Blair Walsh Boots The Game Winner In Chicago
Carl Knowles
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The streak of seven consecutive losses for the Vikings in the Windy City came to an end Sunday when Blair Walsh split the uprights with a 36-yard field goal as time expired to give the Vikings a dramatic 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Walsh’s game winner was set up by a terrific Charles Johnson jump ball reception with less than a minute to play. The 6’2″ wide receiver flashed his vertical skills as he went up to high-point a 37-yard deep shot down the right sideline on 2nd-and-six from the Vikings’ 36 moving them in field goal range.
It was Stefon Diggs however, who stole the show once again with a 40-yard catch and run for the score to tie the game at 20 with 1:49 to play. On a big 3rd-and-four from Chicago’s 40 yard line, Bridgewater had plenty of time to find Diggs on a crossing route which he broke back to the outside and went up the left sideline for the touchdown.
On a day that didn’t feature the best of Teddy Bridgewater (17 of 30 for 187 yards 1 touchdown and 1 interception), the Vikings got 103 yards rushing from Adrian Peterson plus a Marcus Sherels 65-yard punt return to the house helping capture a second-straight division road win. The Vikings improve to 5-2 on the season.
37 year old Terrence Newman led the defense with seven total tackles and was tested often by Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery. The duo connected 10 times for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. The defense wasn’t dominate, but with the game on the line, they forced a big three-and-out with 60 seconds to play giving the Vikings a chance to move into game winning field goal range.