Vikings Survive Against Lowly Bears, But Offense Stalls In 2nd Half

The Vikings are breathing a sigh of relief because they defeated the Chicago Bears, but there should be no cause for celebration.

The Bears have won exactly one game in the last calendar year and quarterback Justin Fields went down with a dislocated thumb in the third quarter. Nevertheless, the Vikings were hard-pressed to hang on for the victory.

They had a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, they had the ball and there was blood in the water. But these Vikings are no sharks. They had a chance to get aggressive with their passing game and put the Bears out of the game with a big play or two, but that was not about to happen.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell tried to play it cute by getting ultra conservative and Kirk Cousins was not about to argue with his coach. “Let’s not do anything risky,” seemed to be O’Connell’s thought process. He was content to punt the ball or try a superlong 57-yard field goal.

Since they did not put the pressure on the Bears and untested quarterback Tyson Bagent after his first series, the Bears got themselves back in the game with a fourth-quarter touchdown and a quick stop by the Chicago defense.

That gave Chicago a chance to win the game with a roaring crowd backing them. It certainly appeared as if the Bears would follow the script, and the Vikings appeared to be willing to help make it happen. The Vikings have a history of turning opponents’ backup quarterback into heroes.

Thankfully, Byron Murphy hasn’t been fully indoctrinated into the Vikings way of breaking hearts. He intercepted Bagent’s heave down the sideline and Minnesota was able to run out the clock.

This was a game the Vikings should have won by three or four touchdowns, but there was no aggression in the game plan after Jordan Hicks returned Bagent’s fumble 42 yards for a score in the third quarter.

The Vikings had a chance to step on the throats of the Bears, but the only plays that O’Connell called were passes of less than 10 yards or running plays.

The absence of Justin Jefferson hurt, but the play calling had been far more aggressive in the first half. T.J. Hockenson had a 21-yard reception as did K.J. Osborn. Jordan Addison had a 15-yard catch and Alexander Mattison had a 13-yard catch. None of these were huge plays, but the first-half performance was far better than it was in the second.

O’Connell was basically giddy after the game, thrilled with the way the defense performed. The Vikings had 5 sacks and 3 takeaways, and the head coach could barely contain himself in the locker room when he was talking about how pleased he was.

Obviously, wins have been hard to come by this year, but O’Connell should have been more contained. His offense was horrid in the second half against perhaps the worst team in the league.

He acknowledged that the passing game has to do more. “We’re going to continue to press forward,” O’Connell said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in our pass game. We’ll detail it up. I’ll give those guys some better calls. And we’ll improve rapidly because that’s my expectation of that group, especially when Kirk plays like he did today. There should’ve been a lot more out there.”

Reality comes calling next Monday night, as the San Francisco 49ers come to U.S. Bank Stadium. Stars Christian McCaffrey (oblique) and Deebo Samuel (shoulder) suffered injuries in the Niners’ loss to the Cleveland Browns.

If those two can’t play, it improves the Vikings chances, but they can’t win if they play the same kind of timid offensive game they played against the lowly Bears.

The season is on the line.