Game recap

Vikings @ Bears

2026 Wk 2 · CHI 3, MIN 9

A week after scoring 59, Chicago reached the Minnesota 1, got nothing, and had a 23-yard kick blocked.

FanIQ Research · September 20, 2026 · 6 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Chicago scored 59 points in Week 1 and 3 in Week 2. No team since 1999 has dropped further from one game to the next.

Rare

Largest drop in points scored between consecutive games of the same season, 1999 to 2026 regular season

Season	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Drop
2026	CHI	Wk 1, CAR, 59	Wk 2, MIN, 3	56
2007	PHI	Wk 3, DET, 56	Wk 4, NYG, 3	53
2005	WAS	Wk 7, SF, 52	Wk 8, NYG, 0	52
2012	NYG	Wk 14, NO, 52	Wk 15, ATL, 0	52
2008	BUF	Wk 12, KC, 54	Wk 13, SF, 3	51
2023	MIA	Wk 3, DEN, 70	Wk 4, BUF, 20	50
2013	KC	Wk 15, LV, 56	Wk 16, IND, 7	49
2023	BAL	Wk 17, MIA, 56	Wk 18, PIT, 10	46

Seven days after 59 in Carolina, the same offense ran 69 pass and run plays for 297 yards and 17 first downs at Soldier Field and scored on none of the drives that mattered. Chicago's only points were a Cairo Santos 50-yard field goal at 5:08 of the first quarter. The previous record for a one-week collapse belonged to the 2007 Eagles, 56 against Detroit and then 3 against the Giants. Chicago averaged 25.9 points a game in 2025.

Why it matters. A 56-point swing between consecutive games has no precedent in 27 seasons of data, which makes it a real signal about variance rather than a slump. The Week 1 number came against Carolina, and this one came against a Minnesota defense that also recovered a fumble at its own 1 and blocked a kick, so opponent quality explains part of it. The yardage and first-down totals say the offense moved the ball; the 3 on the board says it could not finish.

Chicago ran 15 snaps inside the Minnesota 20, reached the 1-yard line, and scored zero points from them. One other team since 1999 has done that.

Rare

Teams with 15 or more red-zone snaps, no touchdown, and no field goal from inside the 20, 1999 to 2026 regular season

Season	Week	Team	Opponent	Red-zone snaps	Deepest point	Points from inside the 20
2021	7	WAS	GB	17	1-yard line	0
2026	2	CHI	MIN	15	1-yard line	0

Chicago's three trips inside the Minnesota 20

Trip	Quarter and clock	Snaps	Deepest point	How it ended
1	Q3, 11:28 to 9:42	4	MIN 1	Swift fumble at the 1, recovered by Isaiah Rodgers
2	Q4, 10:06 to 6:26	7	MIN 5	23-yard field goal blocked by Isaiah Rodgers
3	Q4, 0:31 to 0:01	4	MIN 12	Bagent sacked by Dallas Turner on the final snap

Trip 2 included a fourth-and-1 conversion by Kyle Monangai at the Minnesota 8 and the sack at the 6 that knocked Caleb Williams out of the game. Isaiah Rodgers recovered the fumble on trip 1 and blocked the kick on trip 2. Washington's 2021 game against Green Bay is the only other regular-season team-game since 1999 with at least 15 red-zone snaps, a trip to the 1, and nothing scored from inside the 20.

Why it matters. Fifteen red-zone snaps is a full afternoon's worth of scoring chances, and in a 9-3 game any one of them ending in a touchdown decides it. The failures were not one repeated flaw: a fumble at the goal line, a blocked kick, and a four-play stand from the 12 with the clock at zero are three different ways to leave points on the field. The cohort of two since 1999 says this is the far tail of red-zone outcomes, not an ordinary bad day.

Minnesota won with 10 first downs, 3 of 13 on third down, and 51 snaps. Chicago had 17, 5 of 15, and 69.

Anomaly

This game, both offenses (pass and run plays)

Team	Plays	Yards	First downs	3rd down	Red-zone snaps	EPA/play	Turnovers
MIN	51	246	10	3 of 13	1	-0.078	0
CHI	69	297	17	5 of 15	15	-0.125	2

Winning teams with 10 or fewer first downs on pass and run plays, 1999 to 2026 regular season

Winning team-games	With 10 or fewer first downs	Share	In 2025
6980	141	2.0%	7

Minnesota ran one snap inside the Chicago 20 all afternoon. Its nine points came on Will Reichard kicks of 35, 49 and 39 yards. Chicago turned it over twice, Caleb Williams' deep interception by Byron Murphy at 1:47 of the first quarter and D'Andre Swift's fumble at the Minnesota 1, and Minnesota did not turn it over once. Since 1999 a team has won a regular-season game with 10 or fewer first downs 141 times in 6,980 winning team-games, about one in 50.

Why it matters. First downs measure how often an offense extended a drive, and the team with seven fewer of them normally loses. Minnesota's path around that was field position and kicks: it never needed a long drive to score because Reichard was good from 49, and it never gave Chicago a short field. Chicago's extra 18 snaps and 51 yards ended up as two turnovers and a blocked kick, which is why the box score and the scoreboard disagree.

Down 6-3 with a 23-yard kick to tie, Chicago got it blocked. Minnesota then ran 5:14 off the clock and kicked the winner.

Trend

Scoring plays and the blocked kick

Qtr	Clock	Team	Play	Score after
1	11:08	MIN	Reichard 35-yd FG	MIN 3, CHI 0
1	5:08	CHI	Santos 50-yd FG	MIN 3, CHI 3
2	8:23	MIN	Reichard 49-yd FG	MIN 6, CHI 3
4	6:26	CHI	Santos 23-yd FG blocked by Isaiah Rodgers	MIN 6, CHI 3
4	1:12	MIN	Reichard 39-yd FG	MIN 9, CHI 3

Blocked field goals of 25 yards or shorter in a fourth quarter, 1999 to 2026

Season	Game	Kicking team	Yards	Clock	Score at the kick
1999	CIN @ BAL	CIN	20	15:00	CIN 0, BAL 16
2001	DET @ SF	SF	19	2:00	SF 21, DET 13
2003	NO @ JAX	JAX	21	9:36	JAX 20, NO 13
2007	CAR @ NO	NO	20	10:20	NO 13, CAR 6
2011	SEA @ CLE	CLE	24	3:08	CLE 6, SEA 3
2012	CHI @ ARI	CHI	20	2:00	CHI 28, ARI 6
2014	STL @ TB	TB	24	15:00	TB 14, STL 13
2026	MIN @ CHI	CHI	23	6:26	CHI 3, MIN 6

Chicago never led. After the block Minnesota took over at its own 12 and did not give the ball back for 5:14: ten snaps and a kick, 67 yards, seven Aaron Jones carries, a defensive holding penalty on a deep shot to Justin Jefferson, and Reichard's 39-yarder with 1:12 left. Eight fourth-quarter field goals of 25 yards or shorter have been blocked since 1999. Six of the other seven came with the kicking team ahead, and the seventh with Cincinnati down 16. This is the only one where the kick would have tied the game.

Why it matters. A 23-yard field goal is close to automatic, so the block did not just cost three points, it removed Chicago's most likely route to overtime and handed Minnesota the ball with a lead and six minutes to burn. The response drive is the second half of the inflection: Minnesota's offense had produced almost nothing all day and then converted a third-and-5, drew a penalty on a deep throw, and got 15 yards from Jones on second-and-5 to reach kicking range. Chicago got the ball back with 1:00 left instead of 6:26.

Caleb Williams left on a sack at the Minnesota 6 with 7:42 to play. Tyson Bagent's nine dropbacks: four gained 53 yards, the other five gained minus 8.

Split

Chicago quarterbacks, this game

Passer	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Sacked	Dropbacks	EPA per dropback	Rushing
Caleb Williams	15	26	138	0	1	3	29	-0.036	5 for 42
Tyson Bagent	5	9	54	0	0	1	9	-0.294	0 for 0

Bagent's nine dropbacks

Clock (Q4)	Down and distance	From	Result	Yards
7:15	2nd and 6	MIN 6	Short right to Swift	1
6:32	3rd and 5	MIN 5	Incomplete	0
1:00	1st and 10	CHI 35	Short left to Burden	6
0:54	2nd and 4	CHI 41	Deep middle to Burden	18
0:38	2nd and 10	MIN 41	Deep right to Odunze	21
0:31	1st and 10	MIN 20	Short right to Burden	8
0:10	2nd and 2	MIN 12	Incomplete	0
0:06	3rd and 2	MIN 12	Incomplete	0
0:01	4th and 2	MIN 12	Sacked by Dallas Turner	-9

Williams was sacked by Blake Cashman at the Minnesota 6 at 7:42 of the fourth quarter and did not return. Bagent's first two snaps came from the 6 and the 5 and produced one yard, which set up the blocked 23-yard kick. His last drive moved Chicago from its own 35 to the Minnesota 12 in 29 seconds of game clock, and then three straight snaps from the 12 gained nothing, the last a 9-yard sack as time expired.

Why it matters. The split matters because the two Chicago possessions that reached the Minnesota 12 or closer in the fourth quarter were both quarterbacked by the backup. Bagent's four completions of 6 or more yards were all on the final drive against a defense protecting the sideline, and his five other snaps, all of them from the Minnesota 12 or closer with the game on the line, gained a combined minus 8. Williams' own line was not strong either, one interception and three sacks on 29 dropbacks, so the change at quarterback shifted the ceiling more than the floor.

Twelve points is the lowest-scoring Vikings-Bears game in 55 meetings since 1999, and the first in that span with no touchdown by either side.

Milestone

Lowest combined scores, Vikings versus Bears, 1999 to 2026

Season	Week	Score	Combined
2026	2	MIN 9, CHI 3	12
2001	11	CHI 13, MIN 6	19
2014	17	MIN 13, CHI 9	22
2023	12	CHI 12, MIN 10	22
2019	4	CHI 16, MIN 6	22
2003	15	CHI 13, MIN 10	23

Regular-season games with 12 or fewer combined points, 2015 to 2026

Season	Week	Game	Score	Combined
2016	2	SEA @ LA	LA 9, SEA 3	12
2016	7	SEA @ ARI	ARI 6, SEA 6	12
2017	2	BUF @ CAR	CAR 9, BUF 3	12
2017	17	DAL @ PHI	DAL 6, PHI 0	6
2018	13	IND @ JAX	JAX 6, IND 0	6
2019	7	SF @ WAS	SF 9, WAS 0	9
2021	15	NO @ TB	NO 9, TB 0	9
2023	13	LAC @ NE	LAC 6, NE 0	6
2023	14	MIN @ LV	MIN 3, LV 0	3
2023	18	TB @ CAR	TB 9, CAR 0	9
2024	17	SEA @ CHI	SEA 6, CHI 3	9
2026	2	MIN @ CHI	MIN 9, CHI 3	12

Minnesota leads the series 29-26 over the 55 games in the database, all regular season. The previous low was 19 points in 2001, and the three earlier games with exactly one touchdown (2001, 2014, 2023) were the closest the rivalry had come to a touchdown-free afternoon. League-wide, 32 regular-season games since 1999 have finished with 12 or fewer combined points and 46 have finished without a touchdown. Chicago has been the home team in the last two of the 12-or-fewer group, 6-3 against Seattle in Week 17 of 2024 and this one.

Why it matters. This is a rivalry that has averaged 41.3 combined points across its 55 games since 1999, so the record low is a statement about both defenses and about two offenses that could not finish. The series lead is narrow enough that a single kicking contest moves it. The more useful read is the second table: games this quiet happen once or twice a season league-wide, and Chicago has now hosted two of the last three of them.

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