The Minnesota Vikings are back to .500 on the season as they advanced to 7-7 with a 17-9 win over the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football.”
Minnesota was able to get out to an early lead as they drove 54-yards down the field on their second possession of the evening, which culminated in a 12-yard touchdown reception by Justin Jefferson. That score was all the Vikings would really need as they held Chicago to a field goal for the remainder of the game. That said, Minnesota was able to sprinkle some scoring throughout the contest, including a a 7-yard touchdown to Ihmr Smith-Marsette on the Vikings first possession of the second half.
While Chicago’s deleted secondary was a main storyline heading into this game, the unit largely make up of backups was able to hold its own against the Vikings and the pass rush was able to keep Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota offense in check. The offense for the Bears was the main Achilles heel in the loss, particularly once it got into the red area. In the loss, Chicago had two fumbles and two turnovers on downs in the red zone.
Cousins finished with just 87 yards passing as he completed 50% o his passes for two touchdowns and an interception. Dalvin Cook rushed for 80 yards. On the other side, Justin Fields threw for 285 yards and a garbage-time touchdown on the game’s final play. He also rushed seven times for 35 yards on the ground.
From here, the Vikings will head back to Minnesota and await the Rams for a Week 16 matchup on Sunday. As for the Bears, they’ll head on the road to face the Seahawks. Both Seattle and L.A. will be working on a particularly short week as those two NFC clubs are set to face one another on Tuesday due to a COVID-19 rescheduling.