The Big Hitters prevail in Vikings win over the Bears

by MoniQx4 | 5 years ago | 0 Comments

The Vikinsg Defense prove big hits on little guys are a formula for success in their win over the Chicago Bears. 45-20.

The Bears vs Vikings game up until the 4th quarter looked like it was going to be decided by whomever could stop the opposing offense first and score. It was a game that went back in forth, and the Bears looked to be the stronger team on offense, moving the ball down field in relative ease. However plays around the redzone proved to be their undoing. HB Tarik Cohen whom the Bears rely on heavily for offense, was not able to get those big runs in that the Bears were accustomed to. Instead, he put the ball on the ground 3 times. Effectively, ending any chances of Bears staying in the game. The game went from tied at 20 - 20 in the 4th, to 45-20 Vikings advantage in short order. The Vikings defense hustling to recover the fumbles and returning for touchdowns.

SS Harrison Smith, earned his nickname of "Hitman Harry", forcing 3 of those fumbles himself and recovering one of them. LE Danielle Hunter also created his own havok, in forcing a fumble and recovering it for a TD.

The turnovers were a huge part of this game, and really was surprising to see the Bears to continue to lean Cohen after the 2nd fumble. But he wasn't the only one, WR Robinson took a hit that also put a ball back into the Vikings hands as did Kirk Cousins, the Vikings ex-QB, in which one of the issues the Vikings had with him was his fumbling troubles and it appears they are still a problem. However, despite the late fumble Cousin passing game looked solid. Maintaining a high completion rate, and not throwing any pics until the 4th quarter.

The Vikings had their own turnover issues early on in the first half, with Bridgewater throwing 3 interceptions, and lucky for him, the Vikings defense was able to lower the impact on those turnovers by only allowing 10 points to get on the board from those 3 interceptions. Last time these two teams meet, it was all Cohen controlling the game, complimented by the passing game to put points up, and the defense stifling the offense through turnovers, and not allowing Dalvin Cook to do much on the ground.

This game started out with what appeared to be the same game plan in place, however the Vikings did a better job of handling them this time around. Offensively, they leaned on their own run game and didn't give up on it. With 30 carries between all their backs, totaling 202 yards on the ground and accounting for 2 touchdowns. Dalvin Cook, leading this effort averaging 7.3 per carry, and breaking one big run for 73 yards. Getting some big 3rd down conversions from the wide receivers to continue their drives being very conservative and methodical in their approach in the second half allowing them to keep the game close and not get away from them as it has in the past.

The Bears were looking to do the same thing, but the fumbles were making it very difficult. They attempted to gain more yardage through the air, which had gotten them some big gains, but the Vikings secondary started doing a better job of covering these plays, and getting a few interceptions as well. One interception was a great display of teamwork where CB Waynes deflected pass was tipped to his teammate CB Mike Hughes for the interception and run into endzone for a pic six. Plays like that showed how in-sync the Vikings Defense had become throughout the game.

Both the teams had nothing to gain for this win, they both will miss the playoffs this year. It was more or less a game of pride amongst division rivals. Vikings are looking to build on this performance and carry over to the next season, and to see what changes in their lineup will need to be made in the offseason. Expectations are a draft dominated by players to fill in the gaps on offense, namely the offensive line, and might see an early pick for a Wide Receiver or potentially even a QB. The Viking's coach has kept quiet on the QB situation, and no one is sure if they will maintain Bridgewater as their franchise QB going forward, or do they think the problems are elsewhere.