Final Word: The Chicago Bears need a restart. They can look at the Minnesota Vikings as inspiration

There may not have been a truer line spoken Sunday night from any Chicago Bears player than cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

The Bears' star corner, asked what immediate thoughts came to his head after the Bears' 30-12 loss in Minneapolis, chuckled before responding.

"I'm looking forward to going home and being in bed," Johnson said.

Can't disagree there.

The Bears need a reboot. The kind that a good nap could provide. Unfortunately, no nap or good night's sleep will bring the Bears to a point where the 2024 season will be looked upon favorably in any capacity in the future.

The only way this season will be remembered as a faux pas depends on what the Bears do from here.

"There's a lot of ground we got to make up," Bears tight end Cole Kmet said.

With three games left, the Bears are left playing for pride.

Of the three remaining games, the Bears get a banged up Detroit Lions team, a Seahawks team fighting for the playoffs and a Packers team that may or may not have anything to play for.

The Bears that looked like they were crawling to the finish line on Monday night don't get a reprieve or a mulligan to snap that eight-game losing streak. Interim head coach Thomas Brown would disagree with the notion the Bears were limping to the finish line.

"If you watch the tape, our guys battled to the very end," Brown said. "Saying that we don’t have a lot left in the tank alludes to the guys quitting. I didn’t see that at all. Our guys will continue to battle."

Battling to end the season on a three-game win streak would net the Bears at 7-10, the same as where they left off in the 2023 season.

To go higher, the Bears need an infusion of energy, the right addition of leadership and a timely incorporation of talent at key positions. Ironically, the Vikings offer a blueprint of how to do that.

It starts with leadership, of course. 

Of the four teams that played on Monday Night Football, two of them combined for 19 total penalties. Those were the Bears and Vikings. The Vikings committed 10 of those fouls and won by 18 points.

Minnesota's head coach Kevin O'Connell is a reason why. His offense found ways to move the ball. The Vikings were 7 of 14 on third-down conversions. The Bears were 1 of 12.

All of this happened with two sets of offensive rosters that aren't too far apart. The Bears and Vikings both have playmakers. One team was using them properly on Monday, and all season long for that matter.

O'Connell, the offensive coordinator when the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl, has also revived Sam Darnold's career to where the third-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft is on the cusp of parlaying a one-year, prove-it deal into a healthy contract.

O'Connell got the most important position on the field right. The Bears have half of that piece in place with Caleb Williams. There were times Monday when Williams showcased his playmaking; there were other times when he was gun shy. The former needs to be at the forefront, and whomever is the next head coach of the Chicago Bears has to bring it out.

The second part of the blueprint is the offensive line. Case in point: the youngest starter on the Vikings offensive line on Monday was Blake Brandel, who was taken in the 2020 NFL Draft. The experience was evident, even if the Vikings' offensive line didn't play its best on Monday.

This comparison to Minnesota isn't just because of the proximity the two teams have in the NFC North.

The Bears are at a crossroads. The Vikings were, too. They fired Mike Zimmer in 2021 after hovering around mediocre. The Bears fired Matt Eberflus, and now need that infusion of leadership.

This circles back to 2022 for the final pieces of the blueprint. The Bears and Vikings hired both their general managers and head coaches in that same offseason.

Now, the Bears need to align their general manager and head coach. There's no sign or indication the Bears will move on from Ryan Poles. There shouldn't be, either.

During Monday's broadcast, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman was very complimentary of the job Poles has done piecing the Bears' roster together. For all the criticism Poles has faced, he's not even three full years removed from tearing the Bears down to the studs in a full rebuild. The reality is, competing for the NFC North would take much longer than just a grand offseason.

However, the Bears have to align Poles with the next head coach in the form of a contract extension. It's the best way to show any potential coaching candidates there's a chance to let this cohesion flesh itself out.

It also gives the Bears a chance to find their version of a Kevin O'Connell. Not just because the Bears need it.

It's because the Bears owe it to Caleb Williams. The image of Williams grimacing on the sidelines after taking a nasty quarterback hit in a moment of desperation should be all the motivation the Bears need to do right by their rookie quarterback.

There are three weeks left until this franchise has to make some of its most important decisions.

Keep an eye on that clock.