Minnesota Vikings Week 15 Superlatives

The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears and Soldier Field in Week 15. Both are significant as wins in Chicago rarely come easy. The Vikings are now 7-7 and in control of their playoff destiny. All remaining games are a playoff game. Here’s a look at some of the players that stood out in the big Week 15 win over the Bears. 

Offensive Player of the Week

The Vikings offense didn’t do much more than put 17 points on the board. Fortunately, that was enough to defeat the Bears. It was a modest offensive performance. 193 total yards. 3.2 yards per play. No one really stood out. Dalvin Cook bulled his way to 89 yards on 28 carries. He was met at the line of scrimmage on nearly all of those carries. It was nothing like the wide open spaces that he saw against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cook and Justin Jefferson were particular focuses of the Bears defense. That’s no surprise. The two are a particular focus of every defense. Jefferson was routinely surrounded by multiple Bears DBs. They even got away with tackling him as an illegal form of coverage. It worked. As the officials slept on the play the Bears got themselves an interception. The Vikings offense did just enough to beat the Bears. With no one offensive player having a standout game, here’s to a player that made a singular play. 

Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Congratulation on your first NFL touchdown!

Defensive Player of the Week

If the purpose of the defense is to keep the opposing team out of the end zone, the Vikings defense was outstanding against the Bears. Despite repeated trips into the red zone, the Bears couldn’t get into the Vikings end zone. The touchdown on the final play of the game was meaningless. The Vikings were in control of this game from the start. That was mostly due to the defense. It was team defense but one player made more singular plays than the rest. 

D.J. Wonnum

8 tackles

3 sacks

2 tackles for loss

Special Teams Player of the Week

Greg Joseph made his kicks. Kene Nwangwu had a nice return. Dalvin Tomlinson got his finger on a Bears field goal attempt. Kris Boyd gets the nod for his recovery of a muffed punt. It wasn’t his fault that the offense did nothing with an extra opportunity and terrific field position.