MINNEAPOLIS — Like many of his teammates, linebacker Roquan Smith rued the bad start that put the Bears in a hole — three touchdowns on the Vikings’ first three drives.
But in the end, the Bears’ defense was where it wanted to be — on the field in the fourth quarter with momentum, a one-point lead to protect and a chance to put the hammer down. This isn’t a great defense, but second-half stops are what it does best.
“We had the game where we wanted,” Smith said.
But after having stopped the once-potent Vikings offense on four consecutive drives — a punt, a missed field goal, a blocked field goal and a Kindle Vildor interception — the Bears’ defense lost its touch.
With all sorts of opportunities to get a stranglehold — first-and-15, second-and-14, third-and-four, third-and-five and third-and-eight among them — the Bears came up empty. The once-invincible, suddenly fallible Kirk Cousins deftly and methodically engineered a 17-play, 75-yard, seven-minute touchdown drive, capped by Cousins’ one-yard sneak that gave the Vikings a 29-22 victory Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“What sticks out to me is they were just efficient,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. “They did what they had to do to win. No big plays, but being consistent. They did what they had to do. We didn’t. It is what it is.”
And unlike last week’s loss to the Giants, when Bears defenders lamented obvious errors that led to big gains for Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, there were no obvious culprits. Jones nickel-and-dimed a rejuvenated Bears defense until it just petered out in the end — with the Vikings’ interior line pushing the Bears’ defensive front backwards from on a third-and-goal from the one-and-a-half yard line to get Cousins into the end zone.
“We had the momentum on our side,” defensive end Trevis Gipson said. “We knew it was going to come down to the last couple of minutes in the fourth quarter — and really, we were built for that moment. We tried our best. It was just a matter of executing. It was a long drive. We were out there for a [lot] of plays. They converted. They did what they were supposed to do.”
After Vildor returned an interception of Cousins to the Bears 48 with 12:44 to go, Cairo Santos kicked a 51-yard field goal to give the Bears a 22-21 lead with 9:26 to play. The defense was plotting a winning scenario.
“Before Kindle got his pick, we were on the sideline saying, ‘We get one takeaway, we can take the lead. We get two, we can end the game,’” linebacker Nick Morrow said. “And we only got one.”
With plenty of time following Santos’ field goal, the Vikings were willing to take what the Bears’ defense gave them.
On first-and-15 from their 25 following a false start, Cousins threw a short pass to tight end Irv Smith for a 15-yard gain and a first down. On second-and-14 from the Vikings 42, cousins hit Justin Jefferson with a short pass for a 10-yard gain. On third-and-four from the Bears 48, Cousins threw another short pass to Smith for 13 yards.
And on third-and-five from the Bears 20 with 3:37 to play, Cousins escaped pressure from Quinn and scrambled up the middle for a five-yard gain.
“When you go against a veteran quarterback and you play a zone type of coverage, they know where to take the ball,” Morrow said. “So sometimes maybe’s just making a tackle here, getting the ball deflected. You just have to make a play and get off the field.”
