Vikings Defense Dominates in Intense Victory Over Bears
Don't look now, but the Vikings have won three games in a row.
Sitting at 1-5 at their bye week and facing a three-game stretch against the NFC North, things looked bleak in Minnesota. Then the Vikings went to Green Bay and beat the Packers, crushed the Lions at home, and found a way to pull out an intense, physical victory over the Bears on Monday Night Football to complete the set.
This wasn't a pretty football game by any means, but the Vikings will take it however they can get it. Mike Zimmer's defense was dominant all night long, holding the Bears to 149 yards of offense, and the Vikings' two star wide receivers led the way on the other side of the ball. In the end, Zimmer's team emerged from a classic divisional slugfest standing tall with a 19-13 win.
Here are five takeaways from a much-needed victory for the suddenly rolling Vikings.
Justin Jefferson continues to produce in an incredible rookie year
The Vikings' last two wins were all about Dalvin Cook. But as expected, the Bears' front seven posed a much stiffer challenge for Cook and the running game. The NFL's hottest running back still racked up 112 yards from scrimmage, but he needed 34 touches to do it, and a good chunk of that production came late in the game after Akiem Hicks had left with an injury.
With Cook bottled up by the Bears for most of the evening, the Vikings were in need of someone else to step up on offense. Adam Thielen scored two touchdowns, but it was the rookie Justin Jefferson who was the best player on the field for Minnesota. He continued to show why he's not only the best receiver in his draft class, but an emerging superstar in the NFL.
Jefferson finished with eight catches for 135 yards, his fourth 100-yard game in seven starts since being unleashed in Week 3. Like he has all year, the LSU product did a little bit of everything, showcasing his entire skillset in front of a national audience. Jefferson was constantly getting open with his superb route-running, converting several key first downs and breaking the biggest play of the night for the Vikings' offense:
Jefferson is off to a phenomenal start to his career, and he added another chapter to that story on Monday night.
The intensity was through the roof
The stakes were massive in this game; both teams needed it badly for their playoff hopes. But this was also a rivalry game, and these are two teams who simply don't like each other very much.
That was clear right from the start. Cook and Hicks were jawing at each other early on, Jefferson was doing plenty of talking, and there was just an elevated level of intensity throughout the entire night.
It felt like a mid-2000s NFC North clash, with tons of physical play and emotions running high. Zimmer was livid at special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf on the sideline (more on that in a second), Kirk Cousins celebrated like crazy after finally winning a game on MNF, and it was easy see to how much this one meant to both teams.
The Vikings need major improvements on special teams
The Vikings out-gained the Bears 385 to 149 and still almost lost, primarily due to the extreme struggles of their special teams. That's been an issue for this team all year, but never moreso than on Monday night.
There were the big things, like Cordarrelle Patterson taking the opening kickoff of the second half 104 yards for a touchdown and a poor snap resulting in a failed PAT after the Vikings' second touchdown. There were also little things like K.J. Osborn nearly muffing a punt and Dan Chisena failing to down a punt inbounds.
It was an inexcusable performance from the Vikings' special teams unit, and one that might lead to questions about the job security of coordinator Marwan Maalouf and several players.
Weird Soldier Field stuff happened
It feels like strange things happen to the Vikings when they play at Soldier Field – things that you wouldn't expect given the context of the rest of the season and the quality of the players involved.
That was the case once again on Monday night. The Vikings were moving the ball fairly well on the opening possession of the game, but their drive stalled when Kyle Rudolph had the ball punched out by Danny Trevathan. It was the first lost fumble of Rudolph's career and his first fumble of any kind since 2014.
Then, in the second quarter, Thielen bobbled a pass that wound up right in the hands of Khalil Mack for a back-breaking interception. Thielen is one of the most sure-handed receivers in the league. He almost never bobbles or drops passes.
It was just that kind of night. It was an ugly mess of a game, which is entirely on brand for the Vikings and Bears, especially at this particular stadium. But in the end, all that matters is that the Vikings got the job done.
The Vikings are primed to keep this streak going
Now 4-5, the Vikings are almost certainly going to be favored in each of their next three games. They return home for three straight winnable contests against the Cowboys (2-7), Panthers (3-7), and Jaguars (1-8).
If they're able to take care of business in each of those – which is far from a guarantee considering they were blown out at home by the Falcons before the bye week – the Vikings would be 7-5 heading into a huge road game against the Buccaneers in Week 14.
Don't count this team out yet.
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