Cameron Dantzler Comes Up Huge For Vikings By Stripping Bears' Ihmir Smith-Marsette

"That boy Cam Dantzler called game!" yelled a player in the Vikings' locker room.

Indeed he did. A rollercoaster of a Vikings victory over the Bears on Sunday was sealed when Dantzler stripped a former teammate to end any chances of the Bears sending the game to overtime.

With a little over a minute left and Chicago trailing by a touchdown, Justin Fields found former Vikings receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette — who Minnesota surprisingly waived in August — for a first down. Dantzler whiffed on the tackle, getting stiff-armed to the ground at the Vikings' 45. But Smith-Marsette didn't go out of bounds, and Dantzer didn't give up on the play.

The Vikings' third-year cornerback, who has ended up on the wrong side of several last-minute highlights during his career, got up and ripped the ball away from Smith-Marsette. Dantzler ran for about 15 yards before sliding down to seal the Vikings' third-straight one-possession victory.

Cam Dantzler steals the ball and secures the win! @Vikings #CHIvsMIN pic.twitter.com/dQRLGW6wKW
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2022

In many ways, the play was a microcosm of the Vikings' collective performance in their victory at U.S. Bank Stadium. They were metaphorically stiff-armed to the ground when the Bears rattled off 19 unanswered points, turning an early 21-3 deficit into a 22-21 fourth quarter lead.

But the Vikings, like Dantzler, got up and kept fighting. Kirk Cousins led the offense on a 17-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead back with less than three minutes to play, and Dantzler came up huge for the defense to end it.

This was a nightmare game for Smith-Marsette against his old team. Earlier in the fourth quarter, he was flagged for an illegal block that nullified an incredible 52-yard touchdown run by Fields, which would've put the Bears up 26-21.

Then, perhaps trying to do too much, he allowed himself to get stripped by Dantzler on the deciding play.

The Vikings' familiarity with Smith-Marsette factored into the way they approached that play, said two of the players involved. Essentially, they knew he wasn't going to go out of bounds in that situation.

"We kind of had intel that he’d be loose with the ball," Dantzler said after the game.

Harrison Smith, who was right in front of Smith-Marsette after Dantzler missed the initial tackle, said he slowed down intentionally on that play.

"First of all, it was Ihmir," Smith said. "He was here (with the Vikings). I know he’s nice, he’s shifty. And I was like ‘He’s going to try to get me here, he’s not going out of bounds.' So I’m going to slow play it. I saw Cam getting up and I was like ‘OK, let’s see what happens here.’ And Cam made a heck of a play."

In football, games usually come down to someone stepping up and making a play in the biggest moment. That's what Dantzler did on Sunday. In addition to leading the Vikings with eight tackles, he finished off the game with a fantastic individual play, and he was rewarded with a game ball from Kevin O'Connell in the locker room.

"I just think Cam's a talented player, and I just continue to tell him 'Be confident in your abilities,'" O'Connell said. "You can get around the football when we're competitive and trying to be tight in coverage and trying to fit into the scheme and our disguise, but ultimately, go play football and be physical. He's been great in the run fit, he's been great tackling.

"I'm proud of the way Cam played. That's why I gave him a game ball today."

Dantzler has all the talent in the world, but he has struggled with inconsistency and allowing big plays at times during his career.

Now he has a signature moment to put on his resume.

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