Vikings-Bears

The Minnesota Vikings closed out a frustrating season with a 31-17 home win over the Chicago Bears. 

The first half was terrible. The second half was kinda fun. 

Over the first 29:29 of the game, the Vikings offense ran 18 plays, gained 22 yards, and punted four times. It was ugly. It was sad. The Vikings defense spent the first half playing one of those bend but don’t break sort of deals. The Bears were consistently on the Vikings side of the field but could only manage two field goals. All of that changed in the final minute of the first half. The Bears finally punched in a touchdown. Of course the Vikings defense gave up a score at the end of the half. The final minutes of each half had been a season-long problem. If they’d ever found a cure for their end-of-half woes, the Vikings might be preparing for a playoff game. A lot of things kept them out of the playoffs but this issue might’ve been the most significant. After that late Bears score, the Vikings offense finally did some things. Over the first 29:29 of the half, they gained 22 yards. In the final 31 seconds of the half, they gained 55 yards. That offensive explosion ended with a 39-yard Greg Joseph field goal. 

14-3 Bears at the half. 

It was all Vikings in the second half. The defense allowed a single field goal. They even added a touchdown. Patrick Peterson returned his first interception of the season 66 yards for the score. The offense scored three touchdowns. 

The difference in this game was the Bears offense vs. the Vikings defense on fourth down. The Bears were clearly willing to gamble in a game that meant little. They went for it on fourth down six times. They converted one. Four of those attempts ended in sack, sack, sack, interception. None of the Bears fourth-down gambles led to Bears points. One of the gambles turned into Vikings points. The interception was the one that Peterson took back for a score. 

Here’s a look at the Bears fourth-down attempts:

1. 4th-and-1 at Vikings 44-David Montgomery ran for four yards

2. 4th-and-5 at Vikings 35-D.J. Wonnum sacked Andy Dalton for -15 yards

3. 4th-and-1 at Vikings 13-Wonnum sacked Dalton for -5 yards

4. 4th-and-1 at Vikings 1-Anthony Barr sacked Dalton for -15 yards

5. 4th-and-1 at Bears 49-Peterson returned interception 66 yards for TD

6. 4th-and-19 at Bears 18-Dalton to Dazz Newsome for 13 yards

The first two are interesting as they took place on the same “drive.” The Bears ran eight plays for a total of three yards. It isn’t often that you see an offense run eight plays on a possession yet gain only three yards. Wonnum’s sack for a loss of 15 yards was the key. 

The Vikings defense did good things on those fourth down plays. A bigger factor was the horrible play-calling by Matt Nagy. 

One fun part of the final 30:31 of the game was the play of the Vikings three young receivers. Justin Jefferson has been an offensive staple since the third game of his rookie season. K.J. Osborn emerged this year as a productive player. Rookie Ihmir Smith-Marsette took advantage of increased opportunities against the Bears.

For the game:

Justin Jefferson: 5 catches, 107 yards, 1 TD (44)

Ihmir Smith-Marsette: 3 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD (45)

K.J. Osborn: 1 catch, 21 yards, 1 TD (21)

Old-man Adam Thielen (31 years) will return next year and probably has a few more years in him but I like the potential of the young trio of pass-catchers. 

Jefferson’s 107 yards boosted his season total to 1,616 yards. That’s 16 yards short of Randy Moss’s franchise record of 1,632 yards. Jefferson would’ve had the record if Kirk Cousins had looked to the right before he looked to the left on Osborn’s touchdown grab. Both receivers were wide open in the end zone.

Once they woke up, the Vikings offense did some fun things. Despite giving up a lot of yards, the Vikings defense was the difference in the game. They sacked Dalton seven times. Three of those were on fourth down. D.J. Wonnum, Anthony Barr, and Kenny Willekes each had two sacks. Wonnum was a menace on those fourth-down plays. Willekes was routinely harassing Dalton in the fourth quarter. Seven sacks, two interceptions, scored a touchdown, allowed a touchdown is a nice little stat line. 

There was a lot of pre-game chatter hoping that the Vikings would go with younger players in this game. In particular, many in the media and fans hoped to see rookie quarterback Kellen Mond. Those hopes were dashed when it was announced that Mond would be inactive. My guess is that those doing this chatter wanted the Vikings to lose this game without trying to lose this game. Personally, I don’t need to see a preseason game in Week 18. This season has been too damn frustrating to watch it close with a sad, pathetic white flag. I don’t need to see young Vikings players that haven’t played much all year flail about in a supposedly meaningless game. I prefer to watch a fun game to close the season. I prefer to watch the Vikings try to win games. Even a supposedly meaningless game. 

The Vikings finished the season with a disappointing 8-9 record. It’s been one of the most frustrating seasons of my six-decade relationship with the team. After last year’s 7-9 season, the Vikings likely enter an offseason of significant change. I’m not ready right now to deal with the fate of head coach Mike Zimmer. I’m thankful for each of his eight years with the team. I’m so thankful that he and his coaches coached and the players played to win this game. I’m thankful for this win.