Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings: Live updates from U.S. Bank Stadium

MINNEAPOLIS – The Chicago Bears take the primetime Monday. The Bears and Vikings square off on “Monday Night Football” from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown and his team are looking to rebound from a disappointing performance last week against the 49ers in Brown’s first game as head coach. Quarterback Caleb Williams is tasked with rallying the Bears for the final month of the season.

Shaw Local Bears beat writer Sean Hammond will be reporting live from Minneapolis. Follow Hammond on X at @sean_hammond, on Instagram at @bears_reporter and on Threads at @bears_reporter. Shaw Local enterprise reporter Michal Dwojak will be reporting from Chicago. Follow Dwojak @mdwojak94 on X and at the same handle on Threads. Shaw Local Bears analyst Marc Silverman will provide his thoughts on X at @WaddleandSilvy.

Stay here all game long for live updates.

Vikings win

The Vikings closed out a victory, 30-12, and moved to 12-2 on the season. The Bears lost their eighth consecutive games, falling to 4-10 on the year.

The Bears take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday in Chicago.

Williams connects with Allen for touchdown

Caleb Williams connected with Keenan Allen for a late touchdown pass with 5:19 remaining in the game. The score cut Minnesota’s lead to two possessions.

It came moments after defensive end Dominique Robinson blocked a Vikings punt and gave the Bears favorable field position.

The Vikings lead, 27-12, with 5:19 to go.

Aaron Jones punches in a touchdown

The Vikings drove 70 yards for a touchdown to extend their lead to three possessions late in the third quarter. Running back Aaron Jones scored a 1-yard touchdown run up the middle.

An impressive pitch and catch between Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson set up the Vikings at the 1-yard line.

The Vikings lead, 20-3, with 1:38 to go in the third quarter.

Jumbo package backfires

On first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, running back D’Andre Swift followed extra lineman Doug Kramer into the end zone and the Bears had their first touchdown of the night.

Except for one thing.

Kramer, the sixth offensive lineman, forgot to report as an eligible receivers before lining up as the fullback. The officials threw a flag and wiped the touchdown off the scoreboard. It was not the first time the jumbo package backfired on the Bears this season.

Later, left tackle Kiran Amegadjie was called for holding, which sent the offense moving backward again. On third-and-goal, Caleb Williams threw a pass that bounced off Keenan Allen’s hands for an incompletion.

The Bears settled for a field goal. Minnesota leads, 13-3, midway through the third quarter.

Tyrique Stevenson grabs an interception

Bears second-year cornerback Tyrique Stevenson picked off Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold on fourth-and-4 deep inside Bears territory. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell elected to keep the offense on the field. The Vikings previously had converted on a third-and-17 and a third-and-10 during the same possession.

But on the fourth-down play, pressure from the Bears interior linemen forced Darnold to loft a pass up for grabs intended for Justin Jefferson. Instead, Stevenson came down with the football.

It was Stevenson’s first interception since Week 1.

The Bears' next offensive possession ended quickly – or appeared to, anyway. But a Vikings penalty for running into Bears punter Tory Taylor kept the possession alive.

Vikings lead by 13 at halftime

The Vikings added a field goal just before halftime. Minnesota leads, 13-0, at halftime. For the third game in a row, the Bears didn’t score in the first half.

The Vikings totaled 180 yards in the first half. Minnesota went 4-for-7 on third down attempts. The Bears offense, on the other hand, went 0-for-5 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down tries. The Bears have 106 total yards through the first two quarters.

Caleb Williams was 7-for-9 passing in the first half for 60 yards.

Strip sack leads to Vikings touchdown

On its second try of the evening, the Bears offense put together a decent drive before it faced a third-and-9 at the Minnesota 29-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams dropped back to pass as Vikings pass rusher Jonathan Greenard blew past Bears rookie offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie.

Greenard knocked the ball out of Williams' hands and Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman picked it up and ran. It could’ve been a touchdown, too, if Bears running back Travis Homer hadn’t tracked Cashman down from behind.

So for the second time in two possessions, the Vikings started on the Bears' side of the field. The Vikings offense made quick work of the Bears. Quarterback Sam Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson for a 7-yard touchdown pass.

The Vikings lead, 10-0, with 5:04 to go in the first quarter.

Brown gets aggressive; Vikings score first

The Bears received the opening kickoff and right off the bat interim head coach Thomas Brown made an aggressive fourth-down decision. The Bears first faced a third-and-2 at their own 38-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Williams scrambled up the middle and tried to gain the first down himself. The Vikings defense, however, stopped him short.

Brown elected to leave the offense on the field for a fourth-and-1 play from their own 39-yard line. Running back D’Andre Swift couldn’t pick up the first down and the Bears turned it over on downs.

Luckily, it didn’t hurt the Bears too much because the defense came up with a stop to force a field goal. Vikings kicker Will Reichard made a 52-yard try. The Vikings lead, 3-0, early in the first quarter.

Bears announce inactive players

Bears running back D’Andre Swift will play Monday night after being listed questionable heading into Monday’s game with a groin injury. That’s good news since Roschon Johnson will be out with a concussion.

The following Bears players are inactive and will not play Monday: Johnson, defensive tackle Gervon Dexter, linebacker Noah Sewell, offensive linemen Ryan Bates and Braxton Jones and cornerback Ameer Speed.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles announced during his pregame show interview that rookie Kiran Amegadjie will make his first career start at left tackle for Jones.

LT Braxton Jones will miss Monday’s game

Bears left tackle Braxton Jones was not on the injury report at all this week. Given that, it was a surprise to see on Sunday that the team reported Jones would not be traveling to Minnesota due to a concussion.

Earlier this season, Jones missed two games due to a knee injury. He has, however, played in each of the previous four contests.

With Jones out Monday, the Bears will likely start either veteran backup Larry Borom or rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie at left tackle. Backup tackle Jake Curhan could be another option. The Bears could also move right guard Matt Pryor to left tackle and slot a backup, perhaps backup center Doug Kramer, in at guard.

However the Bears approach it, though, losing Jones is going to cause some problems for the offensive line against a Vikings defense that blitzes more than any other in the NFL.

Other injury updates

Besides Jones, the Bears ruled out lineman Ryan Bates (concussion), running back Roschon Johnson (concussion) and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter (knee). Running back D’Andre Swift (groin) is listed as questionable.

Dexter leads the Bears defense with five sacks this season. He has started all 13 games, but he injured his knee during last week’s loss in San Francisco.

Swift is vital to the Bears' rushing attack. He has been on the injury report several times this season, but he has started in all 13 games.

“I’m positive about it, but we’ll see over the next couple days,” Brown said on Saturday regarding Swift. “We’ll see how it goes.”

What to expect from the Vikings

The Bears and Vikings are facing one another for the second time this season. The Vikings beat the Bears, 30-27, in overtime last month. The Bears made a furious comeback in that game, converting an onside kick along the way, but they couldn’t pull it out in overtime.

Minnesota blitzes at the highest rate in the NFL, although the Vikings didn’t blitz a ton last time they faced Williams and the Bears. Here are the top five storylines to watch during Monday’s game. Will Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitz more this time?

The Bears don’t have much left to play for. Sunday’s results mathematically eliminated them from playoff contention. Williams said he has full faith in general manager Ryan Poles to turn this thing around. Here’s what Williams had to say this week.

Silvy has some ideas for who the next Bears head coach should be. Read about Silvy’s top four candidates in his weekly column here.

What else did I miss this week?

Here’s what else happened at Halas Hall this week.

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