Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

I've seen enough of J.J. McCarthy. On a weekend where draftmates Bo Nix and Drake Maye assumed full command of the AFC, there was the Vikings quarterback playing football as if he had acute lead poisoning. I'm gonna try to describe McCarthy's performance in the space below, but really words don't do it proper injustice. You had to watch. You had to sit there for three miserable hours, beholding a game in which McCarthy gave the home crowd exactly one moment worth cheering for.

"Nobody in that room wants to get it corrected more than the players, alright?" Hightower said. "And we are going to work night and day to get it all cleaned up. I can promise you that. I will bust my ass and they will too, alright, to get it cleaned up."

Four takeaways. That's where the bar has been set for Chicago's defense after pushing past an 0-2 start, which included one of the worst defensive performances in franchise history in a 52-21 loss at Detroit in Week 2. It's become a rallying cry for the Bears, who took the ball away four times against Dallas in Week 4 and four more times in Las Vegas one week later.

After punting on their first drive, the Bears' defense came up with a huge play when defensive end Montez Sweat forced a fumble on a sack of quarterback Spencer Rattler. That loose ball was recovered by the Bears on New Orleans' 29 yard line. Though Chicago got into the red zone, they settled for a field goal after failing to convert a third down for a 3-0 advantage.