Bulls News: Kmet, Odunze call for cleaner execution after loss to Vikings

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 12 hours ago

CHICAGO - New season. New head coach. New offensive coordinator. Multiple new members on the offensive line. Same problems.

Chicago fans were thrilled after the first drive. But as the game went on, the offense became stagnant and failed to score for most of the fourth quarter until there was just over two minutes left.

Tight end Cole Kmet acknowledged the frustration of the loss, but also said this was something that showed up at times in training camp and during the preseason.

“Sucks for the outcome and the way it ended. Give credit to them. They played a better full game than we did. Obviously, we had some opportunities to close it out and we didn’t do that. So, we got to do a better job on that front,” Kmet said. “Unfortunately, that’s been a little bit of a theme for us throughout the preseason and training camp and obviously, it showed it here (Monday) a little bit. So, we just got to practice harder, we got to be better and we got to continue to work on those things. That’s obviously something that we’ve struggled with, but something that we got to continue to grow.”

In the last nine games Chicago has played against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bears have lost eight of them. Furthermore, the Bears have not won against Minnesota at home since September 2019.

This theme is disturbing for Chicago fans, as winning division matchups was an issue under the previous head coach.

“It stings because it’s a division opponent. So, I think that’s where it hurts to throw up the year and that being said, I’ve actually had my fair share of opening day wins and down the road, they end up not meaning as much as you think they do. So, hopefully that’s the case with this one,” Kmet said. “So, we got to be able to move on here quickly to Detroit on Sunday. It’s going to be a quick turnaround for us.”

Perhaps the Bears' biggest problem was penalties. Chicago had 12 penalties for 127 yards; seven of these penalties occurred in the second half.

This included numerous false starts - one on right tackle Darnell Wright, two on right guard Jonah Jackson and one on receiver DJ Moore - as well as a crucial holding penalty against Wright and illegal shift on the final drive.

“Can’t happen. Those are things that obviously contributed to this loss amongst other things … It’s all things that we’re all involved with and need to just hone in on those pre-snap things. That’s just stuff that you can’t do if you want to have success in this league and that really killed us in certain instances. But, we just got to eliminate those and I think after that, we’ll be alright,” wide receiver Rome Odunze said. “Every time we’re out there, anytime you have a streak of them like that, it’s something that needs to be resolved. But, I don’t (think) it carries over from anything … But, it’s a game-to-game, day-to-day basis on that. We just had too many (Monday).”

Odunze had a decent night with a team-high six receptions for 37 yards and the only passing touchdown of the game. However, individual performances are not as important when the team falls short of its goals.

This will be particularly true when the Bears play their next game against another division opponent, the Detroit Lions, on Sun. Sept. 14 (Noon / FOX).

“We had our plays,” Odunze said. “We were able to execute. But we just have to be able to execute it throughout an entire drive. Can’t have the mistakes that keep knocking us back and those different things.”