Bears-Vikings

I suppose that the playoff chances for the Minnesota Vikings are alive until they aren't but it doesn't look good. Their playoff chances took a serious hit with yesterday's 33-27 loss to the Chicago Bears. Not only did the Vikings lose a football game they couldn't afford to lose they lost a football game to the team that are battling for a playoff spot. It was basically two losses rolled into one disappointing game. 

If the officials that oversaw last week's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were hauled in to oversee this game maybe things would've gone differently. The Vikings could've used a pass interference on the game-ending "Hail Mary" heave by Kirk Cousins. Adam Thielen was held and Olabisi Johnson had his facemask grabbed. It's usually anything goes at the receiving end of a "Hail Mary" heave. It was yesterday. It wasn't last week. The Vikings  could've used the penalty that was initially called for the helmet-to-helmet kiss on a sliding Kirk Cousins in the first half. A flag was thrown but it was picked up after the officials discussed it. Harrison Smith could've used one of those discussions last week.  Instead of a new set of downs the Vikings had a 4th-and-1. The decision to pick up the flag yesterday essentially ended a critical Vikings' possession. Anyway, football doesn't work like that. Shitty officiating doesn't always travel. 

All but two of the Vikings' games this season, maybe three, came down to the final plays. The wins and the losses. They could easily be 11-3, 1-13, or anything in between. It's such a fine line between good and bad. The Vikings haven't been good enough to walk on the right side of that line. They simply make too many mistakes. This game against the Bears was a microcosm of the season's issues. At times, the Vikings' offense was terrific. Other times, they weren't. They gashed the Bears defense for most of the game but were incompetent on two critical 4th-and-1s. Each fourth down failure gave the Bears a short field. They didn't have to do much to add six easy points. Those six points were the margin of victory. The Vikings' defense had problems throughout. They started the game with a three-and-out. They ended the game with an interception in the end zone. In between, Mitchell Trubisky and David Montgomery did just about anything they wanted. Mitchell Trubisky!?! Against the rest of the league, he’s a journeyman. Against the Vikings, he’s an all-timer. Why must Minnesota bring out the best in him?

The Vikings' offense is too good to be so bad at times. It's a transition year for the defense and injuries have only hindered that transition. The defense couldn't get the Bears offense off the field. Special teams have been a nightmare in most games but weren't a problem yesterday. This game became a game in which the Vikings had to answer each Bears score with a score of their own. Instead, they had empty possessions. Despite those empty possessions, the Vikings still had a chance to pull out a win. They couldn't and another winnable game became a loss. It's been a season filled with those. 

There really isn't much else to say. The Vikings play well enough to be in just about every game. They don't play well enough to win most of them. It's a frustrating, heart-straining way to play football. It's the story of this season and they have two more games to play in it. The next one is on Christmas Day in New Orleans.