MINNEAPOLIS — Just when you thought the Bears’ comedy of errors had run out of punch lines, they didn’t disappoint at U.S. Bank Stadium. It had all the ingredients of a good sequel: a character the audience had known from previous adventures performing in a new, yet familiar, location.
There was a new director, of course. The Bears’ foolishness outlasted Matt Eberflus. It attached itself to interim coach Thomas Brown like a bad odor in the 30-12 loss to the Vikings on Monday night.
Remember Doug Kramer, the backup offensive lineman who lined up at fullback against the Commanders, somehow was given a handoff from the 1-yard line and fumbled the ball away? He ran onto the field in the third quarter to play fullback with the ball at the same spot — the opposing 1. Quarterback Caleb Williams handed the ball to D’Andre Swift, who ran behind Kramer for a one-yard touchdown.
Only it wasn’t.
Because he wore an offensive lineman’s number, Kramer was obligated to report as an eligible receiver to the official. He did not. The Bears had their touchdown wiped off the scoreboard and moved backward five yards.
Reporting “slipped my mind,” Kramer said.
“All I can say is it was my mistake that I made,” Kramer said. “Obviously, we’ve had other games where things like this have happened. It’s disappointing.”
Brown said Kramer had his back to him, so he couldn’t tell that he didn’t check in.
“If it was in question, I could have called a timeout,” he said.
It wasn’t the reason the Bears lost. But it’s emblematic of their losing season.
A five-yard run by Swift on the next play gave the Bears the ball at the 1 again. Kramer entered the game again — this time, as an eligible receiver — and Swift lost two yards on a run. Rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie, having a brutal day in his first NFL start, was flagged for holding. The Bears moved back 10 yards.
Williams threw incompletions on second-and-goal and third-and-goal from the 11, and the Bears settled for a 29-yard field goal to go down by 10. The Vikings took the ball, had 70-yard touchdown drives on their next two possessions and buried the Bears.
This season already has been defined by mistakes that can be explained in shorthand: cornerback Tyrique Stevenson’s Fail Mary, Cardinals running back Emari Demercado’s 53-yard “Hail Emari” touchdown run, kicker Cairo Santos’ blocked field goal that would have beaten the Packers and Eberflus’ brain freezing up as the clock ran out against the Lions.
The mistakes have been too numerous — across offense, defense and special teams — to be the sole fault of one man. A franchise that preached the value of culture for years sure seems to have found one now: a team most likely to end up on a blooper reel. It’s a wonder the Bears, who haven’t won a game since Oct. 13, are even capable of being embarrassed anymore.
Save them, Mike Vrabel. Or even Ben Johnson, the Lions’ offensive coordinator who’s never had to make such strategic decisions. Whatever the Bears have been doing — with whoever in charge — isn’t working.
Against the Vikings, Brown’s Bears failed at the one thing the team’s offensive play-caller was supposed to be good at. For the third consecutive game, the Bears went into the locker room scoreless at halftime.
Two minutes into the game, Brown decided to hand off on a fourth-and-one at the Bears’ 39 — and run behind Amegadjie, no less. Swift was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
Brown went for it again on fourth-and-one with 2:39 to play in the first half. Rather than the Bears trying a 47-yard field goal, Swift ran for no gain.
“Backfired,” Brown said.
In the third quarter, his goal-line play running behind Kramer took place. And yet another gaffe in a season full of them.
