Bears end season with 10th straight loss, 29-13

CHICAGO — Perhaps mercifully so, the Chicago Bears season has come to a close.

The Bears came up short for the tenth straight week, this time losing to the Minnesota Vikings, 29-13.

Coming into the game, most Bears fans had little expectation of Chicago challenging the NFC North-leading Vikings, as their defense had struggled to stop opposing offenses for most of the season and the Bears’ shining star on offense — quarterback Justin Fields — was sat down for the season finale with a hip injury.

Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle stepped in to fill Fields’s absence, but were only able to find moderate success, at best.

Peterman finished the day 11/19 for 114 yards and a TD through the air — an 11-yard strike to Cole Kmet on the Bears’ opening drive of the second half — and played turnover-free football while under center.

Boyle finished the day 2/8 for 33 yards and 2 INTs, but was able to help lead Chicago’s offense to a score with 1:26 left in the second quarter via a 42-yard scamper from wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. on a misdirection end-around sweep.

The defensive unit continued to struggle as a whole, giving up 482 yards and 28 first downs to Minnesota, which led to a lopsided advantage in time-of-possession for the Vikings as well, 36:36 – 23:24.

The lone bright spots on defense for the Bears came in the turnover department, as Harrison Hand forced a fumble by Dalvin Cook that was recovered by Joe Thomas at the 4:12 mark in the first quarter, and Greg Stroman Jr picked off Minnesota backup QB Nick Mullens with 9:18 remaining in the fourth.

While everything may have been gloom and doom on the field for Chicago, there was a silver lining off the field. The Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts, 32-31, which means the Bears now hold the no. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the first time they have had the no. 1 pick in over 75 years.

While Chicago’s season is now over, Minnesota awaits the end of week 18 to see who they will matchup with next week on NFL Wildcard Weekend.