Minnesota Vikings 29, Chicago Bears 22: Vikings start fast, hold on for victory

With a couple of minutes left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, the Vikings were up 21-3 and looked to be cruising to a victory.

Anyone that’s watched this team for any length of time knew better.

Thanks to another fourth-quarter drive from Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ offense and a timely play by Cameron Dantzler, the Vikings won their third straight game, taking down the Bears by a final score of 29-22 in Week 5 action at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Vikings won the toss and, rather than defer like they usually do, elected to receive the opening kickoff. They marched down the field with no resistance, going 86 yards in 12 plays, wrapping things up with a 1-yard touchdown run by Dalvin Cook to stake themselves to an early 7-0 lead.

Chicago answered on their opening possession, courtesy of a 50-yard field goal from Cairo Santos to make the score 7-3. The Vikings then cruised down the field on their second possession as well, and got the same result: Dalvin Cook going into the end zone. The second one was a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter and it put the Vikings up 14-3.

After a three-and-out from the Chicago offense, Minnesota marched into the end zone again, this time capping the drive with a 1-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to Jalen Reagor to make the score 21-3. On that drive, Cousins also set a Vikings’ team record for consecutive completions as he started 17-of-17 on the afternoon.

Chicago finally got into the end zone near the end of the second quarter, as David Montgomery went in from nine yards out to cut the Minnesota lead to 21-10. The Vikings had a chance to add points at the end of the half, but Greg Joseph’s 53-yard field goal attempt drifted wide to the right as the second quarter clock expired.

The Bears cut the deficit to one score on the first drive of the second half, as Justin Fields found rookie Velus Jones Jr. for a 9-yard touchdown. Chicago went for two and did not convert, leaving the score at 21-16 with just over ten minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Chicago attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but rookie Akayleb Evans recovered the kick in Chicago territory to set the Vikings up with great field position. The Vikings couldn’t do anything with it, however, as Joseph’s attempt from 51 yards was blocked by rookie Kyler Gordon to leave it a 5-point game.

Santos then cut the lead down to two with a 43-yard field goal with just over a minute left in the third quarter to make it 21-19. On the next drive, the Vikings pushed themselves to a 4th-and-4 from the Chicago 47-yard line and left the offense on the field to go for it. They were rewarded when Jefferson drew a defensive holding penalty to keep the drive alive. Unfortunately, on the next play Cousins was intercepted by Kindle Vildor and returned to near midfield.

Chicago took advantage of the field goal, as Santos connected from 51 yards out to make the score 22-21 with nine and a half minutes remaining in the game. The Vikings got the ball back and got into position for a first-and-goal at the Chicago 2-yard line. It took them a couple of tries, but on third and goal Cousins went over on the quarterback sneak for the touchdown. Cousins then found Jefferson for a two-point conversion to push the lead back to seven at 29-22 with 2:26 remaining in the contest.

The Bears got the ball back and pushed the ball to midfield, but Justin Fields was then looking for former Viking Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The pass was complete, but then cornerback Cameron Dantzler took it away from his former teammate for a fumble to seal the game.

The victory pushes the Vikings’ record on the year to 4-1 and, thanks to the Green Bay loss in London, gives them sole possession of first place in the NFC North. They’ll travel to take on the Miami Dolphins next week before taking their bye. The Bears fall to 2-3 on the season and have a short turn-around ahead of them as they host the Washington Commanders this week for Thursday Night Football.

The victory also gives the Vikings a 3-0 record in the NFC North and makes them the first team to follow up a victory in London with a victory on American soil the following week.

The Vikings hold on to win another wild one by a score of 29-22 over the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. Thank you to everyone that got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!