Another ugly quarter of football in the books if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, as they now trail the Chicago Bears by a score of 25-3 at Soldier Field.
The Vikings actually put together a pretty decent drive to start the second quarter of play, and got within range for Blair Walsh to attempt another field goal, this one from 30 yards out. However, in a rare mistake for the rookie, the kick came out inexcusably low, and Bears' defensive lineman Julius Peppers got a hand on it for the block to keep the score at 10-3.
Chicago then put together a long drive of their own, including a conversion on a fourth-and-inches at the Minnesota 42-yard line. A. . .shall we say, dubious. . .pass interference call on Antoine Winfield against Brandon Marshall gave the Bears the ball at the 1-yard line, and Michael Bush converted for his second touchdown of the day. Thanks to a sneak by holder Adam Podlesh on the extra point try, the Bears got a 2-point conversion to take an 18-3 lead.
After Christian Ponder completely airmailed Devin Aromashodu on a long pass that was intercepted by Chris Conte and returned to the Vikings' 13-yard line, Jay Cutler found Matt Spaeth in the end zone for a touchdown on the first play, and the Bears increased their lead to 25-3.
The Bears had a chance to make it 28-3 at the end of the half, but Kevin Williams managed to get a hand on the Robbie Gould field goal attempt, and it was no good.
Basically, everything the Vikings needed to do to win this game hasn't happened. They needed to get pressure on Jay Cutler and, despite the Bears starting practice squad-caliber players on the offensive line, it hasn't happened. Jared Allen, Brian Robison, and Kevin Williams have been almost completely silent. They needed to control the clock with Adrian Peterson and a smart, controlled passing game. . .they've turned the ball over twice, and Peterson has just 25 yards on seven carries thus far.
This is an ugly, ugly game, ladies and gentlemen. Will it get any better in the second half? I'm not exactly getting my hopes up.