CHICAGO — The Bears were up two scores entering the fourth quarter of Monday night’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, backed by a to-that-point dominant defensive performance.

Then the wheels fell off and the Bears lost a game they should’ve won, a 27-24 result at Soldier Field.

It was a stunning fourth-quarter turn that started the Ben Johnson era in the wrong way. Every phase of the team had issues, with several contributing to a game that got away.

Let’s break all that down in this Week 1 Bears report card:

Rushing offense

A steady and efficient run game is the bedrock of Johnson’s offense. Without it, the flow is missing, the play-action game is less impactful and, when you have a late lead, no run game makes it harder to keep.

The ground game was off for most of the night, which is something Johnson could feel.

“The run game didn’t feel in rhythm as I was calling it,” the head coach said.

Johnson is right about that one. D’Andre Swift had a few good runs, but he was inefficient overall, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry. Johnson called a bunch of between-the-tackles runs, and Swift couldn’t get the job done there. Quarterback Caleb Williams ended up as the team’s leading rusher, never a good sign for those in the backfield.

Grade: D-plus

Passing offense

Williams was awesome to start this game, completing his first 10 passes. He was 11 of 25 after that, with some costly misses trying to work the ball down the field. DJ Moore was wide open on a fourth- down play, and Williams couldn’t find him. He also missed Cole Kmet twice by putting the ball too far out front.

Williams’ protection wasn’t great, hence all the scrambling, but he was smart with the ball early while using checkdowns to his advantage. That was less common as the game wore on. Tight ends often stayed home to help in protection, so they weren’t super impactful in the receiving game.

Overall, Williams couldn’t sustain his early success, and it cost the Bears dearly.

Grade: C-plus

Rushing defense

The Vikings averaged 4.6 yards per carry overall despite early struggles moving the ball on the ground. Like everything else in this game, it all fell apart for the Bears in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had 13 carries for 82 yards (6.3 average) in the final period, when they took the game over.

Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason found their footing and were able to take over against the Bears’ defensive front when it mattered most, late in this game.

Grade: C

Passing defense

Nahshon Wright had a pick-six. Gervon Dexter had a sack, and Dayo Odeyingbo was dominating a backup left tackle. The Bears were making do without Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon while limiting Justin Jefferson’s impact. Then the fourth quarter happened – catching a pattern here?!? – and Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy started making explosive plays. And the Bears had two costly pass interference penalties and a roughing-the-passer flag.

The Bears let a quarterback making his first NFL start take over the game. That can’t happen.

Grade: C

Special teams

It’s tough to expect perfection from a specialist, but Cairo Santos’ missed 50-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter is the difference in the scoreline. And Ben Johnson wanted Santos to kick it out of the end zone on a last-ditch comeback attempt, but the veteran provided a returnable kick. Tory Taylor had a punt tipped and it went just 25 yards, which the Vikings used to start a touchdown drive.

Rookie Luther Burden III had a nice 44-yard kick return in his first NFL game, but the special teams must be better.

Grade: D

Coaching

Ben Johnson had an opportunity to win his first game as a head coach but let it slip away. He wasn’t thrilled with that. It’s hard to say his play-calling was a detriment. Same with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who was willing to send extra bodies after McCarthy and confuse him with creative looks.

The coaches didn’t have their players ready to play the full 60 minutes and close this game out, though, which is why the Bears left a winnable game with a loss.

Grade: C

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