Transactions Schedule Game summaries Week 1: vs. Atlanta Falcons . For the season opener, the Bears were considered an obvious underdog as they faced the
Atlanta Falcons, who appeared in
Super Bowl LI a year earlier. After 26 total meetings, the Bears led the series 14–12; entering the 2017 game, the Bears had a two-game winning streak against the Falcons, with the most recent game in
2014 being a 27–13 victory. The offense, which ranked 15th in 2016 (17th in rushing and 14th passing), took on a Falcons defense that was ranked 25th (17th in run and 28th in pass). During his tenure with the Buccaneers, Mike Glennon completed 71.6 percent of his passes for 683 yards with six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 109.2 passer rating against the Falcons. Gabriel wrote the Bears defensive line and linebackers were among the best in the league, and played against a Falcons offensive line that was considered one of the weakest parts of the team. On the other hand, Gabriel added the Bears secondary was an area of concern, meaning the DL and LB corps were to be relied on to apply pressure to Ryan. Although
Devonta Freeman scored on a five-yard touchdown run, the Bears responded with a 75-yard drive featuring exclusively run plays. On the series, Cohen escaped two Falcons and shifted from the left side of the field to the right to record a 46-yard run. Cohen later took a direct snap from the center in the
Wildcat formation and handed the ball to
Jordan Howard, who received assistance on a block by Glennon to score a five-yard touchdown. The first three drives of the second half ended with a punt before Bryant kicked a 28-yard field goal. Chicago's 25th-ranked defense (tenth against the run and 27th against the pass) faced a Tampa offense spearheaded by quarterback
Jameis Winston, who threw for 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions for a passer rating of 86.1 passer rating in 2016. Winston's catchers included receivers
Mike Evans and
DeSean Jackson, along with tight ends
Cameron Brate and
O. J. Howard; Brate, an Illinois native and Bears fan, had excelled against his favorite team, recording a 46-yard catch in 2015 and a career-high seven receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown in 2016. Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio described the Bucs' tight ends as "good players. [Brate] has been a really good red-zone player for them. The quarterback is very comfortable throwing to him. He's got great route instincts and route-running ability and he's a very good catcher of the ball. Howard is a very good athlete with good size, a good blocker that can get down the field. They've got two really good weapons at tight end." The Buccaneers opened the game with
Nick Folk's 42-yard field goal. On Chicago's first drive, Glennon completed his first six passes before his pass for Dion Sims was intercepted by
Kwon Alexander, and while the Bucs were forced to punt on the resulting series, Tarik Cohen attempted to field a bouncing punt as he was covered by two players, causing him to fumble. Tampa's
Cameron Lynch recovered the loose ball, with Winston throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Evans on the next play. During the Bears' next series, Glennon was sacked by
Noah Spence and fumbled, with the Bucs'
Lavonte David recovering.
Jacquizz Rodgers eventually scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Glennon's woes continued when he was intercepted by
Robert McClain, who returned the 47 yards for a touchdown. Although Folk missed the extra point, he kicked a 50-yard field goal to give the Buccaneers a 26–0 lead by halftime. The Bears punted on the first drive of the second half, but reclaimed the ball when
Charles Sims was stripped by
Pernell McPhee and Leonard Floyd recovered, though the Bears failed to capitalize on the takeaway as they were forced to punt. Folk kicked a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to increase the lead by 29 points. Chicago's next two drives reached Tampa's red zone, but both ended with turnovers on downs.
WBBM-TV writer Jeff Joniak described the Bears as in "clean-up mode" after a poor performance in Tampa. The battle between the Bears' rushing attack and the Steelers' run defense featured the former averaging just 2.9 yards per carry (27th in the league) taking on a defense that allowed just 74 yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry. Joniak added Chicago's running game should try to make progress on early downs to allow Mike Glennon to succeed against Pittsburgh. Defensively, Joniak wrote the Bears had "their hands full" as Steelers quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger was aided by receivers
Antonio Brown and
Martavis Bryant, running back
Le'Veon Bell, and tight end
Jesse James. In spite of Pittsburgh's success in contrast with Chicago's struggles, a common belief was that the Steelers would often "play down to their competition," one that was spurned in the wake of Glennon's 2014 Buccaneers upsetting the Steelers 27–24. The first two drives of the game ended with punts, but on the Bears' first punt of the game, Steelers returner
Eli Rogers muffed the ball and
Sherrick McManis recovered. Jordan Howard would score a three-yard touchdown run on the drive. On the Steelers' next drive, Roethlisberger was sacked by
Bryce Callahan and fumbled, with Akiem Hicks recovering. The takeaway failed to result in points, however, as Connor Barth missed a 47-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Roethlisberger threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Brown, which the Bears responded via Glennon's two-yard touchdown pass to Adam Shaheen. On the final play of the first half,
Chris Boswell's 35-yard field goal was blocked by McManis into Marcus Cooper's hands. Cooper raced down the field before suddenly slowing down before he reached the end zone, which allowed Pittsburgh's
Vance McDonald to knock the ball away at the one-yard line. The ball was then batted out of the end zone, which led to a penalty against the Steelers and an
untimed play for the Bears. A false start penalty on
Charles Leno prompted the Bears to instead kick a 24-yard field goal. In the second half, the Bears suffered their first turnover of the game when Howard was stripped by
Ryan Shazier; the Steelers took advantage to score on Bell's one-yard touchdown run. A second giveaway occurred when Glennon's pass for Zach Miller was intercepted by
J. J. Wilcox, which enabled the Steelers to tie the game on Boswell's 32-yard field goal. The game remained scoreless through the rest of the half, resulting in overtime. After winning the coin toss to start overtime with the ball, the Bears quickly scored on the second play of the series; To challenge the Packers defense, Jeff Joniak wrote the Bears should utilize their running game; after the first three games of 2017, the Packers had allowed eight runs of at least ten yards, along with 5.7 rushing yards on first down. Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen had eight and four runs of 10+ yards, respectively, with the former being the second-most in the NFL. A product of running the ball would be keeping Packers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers off the field; Rodgers, who was 15–4 against the Bears, led the league in completions and passing first downs (49), along with second in passing yards. The Packers offense was ranked third in third down conversion percentage (48.8) and time of possession. However, the Packers offensive line was struggling with injuries, especially with five tackles hurt and three on injured reserve, which Joniak expected the Bears to capitalize on. Rodgers opened the scoring on the first drive of the game, throwing a five-yard touchdown pass to
Davante Adams. On the Bears' first offensive play, Glennon was sacked by
Clay Matthews III and fumbled, with Green Bay's
Jake Ryan recovering the ball. Another Packers score took place three plays later on Rodgers' two-yard throw to
Randall Cobb. Chicago's woes continued when
Cody Whitehair's snap bounced off Glennon and was recovered by
Blake Martinez. Unlike the previous drive, the Packers were unable to score off the takeaway and were forced to punt. The next four series of the game also ended with punts. On Chicago's next possession, Glennon's pass for Markus Wheaton was intercepted by
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, which set up Rodgers' 58-yard pass to
Jordy Nelson and
Aaron Jones' two-yard touchdown run. With eight seconds left in the second quarter, Glennon threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wright, completing a 72-yard drive that began with less than two minutes to go. On the Bears' first drive of the second half, Connor Barth missed a 47-yard field goal wide right, which led to Rodgers' four-yard touchdown pass to Nelson. On the drive, Danny Trevathan tackled Adams, but collided with his head in a helmet-to-helmet hit, causing the receiver to be sent off the field in a stretcher. A series later, Glennon had his fourth turnover of the game when his pass was intercepted by
Kentrell Brice, which led to an eight-yard touchdown pass to Nelson. With 6:01 left in the game, Howard scored on a three-yard run to make the final score 35–14. Trevathan apologized for the hit on Adams, explaining he was attempting to make a play. He was later suspended two games, though it was reduced to one game following an appeal. Trevathan's suspension resulted in glaringly worse depth for the linebackers, which had already lost
Nick Kwiatkoski to a pectoral injury.
John Timu, who had been on the practice squad at the start of the season, became the new leading inside linebacker in place Trevathan. The Monday after the game, Glennon was benched in favor of Mitchell Trubisky; Glennon's eight turnovers across the first four games of the season led the league.
Week 5: vs. Minnesota Vikings On
Monday Night Football, Mitchell Trubisky made his NFL debut against the
Minnesota Vikings, who led the
all-time series 58–52–2, though the Bears had won all but two games at Soldier Field since
2007. Trubisky is the eleventh rookie quarterback in team history to start a game and the first since
Kyle Orton in
2005, though only three won their first games (
Jim McMahon,
Rex Grossman,
Craig Krenzel); furthermore, since
2009, only one of nine Bears quarterbacks won in their debuts with the team (
Todd Collins). Jeff Joniak emphasized a focus on first down success; the Bears' rushing game, which averaged 5.3 yards per carry on first down in 2016, had just 3.7 yards in 2017, including 17 plays in which Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen were tackled behind the line of scrimmage. Chicago took on a Minnesota defense that allowed just 71.2 yards per game, the third-least in the league. Instead, Joniak suggested relying on the passing attack; on first down, the Vikings allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 80 percent of their passes for a 121.1 passer rating. The Bears also had to focus on improving their league-worst –7 turnover ratio; over the past three seasons, the team had a combined ratio of –31. For the Bears defense, Joniak wrote the unit had to prevent the Vikings from making big plays courtesy of
Stefon Diggs and
Adam Thielen, who had a combined 15 catches for at least 20 yards, while a combined 30 receptions resulted in first downs. Joniak further added the "excitement Trubisky brings into this game at Soldier Field" should be used by the "Bears to their advantage to keep the crowd engaged and loud." Trubisky led the Bears into Vikings territory on the opening drive, but a holding penalty on Cody Whitehair pushed the offense back before the Bears punted. The Vikings were unable to exit their side of the field on their first two drives and were forced to punt; likewise, the Bears reached Minnesota's side before punting on their drives. Late in the first quarter,
Sam Bradford was sacked by Leonard Floyd in the end zone for a safety. In the second quarter, Trubisky was strip-sacked by
Everson Griffen, which resulted in the Vikings'
Linval Joseph recovering.
Kai Forbath kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 3–2 lead. Bradford, who was sacked three times in the first half, was replaced by
Case Keenum for the remainder of the game. The next three series ended with punts. With 2:32 remaining in the game and pinned at his team's ten-yard line, Trubisky's pass for Miller was intercepted by
Harrison Smith, which set up Forbath's game-winning 26-yard field goal with 12 seconds to go. On the final play of the game, Trubisky passed to Markus Wheaton, who lateraled to Cohen before he was tackled to end the game. For the Bears offense, the unit hoped to provide more support for Mitchell Trubisky in his first NFL away game. "The kid's going to be special and we've got to do our jobs around him; keep getting in the right spot, make plays and catch the football, and making sure we're keeping him out of first-and-17s," offensive coordinator
Dowell Loggains stated. "We have a lot of faith and confidence in Mitchell." On defense, the Bears entered the game with the sixth-ranked defense (allowing 305 yards per game) that also ranked ninth in average yards allowed per play (5.07). With Danny Trevathan returning from suspension, the defense faced a Ravens offense that ranked sixth in rushing with 130.4 yards per game. On the other hand, Baltimore's offensive line – particularly the guards – had been struggling due to injuries, and Cox wrote the defense should take advantage of the openings. While the Bears had yet to record an interception in 2017, Ravens quarterback
Joe Flacco had thrown 33 in his last 31 games, including one in ten consecutive games; Cox added, "It's up to this defense to actually finish the turnover." On a halfback option, Tarik Cohen eventually threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller to put the Bears up 10–0.
Justin Tucker kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Ravens on the scoreboard with three seconds remaining in the first half. During the third quarter, Trubisky led a 66-yard drive that ended with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims. Jeff Joniak stressed a run-heavy offense; although the Panthers had not allowed a 100-yard rusher nor 100-yard receiver in 2017, the lack of linebacker
Luke Kuechly weakened the Panthers defense. Furthermore, Jordan Howard was averaging 2.1 yards per carry, while his 245 rushing yards after contact was the second-highest in the league behind the
Kansas City Chiefs'
Kareem Hunt. For the defense, the unit needed to contain
Cam Newton by preventing the scramble-skilled quarterback from running, while also dealing with
Kelvin Benjamin,
Christian McCaffrey, and
Ed Dickson. The Bears started the game on a strong note when Newton's pitch to
Curtis Samuel was dropped and recovered by Eddie Jackson, who returned the fumble for a 75-yard touchdown. The next three drives ended with punts, with Chicago's next series stalling after Mitchell Trubisky was sacked for a nine-yard loss on Carolina's 25-yard line. Connor Barth's 52-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked by
Kawann Short and hit the crossbar.
Week 8: at New Orleans Saints During the eighth week of the season, the Bears went to the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome to play the
New Orleans Saints, who trailed the series 15–14 but had won every meeting since 2011. Jeff Joniak wrote a goal of the Bears offense would be to get into scoring position; since Mitchell Trubisky became the starter, the offense had entered the red zone only twice in three games, with both trips ending in field goals. Upon reaching the 20-yard line, using the running game would be ideal; Jordan Howard ranked fifth in the league in rushing, second in yards after contact, and led the offense rushing first downs with 32. In contrast, the Saints defense ranked 30th in rushing yards allowed per carry. Joniak also emphasized the need for Trubisky to tune out the loud Superdome crowd and lead the offense without making errors. For the defense, it faced
Drew Brees, who, according to Joniak, was to be pressured quickly if the Bears were to succeed – while being blitzed, Brees was intercepted three times and sacked twice. Otherwise, Brees was successful in quickly passing the ball for gains of six yards in a fast-paced offense. Turnovers were also priority; in the last two games, the Bears had forced six and scored on three, and while Brees had recorded turnovers in his last two games, the Saints still had the fifth-best turnover difference. On the Saints' opening possession,
Wil Lutz was lining up for a 32-yard field goal attempt when Kyle Fuller was penalized for jumping offsides. In the third quarter, Trubisky threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller, who landed on his knee and dislocated it in the process. The touchdown was eventually nullified when referee
Carl Cheffers determined Miller had let go of the ball in pain while on the ground. The Bears were forced to settle for Barth's 44-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Lutz kicked a 45-yard field goal to increase the lead to 17–6. The overturning of Miller's catch was controversial. Cheffers defended the call, stating when Miller was falling to the turf, he "has to survive the ground. He went to the ground, he temporarily lost control of the ball. The ball hit the ground; therefore it's incomplete." On Monday, John Fox announced he would send video of the play to the NFL.
Week 10: vs. Green Bay Packers Although the Bears now trailed the Packers in the all-time series, they were the five-point favorite against Green Bay among bookkeepers for the first time since week sixteen of
2008. The odds had been influenced by Aaron Rodgers' season-ending collarbone injury in October along with backup quarterback
Brett Hundley's struggles in the previous week's 30–17 loss to the Lions. Although the Bears had not defeated the Packers at home since 2010, the Packers were 2–3 since the two teams' last meeting in week four, while Green Bay head coach
Mike McCarthy was 1–3 against the Bears without Rodgers. Jeff Joniak described his ideal Bears offensive gameplan as "[p]laying a clean game" to avoid swinging the "tempo or momentum in favor of a team that's on a three-game losing streak." To do this, Mitchell Trubisky would have to avoid getting sacked, while the running game would have to reduce its runs resulting in negative yardage. Through the air, the Bears remained an unknown entity due to a lack of available film on Trubisky and receivers Markus Wheaton and
Dontrelle Inman, the latter making his Bears debut in week ten after being traded to the team in late October. On defense, Joniak wrote the unit needed to prevent Hundley from developing his accuracy, especially as the Chicago defense was excelling in preventing touchdowns, along with containing running back
Ty Montgomery, who recorded 162 rushing yards on 16 carries against the Bears in week sixteen last year. Trubisky threw a screen pass to Benny Cunningham, who ran to the Packers' goal line and dived for the pylon. His knee landed out of bounds and the play was ruled as such at the two-yard line, which the Bears challenged with the belief that the ball had reached the pylon before he went out; instead, the challenge went against the Bears when it was determined he had lost the ball before it had touched the pylon, resulting in a touchback and possession being granted to the Packers. Chicago eventually added three more points on Barth's 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Crosby kicked a 24-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half, which was followed by one from 50 yards in the fourth quarter. Entering the game, Mitchell Trubisky hoped to improve on his productive game against the Packers in addition to reducing sacks; in five starts, he had been sacked 16 times, including five times last week. Larry Mayer also raised the possibility of using Tarik Cohen more frequently; after catching a combined 24 passes in the first four games, he had just one in the last five, a trend that Dowell Loggains explained was a result of Cohen's inexperience. Questions surrounded the defense, which went from forcing eight turnovers across three straight games to allowing a season-high 160 yards and no takeaways against the Packers. "You've got to have a short memory in this league," Akiem Hicks stated. "You've got to take it game-by-game. [...] But at the end of the day, you've got to lock into your next opponent because they don't care what happened last week. They want to beat you. So you have to have that mindset where, 'OK, you didn't get the results you want last week, but you're coming in fighting this week.'" The Bears offense made early progress on the opening drive as it reached the Lions' five-yard line before stalling and settling for Connor Barth's 23-yard field goal. On Detroit's first series,
Matthew Stafford was sacked by Nick Kwiatkoski and fumbled, with Hicks recovering the ball; the Bears capitalized on the takeaway via Jordan Howard's 50-yard run and Trubisky's one-yard touchdown pass to Adam Shaheen. The Lions scored on a turnover of their own when Trubisky fumbled Cody Whitehair's snap, which Detroit's
D. J. Hayden picked up and returned 27 yards for the touchdown. Chicago answered with a 78-yard drive that ended with Howard's 12-yard touchdown run to make the score 17–7 midway through the second quarter. However, Stafford threw two touchdown passes to
Marvin Jones and
Ameer Abdullah to put the Lions up 21–17 by halftime. The third quarter went scoreless before
Matt Prater kicked a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to increase the margin by seven points.
Week 12: at Philadelphia Eagles For week twelve's game, the Bears visited
Lincoln Financial Field to play the 9–1 and league-leading
Eagles. Although the Bears led the all-time series 30–14–1, they had not defeated the Eagles since 2011, while also losing their most recent game in Philadelphia in 2013 54–11. To take on the Eagles defense, Jeff Joniak elaborated on using a rushing attack that ranked fifth in the league, along with keeping Mitchell Trubisky protected and scoring points; entering the game, the Eagles were allowing less than 19 points per game. Defensively, the Bears faced quarterback
Carson Wentz, who led the league in touchdown passes with three, and an offense that ranked first in scoring; eleven different players on the Eagles had scored a touchdown in 2017. With Danny Trevathan and Leonard Floyd out due to injuries, the backups were also challenged by a rushing unit featuring
LeGarrette Blount and
Jay Ajayi, which ranked second in the NFL. Philadelphia also succeeded in developing high margins of victory, winning by more than 15 points per game, and scoring at least 26 points in every game but their only loss in week two. Despite the stacked odds, as the Bears were able to defeat three perennial playoff teams in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Carolina, Joniak wrote the team had to "believe [victory over the Eagles] can happen, and the longer they hang around, the more they will believe." Trubisky's pass to Tre McBride was batted and intercepted by
Malcolm Jenkins, but Dion Sims stripped the ball away and McBride recovered to continue the series. Four plays later, the Bears punted, but got the ball back after the Eagles' first play of their drive; Offensively, the Bears rushing game had an opportune chance to succeed against a 49ers defense that was ranked 30th against the run (28th overall with 374.2 total yards allowed per game), allowing 129.5 rushing yards per game, Former Bears kicker
Robbie Gould opened the game by converting a 33-yard field goal. While the Bears punted on their first drive, Kyle Fuller recorded his first interception since 2015 when he yanked the ball from
Louis Murphy's hands, which set up Mitchell Trubisky's eight-yard touchdown pass to Dontrelle Inman. Gould added a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter to narrow the gap to one point, but Tarik Cohen responded with a 61-yard punt return touchdown; after catching the punt at his 39-yard line, Cohen ran back to his 24, moved to his right, then ran forward for the touchdown. With 24 seconds left in the first half, Gould kicked his third field goal (35 yards), followed by one from 34 yards in the third quarter to put the 49ers behind by two. As the Bengals defense was struggling to contain opposing running attacks, allowing 170 carries of at least four yards, the most in the NFL, while the Bears had 141 of such attempts (15th in the league), Jeff Joniak wrote the Bears should effectively utilize Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, while also reducing the number of negative runs (with 50 entering week fourteen). After the Bengals punted on their first drive, the Bears scored on their opening series for the first time in 2017, doing so on Howard's 21-yard touchdown run. However,
Mike Nugent, who was signed earlier in the week to replace an injured Cairo Santos, missed the extra point as the kick hit the right upright. The Bengals responded late in the first quarter when Dalton threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to
Brandon LaFell, who evaded Deon Bush for the score. Early in the second quarter, Mitchell Trubisky threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cohen, but it was nullified by Tom Compton's holding penalty; the Bears were eventually forced to settle for Nugent's 34-yard field goal to retake the lead. Nugent added a 27-yard field goal with 2:15 remaining in the half to give the Bears the 12–7 lead at halftime. Following punts on the first two drives of the second half,
Week 15: at Detroit Lions The Bears visited
Ford Field to play the 7–6 Lions for the second time in 2017 in week fifteen. Jeff Joniak emphasized a consistent offensive production against Detroit, one that would be similar to the success in Cincinnati but would be difficult to maintain if the offense was to lose awareness; the Lions defense forced 12 fumbles and 26 sacks, while seven players had intercepted a pass and the unit had seven return touchdowns. In spite of the Lions' success at forcing turnovers, the defense ranked 27th in total yards allowed, 20th against the run, and 27th in pass defense. For the Bears defense, it saw the return of linebacker and leader Danny Trevathan; Joniak described his presence as a "Trevathan effect", with the defense allowing 81 points in three losses and failing to win a game when he was absent, while allowing 17.6 points per game and going 4–5 when he was playing. The defense entered the game with a fifth-ranked red zone touchdown efficiency, while also excelling in providing pressure, ranking second in sacks on third down, ninth in opposing quarterback rating when blitzed, and leading the league in fumble recoveries with 12. The unit took on a Lions offense that ranked sixth in the NFL in yards after catch with 1,759 (47.5 of the team's total yards), but was one of three teams in the league with less than 300 total rushing attempts and averaging fewer than 77 rushing yards per game. On the ensuing kickoff, Tarik Cohen recorded a 90-yard return to the Lions' 14-yard line, but a holding penalty on
DeAndre Houston-Carson nullified the play and forced the Bears to start at their own 14. Later in the quarter, Sam Acho stripped
Theo Riddick and Eddie Jackson recovered. Mike Nugent made a 41-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the half to grant the Bears' first points of the game. However, the Bears' first drive of the second half ended when Mitchell Trubisky's pass for Kendall Wright was overthrown and intercepted by
Darius Slay, which set up Stafford's eight-yard touchdown pass to
Eric Ebron. After a trading of punts, While the Browns were 0–14, head coach
Hue Jackson was 2–0 in Christmas games, including recording the Browns' lone win of 2016 on the day. On offense, protecting Mitchell Trubisky from
Gregg Williams' blitz-heavy defense; despite its frequency of utilizing the pass rush, the Browns ranked 29th in quarterback knockdowns with 62, while also allowing ten touchdowns on blitzes. Furthermore, the Browns defense led the league in fewest rushing yards allowed per carry on first down. For the Bears defense, it faced a Browns offense that turned the ball over 36 times, including 19 interceptions from quarterback
DeShone Kizer. Entering the game, Chicago had just six interceptions in 2017, meaning Cleveland marked a prime opportunity to increase the stat. The Bears were 6.5-point favorites for the game; in three seasons under John Fox, the Bears had lost all seven games in which they were favored, including defeats to the Packers and 49ers in 2017. In spite of this, considering the Bears' opposition in week sixteen,
247Sports.com's Matt Eurich wrote it would be "satisfying for many to at least see the Bears earn a victory for the first time in three years in which it has been favored." After the first three series ended with punts, Jordan Howard scored on a two-yard run, but Mike Nugent's extra point was blocked. Following five drives that featured three-and-outs, Kizer's pass for
Josh Gordon was intercepted by Kyle Fuller, but the Bears were forced to punt. Zane Gonzalez kicked a 48-yard field goal with one second remaining in the first half to make the score 6–3 at halftime. On the first offensive play of the second half, Trubisky ran for 246 yards, the most by a Bears quarterback since
Kordell Stewart in
2003, along with throwing for 193 yards; the latter increased his season passing yard total to 2,015, the most by a rookie in Bears history.
Week 17: at Minnesota Vikings On New Year's Eve, Chicago played 12–3 Minnesota, who led the NFC North and would clinch the second seed in the playoffs with a win, at
U.S. Bank Stadium. The Bears' 30th-ranked offense (11th in rushing and 31st in passing) faced a Vikings defense that led the league, including second-place rankings in rush and pass defense. To survive, Jeff Joniak emphasized protecting Mitchell Trubisky and utilizing the rushing attack, especially as the Vikings pass defense allowed less than 200 net passing yards in just nine games in 2017. The Bears punted on the opening drive, which led to
Latavius Murray scoring on a one-yard touchdown run. Murray added another one-yard score in the second quarter to put the Vikings up by 14. During the early stages of the game, Bryce Callahan was penalized for pass interference, resulting in the Vikings gaining 24 and 27 yards, though he redeemed himself during the second quarter on a punt return; Tarik Cohen prepared to field a punt on one side of the field, while Callahan kneeled on the other side. Cohen acted as if he was going to field the punt, prompting the Vikings to chase him, though the punt was actually being returned by Callahan, who ran 59 yards unopposed for the touchdown. However, the Vikings added two more points when Trubisky, facing a blitz from
Linval Joseph, was penalized for intentional grounding, resulting in a safety. Minnesota attempted to score again on the last play of the first half, but Kai Forbath's 55-yard field goal was wide right. The first four drives of the second half resulted in punts, which ended when Keenum threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. Trubisky attempted to guide the offense downfield, reaching as far as the Vikings' six-yard line, but he threw four consecutive incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs. With 8:22 left in the game, Mike Nugent converted a 55-yard field goal to make the score 23–10, and the offense once again entered the Vikings' red zone on their next series. However, despite reaching the two-yard line, the Bears suffered another turnover on downs. The Bears dropped to 5-11 and were swept by all of their divisional rivals for the first time since 1969. ==Postseason==