If you’re into aesthetically-pleasing football, this game wasn’t for you. But the Minnesota Vikings clawed their way to a win against an abysmal Chicago Bears offense that only gained two first downs in the second half.
Minnesota scored 12 unanswered points to earn a 19-13 win, Kirk Cousins‘ first at Soldier Field as a member of the Vikings and his first win on Monday Night Football in his career.
HOW’D THE OFFENSE DO?
Dalvin Cook wasn’t going anywhere. The Bears were breaking the Vikings’ spirit in the run game. Then Akiem Hicks got hurt.
The fulcrum of the Bears’ defensive line left with a hamstring injury in the third quarter, which opened the door for Cook and the Vikings to put together a go-ahead drive. With the game tied at 13 apiece, Cousins and Cook engineered a nine-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Adam Thielen on third down.
The Vikings offense was stagnant for the first three quarters, but not because of Cousins. Two Vikings playmakers made uncharacteristic errors that led to turnovers: a Kyle Rudolph fumble and a Thielen drop into the arms of Khalil Mack for an interception.
Even on the low-scoring night, however, there was still some splashy highlights for the Vikings. Thielen hauled in a one-handed touchdown on their second drive to make it 7-0 Vikings, and his cohort Justin Jefferson delivered a 54-yard catch and run on 3rd and 11 in the third quarter to catapult him over 100 yards on the night.
A ridiculous touchdown catch by Adam Thielen #Skol #NFL pic.twitter.com/Lay16znEH4
— HuddleUpPodcast (@HuddleUpPodcast) November 17, 2020
Cook finished with a modest 30 carries for 96 yards, while Jefferson pieced together a brilliant primetime effort with eight grabs for 135 yards. Cousins put together a quiet 292 yards with two touchdowns, a pick and one sack taken.
HOW’D THE DEFENSE DO?
You can’t ask for much more.
Nick Foles, a former Super Bowl MVP, was completely punchless against a series of creative Vikings blitzes. A rushing attack that was missing Tarik Cohen and David Montgomery offered no help, and he ended up injured on the first play of Chicago’s final drive. The Bears did their best imitation of the 2016 Vikings, routinely feeding the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson, sometimes out of the Wildcat, and relying on Patterson to return kicks. His 104-yard return to start the second half gave the Bears the lead at 13-7. That was their only touchdown on the night.
Chicago didn’t have a first down until midway through the fourth quarter. Eric Wilson, Hercules Mata’afa and Harrison Smith all had terrific games, particularly Smith who had an interception in the first quarter, a key third-down pass breakup in the third quarter and a handful of pressures on Foles, who was battered throughout the game.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH SPECIAL TEAMS?
For a second straight week, the Vikings were a mess on special teams.
The comedy of errors included:
- A kickoff return for a touchdown allowed
- A botched snap on an extra point
- Anear muffed punt by K.J. Osborn
- A failure by Dan Chisena to down the ball at the 1-yard line
- And a 32-yard punt return allowed late in the fourth quarter
Zimmer was seen berating special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf on the sideline after Patterson’s touchdown. Could the special teams coordinator be on the hot seat?
Hey, at least Dan Bailey made both his field goals.
BIG PICTURE
The Vikings have done the hard part. They swept three divisional games, two of them on the road, to get back to 4-5. Now they face three winnable home games with a chance to get to 7-5 and put themselves squarely in the playoff hunt.
