CHICAGO — In terms of entertainment value, Sunday’s 16-6 decision between the Vikings and Bears was almost entirely devoid of the big plays and momentum shifts that define captivating NFL football games. There were nearly as many flags (14) as points (22) in this one, and the most compelling fourth quarter storyline revolved around whether the Vikings would get shut out.
The game was at its peak, appropriately, when the ball was on the ground. On a day that began with rain that made for precarious field conditions, ball security was paramount coming in. The Vikings ended up losing two fumbles; the Bears none. But that total was fluid throughout the afternoon as several fumbles were nullified or overturned by review with fairly major affects on the game’s outcome.
Let’s revisit the five fumbles, which started on the game’s very first drive.
FUMBLE #1, Bears ball, 3rd and 4 at chi 43
1st quarter, 12:19
The game changed drastically on the sixth play from scrimmage when Mitch Trubisky hurt his shoulder, but it could’ve been even worse for the Bears. The Vikings blitzed Anthony Barr on 3rd and 4 to flush Trubisky from the pocket, then Danielle Hunter caught the quarterback from behind, stripped the football and put it on the turf for an Everson Griffen recovery. It looked like the Vikings would have the ball inside the Bears 35-yard line, but the takeaway was nullified by an Anthony Harris defensive hold.
The Bears kept the ball and Daniel got to find an immediate rhythm instead of the Vikings being given a short field, which could have been a game-changer to kickstart the Vikings offense, which hasn’t scored first in Chicago since 2014.
“I’m just a little frustrated, a little mad,” Griffen said after the game. “We could probably start faster on defense, but we did. We started fast. Just penalties.”
The Bears continued marching down the field and converted a 4th and 1 along the way until they encountered the game’s second notable fumble.
FUMBLE #2, bears ball, 1st and goal at min 10
1st quarter, 7:54
Having already chewed up over seven minutes on the drive, the Bears were looking to cap their opening possession with a touchdown. Daniel went through his first read and checked down to Trey Burton for what would have been a certain loss on the play, but Griffen stripped the ball and sent it rolling in the backfield.
Harrison Smith was overly aggressive trying to scoop and score, allowing Chicago to recover at Minnesota’s 24, but that’s beside the point. Matt Nagy challenged whether the fumble had ever occurred and won, once replay showed that Burton was bobbling the ball.
That gave Chicago the football back at the 10-yard line instead of facing 2nd and goal at the 24. They’d score on the next play on Daniel’s pass to Tarik Cohen, who beat Anthony Barr to the corner of the end zone.
“It was a 16-play drive, and I think they converted fourth down,” said Zimmer, “and we weren’t tight enough on the receivers early in the game.”
FUMBLE #3, vikings ball, 1st and 10 at chi 44
2nd quarter, 6:42
From a play where the receiver didn’t have possession to a play where the receiver did. A pass to Stefon Diggs in the third quarter was ruled incomplete on first glance, but Nagy correctly challenged again. Officials deemed that Diggs controlled the ball and made a move upfield before Prince Amukamara stripped it, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix made a clear recovery. The Vikings were fortunate Clinton-Dix wasn’t allowed to return the ball since he had ample space and blockers in front.
The Vikings wouldn’t get that far downfield again until late in the fourth quarter. For Diggs, it was the start of another frustrating day that ended in him leaving the locker room without talking to reporters.
FUMBLE #4, vikings ball, 1st and 10 at min 25
3rd quarter, 14:54
Down 10-0 at half, the Vikings at least had the advantage of receiving the ball to start the third quarter, but Khalil Mack stripped that advantage immediately away.
Mack beat left tackle Riley Reiff cleanly to the outside and hit Cousins’ blind side as he was cocking the football back to pass to Irv Smith Jr. Chicago recovered the fumble in the red zone and would tack on three points with a field goal by Eddy Pineiro.
“I don’t think there’s anything I can do,” said Cousins. “I think the key is to play fast and if you play with kind of looking at him and worrying about him, then you’re going to miss a lot. So you have to kind of play trusting it and letting it go, and that one was just really unfortunate. I think he got a good jump.”
It was Cousins’ 27th fumble since 2017, and he’d add another later in the quarter.
FUMBLE #5, vikings ball, 2nd and 16 at CHI 36
3rd quarter, 0:40
Down 16 and making a desperate bid to climb back in the game, the Vikings reached Bears territory late in the third quarter. After a false start penalty already set them back, the Vikings faced a clear passing situation. Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski brought pressure and Dalvin Cook missed on a blitz pick-up.
Cousins exposed the ball as he tried to scramble away and had it poked free by Kwiatkoski. Then chaos, as Leonard Floyd appeared to recover, fumble again and give the ball back to the Vikings’ Brian O’Neill. Because of multiple changes of possession, this strangely would’ve worked out for Minnesota the way it was called on the field, giving the Vikings a 1st and 10 after facing a 2nd and 16 on the previous play.
But the play was automatically reviewed by the booth, which deemed that Floyd never possessed the football. Meaning no change of possession, no first down and an impossible 3rd and 35.
“We talked about it last night in the meeting,” said Zimmer. “We gotta protect the football in the pocket. They’re big stripping the balls in the pocket. We gotta do a better job there and we gotta make sure we do that, and we didn’t do it today.”
The two times Chicago put the ball on the ground, they got a reprieve. The three times the Vikings did, they paid dearly. Flip some of those outcomes and it might’ve been a different ballgame, but with the way the Vikings played on the afternoon, there’s little reason to think those drives would have ended any better had they been extended.
