Carson Wentz passed for 143 yards, Aaron Jones Sr. rushed for 105 yards, and the visiting Minnesota Vikings escaped with a 9-3 win over the Chicago Bears on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Wentz completed 11 of 20 passes in his 100th career start as Minnesota (2-0) won despite failing to score a touchdown. Justin Jefferson had three catches for 55 yards.
Caleb Williams passed for 138 yards and rushed for 42 yards before he left the game because of a right leg injury for Chicago (1-1). D’Andre Swift finished with 99 yards from scrimmage, 45 rushing yards and 54 receiving yards.
Vikings pass rusher Dallas Turner sacked Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent as time expired to seal the victory. Bagent was looking to give the Bears a buzzer-beater win as he took the final snap from the Vikings’ 12.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Williams’ injury cast a pall over the Soldier Field crowd on a gloomy, wet day along the lakefront.
The Bears trailed by three points but had first-and-goal from the Vikings’ 6 with less than eight minutes to go. Williams kept the ball and sprinted to his left with ample green space in front of him.
Suddenly, Williams stumbled and fell to his knees on a non-contact play. He rolled over a few times in pain until the Bears’ medical staff attended to him.
Williams hobbled off the field with his arms around members of the medical staff. He appeared to fight emotions as he was carted from the sideline to the locker room.
The Bears said Williams suffered a hamstring injury.
Both offenses struggled to move the ball. The teams traded field goals in the first quarter. The Vikings’ Will Reichard connected from 35 yards and the Bears’ Cairo Santos hit from 50 yards.
Reichard made it 6-3 with a 49-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
Reichard struck again, this time from 39 yards, to make it 9-3 with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter.
Bagent completed 5 of 9 passes for 54 yards after he replaced Williams.