3 and out: Bears continue to stumble with 19-13 loss to Vikings

Takeaways from the Bears' 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night at Soldier Field:

Three moments that mattered

1. Despite all of the Bears' struggles on offense, they were inches from tying the score when Nick Foles' desperation heave toward the end zone was just out of the reach of Anthony Miller with a little over two minutes remaining. Story of this team's season. Of course, the heave wouldn't have been necessary if not for Bill Lazor's doomed third-down call one play before that went for a 4-yard loss.

2. Akiem Hicks limped off the field with a hamstring injury late in the third quarter. Suddenly Dalvin Cook had a bit of room to run. Not much, but it was noticeable. Hopefully, Hicks' injury isn't serious. We saw what this Bears' defense looked like with Hicks sidelined last season. It wasn't pretty.

3. Sticking with the injury news, Foles took a scary hit in the closing minute and was carted off the field. The bye week is coming at the perfect time, but there's no guarantee Foles or Mitch Trubisky will be ready to go in Week 12 against Green Bay.

Three things that worked

1. Nothing Cooking: The Vikings' star running back entered Monday night on an absolute tear, but he finished with 96 yards rushing on 30 carries. We can pretty confidently say at this point, the Bears have Cook's number.

2. Cordarrelle Patterson: We've seen teams go out of their way to avoid kicking the ball to Patterson, and we saw why Monday night when Patterson took the opening kickoff of the second half 104 yards to the house. Not only did it keep the Bears in the game, it kept their offense off the field. That's a win-win for everyone involved.

3. Just keeps getting better: A lot of talk has centered on the improved play of Danny Trevathan over the past month, and rightfully so, but let's not overlook his fellow inside linebacker. Roquan Smith is playing at an incredibly high level right now and is well on his way to earning a Pro Bowl spot.

Three things that didn't

1. Take your pick: We could really talk about anything related to the offense, but let's start with Foles. The Bears' defense forced a turnover on the Vikings' opening drive, and instead of taking advantage, Foles gave the football right back to Minnesota on a bad throw that was high and behind Miller, leading to a Harrison Smith interception.

2. Blitz protection: If Foles wasn't missing an open receiver, it was usually because he was under too much pressure to get a throw off. Offensive linemen Germain Ifedi and Rashaad Coward continue to cost the Bears points on a weekly basis.

3. So much for Dwayne Harris: It looked as though the Bears finally had resolved their punt return issues when the veteran took over the duties. Then he muffed a punt, giving the Vikings the ball deep in Bears territory, and was injured in the process. At least Miller performed well in relief after Harris exited.

What’s next?

The Bears head into a much-needed bye before gearing up for a Sunday night tilt against the rival Packers on Nov. 29.