The Minnesota Vikings did what they had to do yesterday. They defeated the Chicago Bears 23-10. They secured the #2 NFC playoff seed and the bye that goes with it. They did what they had to do but it wasn't pretty. The defense was terrific. The offense wasn't so terrific.
Many of the Vikings offensive problems stemmed from a patchwork offensive line. Injuries were the cause of that. Center Pat Elflein was inactive for the game with a shoulder injury and left guard Nick Easton is out for the season with a fractured ankle. The loss of those two starters were the start of several changes. The starters looked as if they were pulled out of a hat and assembled at random. Left tackle Riley Reiff was the only starter starting in the position that he was supposed to be starting. Jeremiah Sirles will play left guard for Easton moving forward. Joe Berger moved from right guard to center to replace Elflein. Mike Remmers moved from right tackle to right guard to fill in for Berger. Rashod Hill filled in for Remmers at right tackle. The Vikings coaches were clearly trying to get the best five available offensive linemen on the field despite replacing four of the five positions. It's a stretch to say that it worked but keeping a talented Bears front seven away Vikings ball carriers was going to be a challenge no matter who started on the offensive line. Quarterback Case Keenum was under pressure the entire game and there felt like a run on holding penalties in the second half. On the good side, Latavius Murray had a nice game running the ball. A couple of late runs (18 and 22 yards) boosted his run totals to 111 yards on 20 carries. Two of those 20 carries were tough one-yard touchdowns. Murray has run stronger as the season's gotten older. That has to continue in the playoffs. Hopefully with a healthy offensive line in front of him.
The Vikings defense was excellent. The Bears offense did essentially nothing for nearly three quarters. They didn't cross midfield until the first play of the fourth quarter. That drive got the Bears inside the five yard line. It ended on downs outside the end zone. In the final quarter, the Bears ran 12 plays from inside the Vikings 12-yard line. No points. The Bears only points came on a punt return and a 55-yard field goal.
The Vikings defense has been so good this season that it's surprising that they are in the middle of the pack when it comes to forcing turnovers. A big reason for those modest turnover numbers is their great success in preventing third down conversions. They get off the field and get the ball back to their offense by way of punts. The Vikings defense keeps offenses from doing the things that they want to do.
2017 Vikings Defense NFL Rankings
#1 in scoring-15.8 pts/game
#1 in yards allowed-275.9 yds/gamn
#1 in third down defense-25.2%
the last stat is the best the league has seen since 1991
Bryce Callahan's 59-yard punt return touchdown was a mess. Tarik Cohen's the Bears main punt and kick returner. He's a real threat to score any time that he has the ball in his hands. He's scary good, potentially Devin Hester-like scary good. Cohen gets a lot of attention. We can leave it at that. He got a lot of attention when Ryan Quigley punted to him from deep in Vikings territory with about six minutes to play in the first half. So much attention was paid to him that every single Vikings coverage player was heading toward Cohen while the ball was heading toward Callahan. This should never happen. The coverage has to know which side of the field that the punt is heading. Don't head in the other.
Penalties!! The Vikings had 12 penalties for a loss of 102 yards. Most were on the offense. Too many times it took away positive gains and put the offense in difficult down and distance situations. The Vikings mostly play smart but they have some stretches in games in which they don't. They can't make those mistakes if they want to move through the playoffs.
Despite mostly ragged play, the Vikings offense did have some nice moments. They had three touchdown drives: 7 plays for 70 yards, 11 plays for 70 yards, 7 plays for 63 yards. That was more than enough in this game. They had the ball at the end of the game and were able to make the plays that allowed them to run out the clock. They did what they had to do.
The Vikings were expected to finish this season behind both the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in the NFC North. Third place was the consensus from the supposed experts. The Vikings won the division by four games. 13-3 and a first round bye. They've beaten top NFC contenders Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and had the Carolina Panthers tied in the final minutes. They can win on the road (6-2) and they can definitely win at home. The Super Bowl will be in their home. If they play to their ability that can beat any team. It's all in front of them.
Other NFL thoughts:
Congratulations to the Buffalo Bills for ending their very long playoff drought.
The only other thoughts that I have on the Week 17 games is that many were a waste of time. A lot of people bitch about the NFL charging full price for preseason games. Some of these Week 17 games were worse than preseason games. Every single person that sat through the Eagles-Cowboys walk-through should get their money back. Rams head coach Sean McVay should lose coach of the year votes for sitting most of his team for a game against the 49ers that actually meant something. The Rams could've improved their playoff seeding with a win and they laid down. Other game results went their way so they won by laying down but that sort of apathy was pathetic. Week 17 should mean something but too many teams made it a joke. The games mean something to the fans paying for them.
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