Here’s what Chicago Bears, Matt Eberflus said Monday after losing to Minnesota Vikings

LAKE FOREST – Bears coach Matt Eberflus and some players met with reporters Monday, a day after the Bears dramatically lost their fifth straight game. This time, they lost 30-27 in overtime to NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings.

Sunday was filled with mixed results. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had a second straight strong performance. But the Bears made special team blunders and couldn’t pick up defensive stops to win.

The Bears have little time to dwell on the loss and got back to work Monday with a quick turnaround set at the Lions on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Monday.

On recent defensive struggles

For a second straight week, the Bears defense struggled to pick up key stops. The Vikings highlighted those defensive issues during their lone overtime possession.

Minnesota faced second-and-17 from its own 14-yard line, first-and-15 from its own 29 and first-and-20 from its own 39 and still found a way to drive 68 yards to set up a game-winning field goal. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold completed four passes for 12 or more yards on the final drive.

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said that the defense’s inability to pick up stops wasn’t a mentality issue. For him, it comes down to execution.

“That’s not a mindset, that’s not anything else outside of simply just not getting the ball out,” Johnson said. “For different reasons, we find ways to not execute with it when it counts. We just got to figure out a way, whether it’s physically, mentally, whatever it is, we got to get put in the right position. We got to execute.”

The Bears had one of the top red zone defenses in the league heading into last week’s game against the Packers. But the Packers scored a touchdown on three of their five trips to the red zone while the Vikings executed on three of their seven trips Sunday. The Packers only faced five third downs in their win while the Vikings went 6-for-13 on third down.

Eberflus reinforced Johnson’s point that the defense needs to tighten up and execute. He was also confident that the unit would right the ship.

“We need to tighten up on the details and do things better,” Eberflus said. “There’s not a magic pill there. There never is. It’s just about tightening things up and doing it better. As a group, coaches, players, all of us together, and if we do that, we’ll be OK.”

On critical moments in Sunday’s loss

Both Eberflus and Johnson provided some clarity for some critical moments in Sunday’s game.

With the Vikings leading 14-10 early in the third quarter, Danrold completed a 69-yard pass to Jordan Addison that gave the Vikings the ball at the Bears 8. A replay showed that Addison might’ve stepped out of bounds while running down the sideline and Eberflus challenged the play.

“When that’s an explosive there, we want to make sure we throw that flag,” Eberflus said. “I understand sideline cameras and all of that. They have done a good job of replay assist coming in and working with that. I think it always warrants a challenge when you have that big of a gain. If it was 6 yards, no one would care. If it was 15 yards, I don’t think you would care. But 70 yards, it’s worth it even if we don’t have the best look we want to have.”

The play was upheld since a view that showed Addison close to being out of bounds was presented on boundary cam. Not every NFL stadium has a boundary cam, so that vantage point couldn’t be used in the review.

Johnson was also called for two pass interference penalties Sunday, one of which wiped away an interception by Jonathan Owens.

On the first call in the second quarter, Johnson said he tugged Justin Jefferson’s jersey but didn’t think it was enough to impede his progress on the ball. On the second call in the third quarter, the referee told Johnson he knocked Jefferson off balance after running into each other.

“At the end of the day, the calls didn’t go my way,” Johnson said. They had their reasoning for calling it. It is what it is.”

On trying to find the positive

The Bears’ five-game streak has been far from a usual losing streak, if such a thing exists. They’ve found unique ways to lose each week, making each loss even tougher.

The streak started in Week 8 when the Commanders beat the Bears on a last-second Hail Mary. The Cardinals and Patriots each won by large margins during the following weeks. Then the Packers blocked a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired last week before the Vikings fought off a comeback in overtime Sunday.

“It takes a toll,” DJ Moore said. “You never want to go on a losing slump. Once you get out of it, you never want to get off the high.”

Unfortunately for players like Johnson, the losing streak isn’t unique. Since the Bears drafted Johnson in 2020, he’s been a part of a losing streak consisting of at least four games each year. The longest came in 2022 when the Bears lost 10 straight.

“That’s not a mindset, that’s not anything else outside of simply just not getting the ball out. For different reasons, we find ways to not execute with it when it counts. We just got to figure out a way, whether it’s physically, mentally, whatever it is, we got to get put in the right position. We got to execute.”

—  Jaylon Johnson, Bears cornerback

Those tough moments were why Johnson wasn’t looking toward positive signs for the future. Although Williams is showing improvement, which bodes well for the future, Johnson said all 11 players on the field are needed to turn the Bears around.

“Right now we’re in a slump,” Johnson said. “I’ve been in slumps four or five years in a row now. So I mean, at the end of the day, I don’t look for, OK, it’s going be better in the future. It’s going to be better when it’s better. Right now it’s not better.”