![]() ![]() ![]() Whether because of Cook's fumble on their second drive or an inability to finish drives in the first half, they missed an opportunity to get starters out of the game even earlier. The offense, with Cousins completing 17 of 20 passes for 225 yards in the first half and Mullens throwing for 116 yards in the second, put up 482 yards for the day and punted only once. The completion, the Vikings' longest of the season, set up a Cousins-to-Adam Thielen touchdown on the next play that made it 6-0 after Joseph missed the extra-point try. Hockenson and Justin Jefferson and exploited confusion in the Bears' secondary. Osborn ran downfield out of a bunch set with T.J. On the Vikings' third offensive play, Kirk Cousins threaded a 66-yard pass as K.J. The Vikings, who had ruled out safety Harrison Smith because of knee soreness on Saturday, also rested linebacker Brian Asamoah and cornerback Cameron Dantzler with injuries, while keeping out linebacker Za'Darius Smith because of the personal matter that led him to travel separately to the game.Įarly on, it looked like the Vikings would be able to make it an easy day for the rest of their starters. Nothing else matters than our organization putting their best foot forward this week with everything we've got: Coaches, players, everybody who supports our team." So a lot of things like that, I think, are absolutely something we can build upon, knowing what type of season it is now. "Outside some of self-inflicted things, the fumble and the interception, offensively, I thought we stacked good plays. ![]() "Our goal coming into today was, how many times can we stack positive plays together?" coach Kevin O'Connell said. They could fly home confident they'd done much of what they wanted. Still, the Vikings' agenda on Sunday was simple: Get a productive start, remove starters from the game, hold onto the lead and go home. And while the Vikings pulled starters up by 10 points at halftime, their offense sputtered in the red zone as they twice settled for field-goal attempts - one that Greg Joseph made, another that was taken off the scoreboard because of a penalty while the Vikings were already in the locker room at halftime. Meanwhile, minutes after the game ended and 180 miles down Interstate 65 from Soldier Field, the Texans completed an improbable comeback against the Colts that guaranteed the Bears the first overall pick for the first time since the Truman Administration.Ī fast start gave the Vikings some measure of satisfaction after last week's 41-17 loss to the Packers, though it came against a Bears team that came in on a nine-game losing streak and was starting two corners who'd played a combined 41 snaps this season. The Vikings finished with 13 or more wins for the third time in team history. The Bears, with a shot at the top pick in April's draft, wanted to preserve quarterback Justin Fields and exit with minimal risk to a roster that could be a lot better in the future than it is now.īoth teams left with their affairs in order after Sunday's meeting, a 29-13 Vikings win that allowed them to pull most starters at the end of the first half and turn their focus to next Sunday's wild-card playoff game against the Giants. 2 overall seed with as little stress on their starting lineup as possible. ![]() The Vikings, a week away from their first home playoff game in five years, wanted a win that would keep them in the running for the NFC's No. There was a transactional feel to the 124th game between the Vikings and Bears, from the tepid environment in a half-full stadium to the differing interests carried by two teams on opposite ends of the competitive spectrum. CHICAGO - The Vikings arrived at Soldier Field on the final day of the 2022 regular season, playing the Bears on a Sunday in Chicago for the first time since 2019, and conducted the kind of business that typically happens on a weekday. ![]()
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