The game started off ugly for the Minnesota Vikings, with an early turnover deep in Chicago territory, and with two key players going down with injury. The game ended ugly, with the Vikings’ defense allowing 17 fourth-quarter points to the Bears, pushing the game to overtime before ultimately coming out on top for their fourth-straight win.
But somewhere in the middle, there was a highly competent offense – something that Vikings fans haven’t seen much of these days. Even during the recent four-game win streak, consistent high-level play from the offense has been hard to come by. Yet on Sunday against the Bears, the Vikings were able to pull off a feat they haven’t accomplished since November of 2000.
With the Vikings’ offensive output on Sunday, they notched a 300-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher, and not one but two 100-yard receivers in a single game for the first time in nearly a quarter-century. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw all over the Vikings’ secondary to the tune of a 116.1 quarterback rating, 330 yards passing, and two touchdowns.
His two favorite targets on Sunday, wide receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson, did most of the heavy lifting for the offense. Both players were targeted nine times on the day, with Addison coming down with eight of his nine targets for 162 yards – a whopping 20.3 yard-per-catch average – and a touchdown. Hockenson was able to capitalize seven times on his targets for 114 yards, himself.
Not to be outdone by his pass-catching counterparts, Aaron Jones got in on the offensive onslaught, too. Jones carried the ball 22 times on the day for just over 100 yards (106, in total), including a 41-yard burst that has rarely been seen by the Vikings’ rushing attack over the past two seasons. And just for good measure, Jones also added three receptions of his own for 23 yards.
Vikings fans can’t realistically expect this sort of offensive outburst from the Vikings consistently going forward. But Sunday’s game was a good example of just how potent the Vikings’ offense can be when it’s firing on all cylinders.
