Vikings-Bears Game Day

[Texas Vike]

VL, your post was terrific. I agree that JJ was the key to the offense's success (as well as Cousins, who had a great game.). Speaking of Cousins, how fun was it to see him absolutely PSYCHED UP once we made a first down on that last drive? Better said, HE made it on a nice roll out pass to Kyle when the Bears were expecting a run. He's such a tightly wound dude, when he finally celebrates you can see all that tension release, all those repressed emotions, and it is a fun thing to witness. Frick yeah, Captain Kirk, let's celebrate at the Pizza Ranch!

After watching the Bears D, I really covet a guy like Hicks that can just take over the interior of the DL. Is Pierce that? Do we still need a 3 tech next to him? Is there someone in the 2021 draft that's projected between picks 12 and 20? I know everyone wants to think about this season and the purple resurgence, but I have a more zoomed-out view, and see that deficiency as the one that would have the most impact on this team. PHP, mock us a 3 tech please!

[J. Kapp 11]

I'm a little late to this thread but I wanted to throw in my observations of last night's game.

- Bears front 7 gave the Vikings OL all it could handle. Cook tried inside, outside, and sometimes both and the running lanes closed down quickly for the most part. Still, I wasn't looking for the Vikings OL to push the Bears DL around as much as I was looking to see if they could give as much as they got, and for the most part I did see that. Even in pass protection I thought the OL did a solid job. Cousins had some time and as a result was able to find his receivers to keep drives going. Vikings had some costly holding calls, although I disagreed with at least 2 of them. The only one I agreed with was the one on Dozier where Cousins took off for what was a 1st down. The other two were borderline, but the Bears got the calls.

- Cousins continues to show that if he has the threat of a running game and can work off the play action, plus he gets decent pass protection, he can make the reads and the plays necessary to win games. He made some nice throws. That first TD pass to Thielen was money. I don't blame him for the INT. He made a nice read and the throw was on, but it popped out of Thielen's hands for some reason.

- Cook is one tough runner. He didn't get much room to roam, but he consistently banged defenders around and got a lot of tough yards after contact. It was interesting to see the Bears jawing at him late in the game. Instead of jawing back, he should have just pointed at the scoreboard. I was worried when the family jewels got roughed up on that one run, but thankfully not a serious injury.

- Lastly, but not leastly, Justin Jefferson. Yes, Thielen pulled in the two TDs, but Jefferson was punishing. The scary thing about Jefferson is he's going to get even better. The guy has an excellent work ethic and wants to be one of the best. I could see him eclipsing Moss's rookie Vikings record of 4 100 yard games by a few games yet this year.

- Defense was solid, but it's hard to evaluate them given how bad the Bear offense is. The Bears don't have a legit RB. Patterson is decent, but he's just not really a RB. Still, I thought the Vikings played solid football in the front 7 all night. They played in the Bear backfield a lot and controlled the flow up front, plus got consistent pressure both from their down lineman as well as from various blitzers coming from a variety of angles. They didn't allow Foles to get comfortable.

- I thought the secondary played pretty well. Smith should have had 2 INTs. I'm still waiting to see the DBs anticipate a little better and get their hands on more passes, but the tackling was good and the effort was superb. Still, with all of that if Foles threw a slightly better ball late we'd all probably be wondering how the Vikings lost another game late by a single point. The secondary still has a ways to go before anybody can take this team as a serious playoff contender.

- As shaky as the secondary can still be at times, it's not the Achilles Heel of the 2020 Vikings. No, that designation goes to the special teams. Kickoff returned for TD against? Check. Muffed extra point try? Check. Allowing big punt return near end of a close game? Check. On the bright side, the offense looked horrific to start the year and has turned it around. The defense looked horrific to start the year and they're in the process of turning it around. So there is hope that the special teams can yet turn it around and at the very least not be horrific.

In sum, the Bears are a really bad offensive team with a solid, if unspectacular, defense. It was a Monday night road game, though, at a place where the Vikings normally struggle and they got the win. They look like a team that has grown considerably throughout the year and is on the right track, however, so I'm far more optimistic about their future than I was at the bye.

I'm not going to predict playoffs or winning streaks just yet, however, because I'm still not sold on them. I want to see that they don't put in another Atlanta-like performance now that they've got some wind in their sails and might be tempted to sit back and relax a bit on the back of their recent success. I no longer think they are a 5-win team. I now think they have a good chance to be an 8 or even 9 win team, but if they keep improving and keep turning in consistent performances, I'll up that further.

Great summary as usual, VL.

I'd like to add this. For all the crap Rick Spielman has taken for drafting 15 players in a year with no OTAs, the Vikings' rookies really showed up in this game.

As you guys know, I love Baldy's Breakdowns. Take a look at this one for his analysis of the play by several Vikings rookies against the Bears.

Of course, this doesn't even include Cam Dantzler, who's still trying to come back from his concussion, and James Lynch, whom many of us would like to see get a few more reps. But man, our first three picks — Jefferson, Gladney and Cleveland — are really playing well. Dye made an impact this game, and so did Wonnum. Nine games in, I'd say we had a pretty darned good draft this year.

[J. Kapp 11]

One more thought.

Kirk Cousins on third down against the Bears.

ATT: 11
COMP: 10
YARDS: 161
TD: 2
QBR: 158.3
FIRST DOWNS: 7

Best game of the season for Captain Kirk.

[Texas Vike]

I'm a little late to this thread but I wanted to throw in my observations of last night's game.

- Bears front 7 gave the Vikings OL all it could handle. Cook tried inside, outside, and sometimes both and the running lanes closed down quickly for the most part. Still, I wasn't looking for the Vikings OL to push the Bears DL around as much as I was looking to see if they could give as much as they got, and for the most part I did see that. Even in pass protection I thought the OL did a solid job. Cousins had some time and as a result was able to find his receivers to keep drives going. Vikings had some costly holding calls, although I disagreed with at least 2 of them. The only one I agreed with was the one on Dozier where Cousins took off for what was a 1st down. The other two were borderline, but the Bears got the calls.

- Cousins continues to show that if he has the threat of a running game and can work off the play action, plus he gets decent pass protection, he can make the reads and the plays necessary to win games. He made some nice throws. That first TD pass to Thielen was money. I don't blame him for the INT. He made a nice read and the throw was on, but it popped out of Thielen's hands for some reason.

- Cook is one tough runner. He didn't get much room to roam, but he consistently banged defenders around and got a lot of tough yards after contact. It was interesting to see the Bears jawing at him late in the game. Instead of jawing back, he should have just pointed at the scoreboard. I was worried when the family jewels got roughed up on that one run, but thankfully not a serious injury.

- Lastly, but not leastly, Justin Jefferson. Yes, Thielen pulled in the two TDs, but Jefferson was punishing. The scary thing about Jefferson is he's going to get even better. The guy has an excellent work ethic and wants to be one of the best. I could see him eclipsing Moss's rookie Vikings record of 4 100 yard games by a few games yet this year.

- Defense was solid, but it's hard to evaluate them given how bad the Bear offense is. The Bears don't have a legit RB. Patterson is decent, but he's just not really a RB. Still, I thought the Vikings played solid football in the front 7 all night. They played in the Bear backfield a lot and controlled the flow up front, plus got consistent pressure both from their down lineman as well as from various blitzers coming from a variety of angles. They didn't allow Foles to get comfortable.

- I thought the secondary played pretty well. Smith should have had 2 INTs. I'm still waiting to see the DBs anticipate a little better and get their hands on more passes, but the tackling was good and the effort was superb. Still, with all of that if Foles threw a slightly better ball late we'd all probably be wondering how the Vikings lost another game late by a single point. The secondary still has a ways to go before anybody can take this team as a serious playoff contender.

- As shaky as the secondary can still be at times, it's not the Achilles Heel of the 2020 Vikings. No, that designation goes to the special teams. Kickoff returned for TD against? Check. Muffed extra point try? Check. Allowing big punt return near end of a close game? Check. On the bright side, the offense looked horrific to start the year and has turned it around. The defense looked horrific to start the year and they're in the process of turning it around. So there is hope that the special teams can yet turn it around and at the very least not be horrific.

In sum, the Bears are a really bad offensive team with a solid, if unspectacular, defense. It was a Monday night road game, though, at a place where the Vikings normally struggle and they got the win. They look like a team that has grown considerably throughout the year and is on the right track, however, so I'm far more optimistic about their future than I was at the bye.

I'm not going to predict playoffs or winning streaks just yet, however, because I'm still not sold on them. I want to see that they don't put in another Atlanta-like performance now that they've got some wind in their sails and might be tempted to sit back and relax a bit on the back of their recent success. I no longer think they are a 5-win team. I now think they have a good chance to be an 8 or even 9 win team, but if they keep improving and keep turning in consistent performances, I'll up that further.

Great summary as usual, VL.

I'd like to add this. For all the crap Rick Spielman has taken for drafting 15 players in a year with no OTAs, the Vikings' rookies really showed up in this game.

As you guys know, I love Baldy's Breakdowns. Take a look at this one for his analysis of the play by several Vikings rookies against the Bears.

Of course, this doesn't even include Cam Dantzler, who's still trying to come back from his concussion, and James Lynch, whom many of us would like to see get a few more reps. But man, our first three picks — Jefferson, Gladney and Cleveland — are really playing well. Dye made an impact this game, and so did Wonnum. Nine games in, I'd say we had a pretty darned good draft this year.

I'm a fan of Baldy's breakdowns too. This one was a lot of fun. I hadn't noticed Dye's contribution on that play. Very athletic. Also, Osborne's STs play. Good stuff.

[808vikingsfan]

One more thought.

Kirk Cousins on third down against the Bears.

ATT: 11
COMP: 10
YARDS: 161
TD: 2
QBR: 158.3
FIRST DOWNS: 7

Best game of the season for Captain Kirk.

Even more impressive without an effective running game.

[VikingLord]

One more thought.

Kirk Cousins on third down against the Bears.

ATT: 11
COMP: 10
YARDS: 161
TD: 2
QBR: 158.3
FIRST DOWNS: 7

Best game of the season for Captain Kirk.

Even more impressive without an effective running game.

I can see how you can arrive at the conclusion that the running game wasn't effective, but I'd argue that the definition of the word "effective" varies a bit depending on the particular strengths of the defense the Vikings are facing.

I'll grant that when Hicks was on the field, the Vikings running game wasn't effective for the most part. Hicks does a lot to anchor the middle of that line and the Vikings haven't found a way to neutralize him.

But once Hicks went out I felt like the Vikings were able to grind out some yards. Cook ended up with 96 on the night for a 3.2 per carry average. By Dalvin Cook standards that is not a good night. By recent Vikings vs. Bears standards, that is an outstanding performance. I can't recall the last time the Vikings put up any decent rushing totals against the Bears, be that in Minnesota or in Chicago. The Bears have seemed to own that matchup and have neutralized Cook and anyone else the Vikings threw at them for the most part.

At the very least, the Bears had to focus on stopping Cook first, and as a result, Cousins was able to shine. Sometimes you win by losing, and I think this game is an example of that. The Vikings didn't tear up the Bears on the ground, but they forced the Bears to focus on it, which in turn enabled Cousins to be effective in the passing game. In the past, the Bears chewed up the running game on their way to Cousins, who they also chewed up more often than not. At least in this last game, they couldn't do both.

[J. Kapp 11]

One more thought.

Kirk Cousins on third down against the Bears.

ATT: 11
COMP: 10
YARDS: 161
TD: 2
QBR: 158.3
FIRST DOWNS: 7

Best game of the season for Captain Kirk.

Even more impressive without an effective running game.

Here's something I didn't know.

Since 2015, Kirk Cousins has had 44 games with a passer rating of 100 or better, including the past three this year.

Two players — Drew Brees (52) and Russell Wilson (47) — have more. That's it. Two. Cousins has more such games than Rodgers. More than Ryan. More than Brady. More than Rivers. More than Roethlisberger. Kirk Freaking Cousins.

To me, this makes Cousins all the more of an enigma. How can a guy have that many efficient games, yet essentially be a .500 quarterback? Weird.