 12-yard line in an effort to pull off a stunning comeback.
Dallas Turner’s sack on the final play of the game ended that threat. Now, Bagent has to look to the future.
If he’s the starter for the next few games, he feels confident in what he can do because of what’s around him.
"I feel like I have a good team around me," Bagent said. "I’m ready to roll."
His teammates agree with that assessment.
"Tyson gets a lot of reps before, during and after practice," Raymond said. "That guy works his tail off. No matter what’s going on, he’s going to be prepared."
Bagent had the most preseason game reps of any quarterback. That has to count for something.
It has to, if the Bears want to take any kind of step next week. It starts with Monday Night Football against the Eagles.
It doesn’t matter what anyone outside of Halas Hall thinks. The Bears are ready to rally around a player they’ve watched earn his role from his time as an undrafted free agent to the present day.
"Tyson is as ready as it gets," Odunze said.
Grading the sloppy Chicago Bears vs. the Minnesota Vikings in a slug fest
Here's how we graded the Bears in their low-scoring loss to the Vikings.
The most frustrating thing about everything that went wrong: Flags
Murphy's Law is a popular saying which recites: "anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
That’s how it felt on Sunday. The brightest spots of the game were blighted out by the mistakes.
Malik Muhammad and Dillon Thieneman played well in their second games in the NFL. The defense was much improved from Week 1 to Week 2, which was to be expected facing a back-up quarterback but still encouraging to see nonetheless.
However, of all the things that went wrong under Murphy’s Law for the Bears, the penalties were the most egregious.
They were there in Carolina. The offense covered up most of the mistakes with how dynamic it was.
Plenty went wrong on Sunday, with some things going from bad to worse on Monday in the film room such as rookie tight end Sam Roush's whiffed block on a fourth-quarter field goal attempt.
Above all that, Penalties stuck out very evidently on Sunday.
"You shoot yourself in the foot," Bears center Garrett Bradbury said. "It’s inexcusable. You can’t go backwards in this league."
The Bears are still confounded by it all, too. These are things they would practice harder if they’ve shown up in practice.
"We have to look at that because we practiced a lot of this stuff throughout the week and we didn't run into those issues," Johnson said. "We'll take a look at what it was that was a little bit off and what we'll get it cleaned up."
The Bears made plays that beat themselves. Combining it with the turnovers, blocked field goal and disjointed offense, the penalties felt like the most frustrating.
The Bears did that themselves.
"More than anything, it was us beating ourselves," Bagent said. "I think it was us shooting ourselves in the foot."