Vikings nosedive into bye week with a loss to Bears on Monday night

Instead of rebounding from a one-point loss last week, the Minnesota Vikings suffered a disappointing loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

Under the bright lights inside U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings had a perfect opportunity to add another win to their record before their bye next week when they took on an underwhelming Chicago Bears team with a 3-8 record on Monday night.

Well, the Bears had a different plan.

Chicago's defense forced four turnovers, and the Vikings were held to just 10 points in a disappointing 12-10 loss that is going to keep them up at night during their extra time off next week.

Minnesota Vikings QB Josh Dobbs has a concerning performance in loss to Chicago Bears

Heading into Monday night's game, Minnesota had been able to ride the magic that surrounded quarterback Josh Dobbs since he was acquired at the trade deadline.

Against the Bears, that magic was nowhere to be found.

Dobbs threw an interception on his second pass of the game, which ended up being the first of four picks thrown by the Minnesota signal-caller. He truly had a performance to forget, and hopefully, it's something that doesn't happen again for Dobbs when the Vikings return from their bye in Week 14.

With the loss, Minnesota's record drops to 6-6, and perhaps to the surprise of some, if the season ended after Monday night's contest, the Vikings would still qualify for the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the NFC.

But if they perform anything like they did against Chicago, a spot in the postseason won't mean much for the Vikings, as they'll be immediately sent home by the first team they face.

Minnesota now has two weeks to figure out what needs to be fixed in order for them to get back to playing the type of football that led them to a five-game winning streak earlier this season.

If they are unable to make the necessary fixes, then the 2023 campaign for the Vikings will just be the latest in the team's history to fall short of expectations.