Bears fans are still trying to talk their way out of what happened in Week 2.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, the Minnesota Vikings left Soldier Field with a 9-3 win and a 2-0 record, and they did it by grinding Chicago’s offense into the mud. The Bears had spent the previous week looking explosive after hanging 59 on the Carolina Panthers, which set up plenty of chatter about the matchup between Chicago coach and play-caller Ben Johnson and Minnesota defensive mastermind Brian Flores.
But the chess match never really looked like one. Flores had his defense ready, while Johnson’s offense got jammed up over and over again.
The Bears had chances, too. Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz led the Vikings to punts on six of their nine drives, but every time Chicago seemed close to taking control, the Vikings answered with a momentum-swinging play on defense or special teams.
That result has somehow turned into a debate now that the Bears are back in the win column after beating the New England Patriots in Week 7.
Bears fans are now arguing that the Week 2 loss should come with an asterisk. Even though Minnesota held Chicago to a season-low three points and held Caleb Williams to his fewest passing yards in a game since Johnson took over as head coach in 2024, the pushback from some Bears fans has been loud.
“Playing against the best defense in the league in wind/rain plus an injury in the red zone on what could’ve been a TD run is about as big of an asterisk as you can get. That’s why nobody cares about that game.”
That sentiment wasn’t limited to one fan. Others pointed to the weather at Soldier Field and treated the rain like some kind of unfair twist instead of part of the sport.
“There were also 3 dropped/fumbled TDs and it was a monsoon…. Hope that helps!”
“I think because it was in a monsoon”
“It was week 2 in a monsoon. Gonna be a lot different in Minnesota.”
The logic is simple enough: Chicago was dealing with a rainy game at home against a team that plays more than half its games indoors. But that’s football. And in Chicago, it’s especially football.
The whole argument started after one post questioned why some accounts on X weren’t counting Williams’ Week 2 numbers because he didn’t play a “full game.”
One post touted Williams this way:
“The sophomore leap at Ben Johnson University is real
In the three full games that Caleb Williams has played this season:
73/98
75% completion
883 passing yards
86 rushing yards
5 passing TDs
2 rushing TDs
ZERO turnovers
MVP stuff! #DaBears”
Another went a step further and projected his pace over a full season:
“If you take Caleb Williams stats from the 3 games he started and finished this season here would be his stat line extrapolated over 17 games
74.5% completion
4,998 yards
28 TDs
0 INTs
725 rushing yards
11 rushing TDs”
The problem is that Williams was on the field for 86 percent of Chicago’s offensive snaps against Minnesota before leaving in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. By the time he exited, he had thrown 26 passes, the same number he attempted in a Bears win over the New Orleans Saints last season.
So the idea that he “missed” the game because he was out for 14 percent of the snaps doesn’t really hold up.
Chicago and Minnesota won’t see each other again until Week 18, when they meet at U.S. Bank Stadium. Rain won’t be part of the conversation then, and Bears fans may need a fresh explanation ready if Flores’ defense gives Williams another rough afternoon.
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