Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears: Fourth quarter discussion

Already holding a 14-0 lead over the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears got the football first coming out of the locker room at halftime, and they got to start their first possession at their own 25 after a touchback. It looked like the Vikings would get an early stop after a loss by Jordan Howard and an offensive pass interference penalty on Chicago made it 2nd-and-21, but Tarik Cohen picked up 21 yards to give the Bears a first down. The Vikings’ defense did force a third down on the next set of downs, and Mitchell Trubisky’s pass for Josh Bellamy fell incomplete to give the Vikings a stop. Pat O’Donnell came in to punt the ball away, and Marcus Sherels took the ball to the Minnesota 24-yard line to set up Minnesota’s first possession of the half.

Kirk Cousins, who had a pretty ugly first half, led the Vikings’ offense out onto the field, and Dalvin Cook was dropped for a loss on first down. Cousins then found Adam Thielen for a first down, and Cousins then found Thielen again for another first down to the Minnesota 46-yard line. Cook was dropped for a loss again, and another pass to Thielen gave the Vikings a 3rd-and-4 from the Chicago 48. A short pass to Diggs went for no gain to bring up fourth down, and the Vikings elected to punt it away. Matt Wile came out to punt it away, and the ball came to a stop at the Chicago 18.

The Bears got a quick first down on a pass from Trubisky to Allen Robinson, and a pass to Cohen got them to near the 40. Jordan Howard was then stopped short of the first down, and Trubisky managed to scramble his way to a first down once again. Trubisky’s next third down attempt found its way into the hands of Anthony Harris, who collected his second interception of the night! Harris got a great return, taking the ball all the way down to the Chicago 31-yard line to set the Vikings up nicely.

Cousins’ pass for Laquon Treadwell on first down fell incomplete, and Cousins found Stefon Diggs for a nine-yard pass to make it 3rd-and-1. Cousins’ pass for Diggs fell incomplete, and the Vikings elected to go for it on 4th-and-1. Cousins found Thielen for enough yardage to move the sticks as Thielen got to the Chicago 17. Of course, on the ensuing first down, Khalil Mack made his presence felt again, sacking Cousins for a loss of eight yards. Cousins then found Treadwell to make it 3rd-and-11, and his scrambling pass on third down fell incomplete. Dan Bailey came on for a 37-yard field goal attempt, and he put it through the uprights to get the Vikings on the board at 14-3.

As we move to the final quarter of play, the Bears are looking at a 1st-and-10 from their own 23-yard line.

Fifteen minutes left from Soldier Field, and the Vikings need to put together one hell of a comeback, as they trail the Chicago Bears by a score of 14-3. Can they get the job done, folks?