Monday night is finally here as the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Join us as we discuss the game with live updates throughout each drive.
Bears first drive
The Vikings won the toss and elected to defer.
The Vikings brought the Bears to third down twice in the first six plays but the escapability of Justin Fields was the key to the Bears extending the drive.
On the seventh play, Fields had to escape pressure immediately but was able to evade it and find a streaking Khalil Herbert for 10+ yards.
The Vikings ended up forcing a field goal attempt from Cairo Santos from 48 yards out and it went wide right. The Vikings get the ball on the Bears 38 yard line. The key play that forced the field goal was a second down sack by Ivan Pace Jr. He evaded the running bac with ease and got to Fields quickly
Vikings first drive
On the first play of the game, the Vikings attacked deep with Jordan Addison. There have been multiple successful posts to Addison this season and he nearly came down with a successful contested catch.
A second down run by Ty Chandler followed by a third down sack by Montez Sweat forced a three and out.
NaJee Thompson got a tackle to prevent Trent Taylor from getting any yards on the punt return.
Bears second drive
10 plays, 67 yards, 5:39 TOP
The first two plays were fruitful.
Fields ran for 14 yards and Roschon Johnson caught a screen pass for 22 yards. Josh Metellus got a sack on first down and a too many men in the huddle penalty forced a second and 27 and followed it up with a third and 20.
The Bears went for it on fourth and 10 and Fields found Cole Kmet on a zero blitz and they converted it to end the first quarter. The Bears held the ball for 13:21 of the first half with the Vikings having gone three and out on their only first quarter possession.
The Bears got into the red zone and a tackle by Camryn Bynum on a screen to Johnson forced a field goal attempt. Santos hits a 25 yarder and the Vikings offense will now get their fourth play of offense after 22 by the Bears.
Vikings second drive
The Vikings got a first down after a bootleg from Dobbs and a nice zone run from Alexander Mattison. The following play, Mattison gets stuffed on a lead wide zone for a two-yard loss which puts the Vikings in a hole.
The following play, Dobbs gets intercepted by Jaylon Johnson on a smash concept. Addison ran a corner route but Johnson gained depth while in cover-2. Dobbs doesn’t sell the short route enough and Johnson gets an impressive interception.
Joshua Dobbs' pick to Jaylon Johnson reminds me of the dangerous throw to Jordan Addison near the beginning of the Saints game for 27 yards. Nearly picked then, picked now.
— Arif Hasan, but NFL 🏈 (@ArifHasanNFL) November 28, 2023
Bears third drive
Having to defend a short field, the Vikings are comfortable in these positions, as they have been in them consistently this season. The Vikings forced a third and 14 and the Bears had to punt. Another three and out forced by the Vikings this season.
Vikings third drive
On the second play of the drive, Gervon Dexter Sr. was called for roughing the passer, moving the ball to the 33-yard line.
The Bears allow only four yards on the next two plays but the Bears defense got called for two holding calls, extending the Vikings drive a second time.
The next third down saw another turnover, as Dobbs fired in an in-breaking route to Addison and it hit his hands, popping it up in the air, allowing Jaquan Brisker to get an interception.
The Vikings offense is extremely out of sync and they need to get it together quickly if they want to win this football game.
Bears fourth drive
Sheldon Day made Fields pay on a designed run with a hard tackle and a one yard loss. Johnson gets two yard on second down and the Vikings force another third and long. The Vikings blitz Fields on third down and they force their second three and out of the game.
Vikings fourth drive
On the second play of the drive, Addison has the first nice play of the game but it gets brought back due to a replay assist, taking a near 20-yard gain to just a gain of four. His knee barely hit the ground when it looked like a big play.
Third down brought near disaster as Johnson jumped a hitch route to T.J. Hockenson and nearly had a pick six. The Vikings offense goes three and out again and punt it back to the Bears.
Bears fifth drive
The first play looked promising, as D.J. Moore caught a bubble screen and took it 22 yards. The Vikings held tight after that, including both getting pressure on Fields with three rushers and keeping him contained forcing a punt at the two minute warning.
Vikings fifth drive
7 plays, 64 yards, 1:51 TOP
It took nearly an entire half, but the Vikings started moving on offense. Dobbs found Brandon Powell on a slot fade for a big gain. After a completion on a deep curl to K.J. Osborn, Dobbs tried to hit Hockenson on a corner route but Kyler Gordon was charged with pass interference.
On the ensuing first down, Dobbs was charged with intentional grounding and it stalled the drive. Greg Joseph hit a 34-yard field goal, tying the game at three going into halftime.
Vikings sixth drive
The drive started out great for the Vikings. Mattison ran for 21 yards, besting the Vikings rushing total from the first half in one play. Then, Sweat and Brisker tag team for a sack and the Vikings end up in third and long.
After only getting four yards on third down, the Vikings faced fourth and seven but Hockenson ran an out route a yard short of the sticks and they turn the ball over on downs to the Bears. Analytics said to punt, but they went for it. The play worked but Hockenson running just short of the sticks paired with poor ball placement by Dobbs and you have a brutal turnover by the Vikings.
Bears sixth drive
10 plays, 34 yards, 5:08 TOP
The Bears get a third down conversion to start the drive and a second one on the sixth play of the drive. Fields ran a QB draw and it was well called by Luke Getsy.
The Bears continue to call screens and the Vikings are able to take advantage and get a stop. They forced a field goal and Santos hits from 39 yards out to take a 6-3 lead.
Vikings seventh drive
A holding call bailed the Vikings out on a third and long but this unit just isn’t in sync at all. They can’t get anything going at all. Outside of the first drive when they threw it to Addison a deep post on the units first play of the game.
The Vikings went for it on fourth down and Dobbs threw another deflected interception. Things are not going well.
Bears seventh drive
8 plays, 32 yards, 3:24 TOP
The Bears had another short field after another Vikings turnover. Santos converted another field goal, this time from 55 yards out due to a Byron Murphy Jr. pass breakup. Great stuff from the fifth-year cornerback.
It’s evident that the Vikings don’t trust the Bears offense to take advantage of their mistakes, hence the multiple fourth down attempts in this game.
Vikings eighth drive
Well, the Vikings turned it over again. Dobbs tried dumping it off to Chandler and Gordon caught the ball inside the Vikings 40 yard line. Just awful luck and process for the Vikings.
Bears eighth drive
The Vikings finally force a turnover with Hunter stripping Fields of the ball and Sheldon Day recovers the ball. It was desperately needed and seems to have woken up the Vikings on offense.
Vikings ninth drive
8 plays, 77 yards, 3:52
The Vikings nearly had an easy touchdown but another throw from Dobbs that was off target cost them an easy touchdown.
Addison ran a perfect double move and didn’t have a player within 20 yards of him. Dobbs throws it out of bounds and Addison loses track of where he is. You cannot miss that throw.
Dobbs then found Hockenson for a 16 yard touchdown to put the Vikings up 10-9.
Bears ninth drive
This one was the result of another game wrecker by Metellus. He stripped Fields on a third and 10 run which was recovered by Anthony Barr. That gave the Vikings the ball back in plus territory. A potentially crippling turnover from Fields.
Vikings 10th drive
Three plays, zero net yards from the Vikings offense. With the potential to seal the game, the Vikings couldn’t execute three plays and they punted it back to the Bears.
Bears 10th drive
10 plays, 66 yards, 2:19 TOP
The Bears found a way to make it work.
The Vikings chose to drop into coverage on nearly every play and Fields was finally able to hit a play down the field by finding D.J. Moore on a dig route. It set up the Bears for a 30-yard field goal, giving them a 12-10 lead with 10 seconds left.
Vikings 11th drive
They tried a hook and ladder play but it failed and resulted in a forward lateral penalty. That’s the game, as the Bears win it 12-10. We will have much more on this game throughout the week.
