The Chicago Bears couldn't do much right in the first half against the Minnesota Vikings. The defense gave up three consecutive easy touchdown drives to start, with Kirk Cousins breaking a franchise record by completing 17 straight passes. The offense committed a delay-of-game penalty on the very first play after having the wrong personnel on the field. David Montgomery even had his name spelled wrong on the back of his jersey in his return to action.

However, after the Bears' defense finally got a stop (and a Cousins incompletion) on the fourth possession, their offense also came alive with their first touchdown of the game. That touchdown came courtesy of a 9-yard Montgomery run on third down, but it was set up by one of the best catches of this 2022 season by Darnell Mooney:

This was reminiscent of Odell Beckham Jr., and it gave the Bears a bit of life before halftime. Chicago looked totally dead just moments before with Minnesota on the move up 21-3, but a third-down sack of Cousins and a shanked punt plus a Vikings penalty set up the Bears with good field position. Justin Fields then connected with Mooney on this big pass play, one of the very few positive plays for the struggling Chicago offense.

Fields and the Bears' passing offense has been historically bad to start this season, though they've had a few big plays amid all the embarrassing stuff. The offense was mostly disorganized and embarrassing again in this first half, but this big Mooney play, the ensuing Montgomery touchdown and a sprinkling of Vikings mistakes have Chicago down “only” 11 points at halftime.

It would still be a massive surprise to see the Bears come back and win this game, but perhaps this game won't be a total embarrassment for them … though there's plenty of time left for more debacles.