The Minnesota Vikings hit the road for their 3rd straight game yesterday afternoon, taking on division rival the Chicago Bears, who were coming off a heart breaking loss to Green Bay last week.
The Vikings started off like previous weeks with a turnover on the first drive. Aaron Jones fumbled on the two yard line stalling the drive, and giving the ball to the Bears. Two drives later the Bears took an early 7-0 lead, after Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams drove them down for a score, and was looking productive much like he was last week against Green Bay. Minnesota would answer right back with a touchdown catch from Jordan Addison, making the game have the vibe of a shootout.
However… Minnesota’s Defense and Offense would start to gain their footing, blocking a field goal attempt by the Bears, and adding a couple scores to make it 24-10 entering the 4th quarter. But the Bears would not back down. Orchestrated by the rookie signal caller, Caleb Williams would lead a comeback in the final minutes to try to force the game to overtime and steal a win.
Minnesota held on to a 27-16 lead in the final minutes, before Williams would drive the Bears down to make the score 27-24. The Bears announced an onside kick attempt, and would recover after the ball glazed the leg of Vikings tight end Johnny Mundt, giving the Bears the ball back with a chance to tie, and go to overtime. Williams again led the offense down, and set up the field goal attempt by Cairo Santos as time expired, which this time would be good, game tied 27-27.
In overtime, the Vikings defense stood their ground, and got the ball back to the offense who walked it down the field, to set up the game winning field goal, by current replacement for Will Reichard, John Parker Romo.
Sam Darnold finished the day with a season high in passing yards with 330, and 2 touchdowns. Aaron Jones was the leading rusher with 22 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. And Jordan Addison would steal some of the spotlight from Justin Jefferson finishing as the teams leading receiver with 8 catches for 162 yards, and a touchdown.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 9-2 on the season, and sit just 1 game behind the Detroit Lions for the lead in the NFC North, and currently hold the 5th seed in the NFC playoff picture. The Vikings will have another good test this coming week, when they return home to take on the Arizona Cardinals, and the scrambling and slippery Kyler Murray at quarterback. Arizona is coming off a loss to Seattle, giving the Seahawks the lead in the division. Minnesota needs a win to keep pace in the NFC North with Detroit, and Green Bay. Arizona needs a win to keep pace in their own division. Which one will come out on top? We will find out at Noon, this coming Sunday.
Photo Credit: ESPN, The Minnesota Vikings, The Chicago Bears, The NFL.
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