Vikings - Bears

The Minnesota Vikings closed the 2022 regular season with a 29-13 win over the Chicago Bears. It was a full-team win. Every active player saw the field. Punter Ryan Wright probably saw the least action. He didn’t punt until the final possession. He did hold the ball for six place kicks. The Vikings offense was always on the move. The only three-and-out was the last possession that resulted in that lone punt. Eleven players caught passes for 341 yards. It was that sort of game. The starters played the first half. The backups played the second half. Everyone played. The Vikings won. It’s on to the playoffs. 

The 16-point win was only the second multi-score win of the season. The Vikings started the season with a 16-point win over the Green Bay Packers. They closed the season with a 16-point win over the Bears. In between were 11 tense, single-score wins. 

After a horrible, sloppy, mistake-filled game against the Packers in Week 17, the Vikings needed a return to confident and consistent play. Despite playing only the first half, Kirk Cousins and the offensive starters found confidence and consistent play. Cousins was efficient: 17/20, 225 yards and a touchdown. The starters scored 16 points. It should’ve been more. It would’ve been a field goal more if not for hacked-up play calling and execution over the final seconds of the first half. From the Bears five-yard line, the Vikings ran two questionable plays that didn’t threaten the end zone and only kept the clock running. A rushed field goal was good but strangely taken off the board while both teams were in the locker room. Replay review found 12 Vikings on the field. The ridiculous sequence resulted in a 16-6 halftime lead. 

Nick Mullens replaced Cousins in the second half and continued the offensive efficiency. He completed 11/13 for 116 yards. His only blemish was an interception that was more great catch than poor throw. After a few seasons of no confidence in Sean Mannion as a backup it was actually refreshing to see Mullens play well. 

It was all Vikings backups in the second half. Offense and defense. The backups played well. Granted, it was against a Bears team simply playing out a bad season. It was a bad season that earned them the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Other than the quarterback, the Bears mostly went with their starters from opening kick to finish. At quarterback, Nathan Peterman, with a little peppering of Tim Boyle, played in place of Justin Fields. The quarterbacking strategy was probably a poorly disguised way to get that first pick. Whatever it was, it played a big role in the Vikings fairly easy win. 

Other than the hacked-up final seconds of the first half, the only disappointment with the game was Justin Jefferson falling well short of Calvin Johnson’s single season record for receiving yards. The Vikings, rightly, saw a healthy roster as more important than individual goals. Jefferson needed nearly 200 yards to catch Johnson. He finished the game with four catches for 38 yards. If the record was more realistically in reach, I’m sure the strategy would’ve been different. Jefferson finishes a brilliant regular season with 128 catches for 1,809 receiving yards. Both totals led the league. Johnson’s record and 2,000 yards will be next season’s goal. Now, Jefferson’s goal is ripping up the playoffs. 

After last week’s very costly Packers game, the Vikings had no new injuries against the Bears. Well, Dalvin Cook and Chandon Sullivan were each helped from the field but they seem fine. 

The Vikings finished Kevin O’Connell’s first season as head coach with a sparkling 13-4 record. Now, it’s time for some playoff football. First up, a Sunday rematch with the New York Giants.