Vikings lead Bears 7-6 @ Half-Time [Thoughts/Recap]

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Nov 16, 2020
Image courtesy of ChicagoBears.com

The first series started as you’d expect, with the Vikings giving the ball to their bell-cow/MVP Dalvin Cook on a pitch that picked up six. The second play was a late dump off to Cook, who was immediately hit when he caught the ball. That brought up third and four, which was converted courtesy of a penalty on the Bears defense which was HUGE as had the Vikings started Monday with a three-and-out, any scripted opening drive momentum could’ve been hampered.

Instead, the Vikings picked up another first-down courtesy of a play-action roll-out (which was set up by a good gain on first-down by Cook) pass to CJ Ham. For those who thought that the Vikings would come out guns blazing through the air, that clearly isn’t the game plan for these Vikings who clearly want to keep opposing offenses on the sidelines as long as possible (even if that offense is the Bears).

The opening drive was reminiscent of the long/methodical drives that Cousins/Cook and company have executed perfectly these past few weeks (and in the Seahawks game). Or that’s how it felt, until Kyle Rudolph’s “fumble”.
I’m not sure how that was ruled a fumble, personally, and I’m not alone.

Yes, I’m linking to my own Tweet.

It ended up not mattering much, though, as old reliable Harrison Smith ended up with a gorgeous interception a play later. That gave the Vikings the ball back about 20-yards behind where their opening drive stalled. After this Chad Beebe first-down…

https://twitter.com/SeanBormanNFL/status/1328511770420457472

… The announcers said “This is Thielen Territory”, and Cousins (the QB that everyone loves to hate) came through with this masterful throw and catch:

The Bears marched down the field on their next drive, getting down to first-and goal from the Vikings 9-yard-line (courtesy of a nice throw and catch from Bears QB Nick Foles and former Vikings wide receiver/glorified kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson). The Vikings almost had another turnover, as the Vikings sent a linebacker blitz that was tipped and nearly landed in the hands of Harrison Smith.
After a pitch to Patterson, the Bears were facing a 3rd & Goal from the Vikings’ five(ish). Thanks to more blitzes by Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and company, and perhaps an injury to Nick Foles’ throwing arm, the Bears were forced to kick a field goal after what looked like a good drive.

However, it is worth noting that the Bears clearly were unable to run the ball during the first-half, and for the most part admitted as such by only running a couple of run plays on that drive, which should eventually hurt their ability to put points on the board the rest of the way. Or we can hope.
The fact that Patterson appeared to be the lead back for the Bears bodes wells for the Vikings, who seem to be on track for the low scoring affair that nearly everyone on purpleTERRITORY Media (and nearly everyone else) predicted in the build-up to this game.
https://purpleptsd.com/minnesota-vikings-chicago-bears-score-prediction-round-table-part-2/

Minnesota Vikings/Chicago Bears Score Prediction Round-Table

The Vikings seem to be playing the same Cover-2/two deep defense (intermixed with blitzes) that limited the impact of other great QBs like Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Matthew Stafford. As noted by the color commentator on MNF, the best way to mitigate two-deep is to run the ball, but with the Bears limited to Patterson at the position, it’s really going to be up to Foles to overcome the Vikings defense in the second-half if the Bears have a shot to avoid a four-game losing streak.

While they have shown the ability to move the ball, a bit, they seem to have no answer for the pressure that Zimmer has dialed up against this one-dimensional offense. Case in point, the drive ending blitz that the Vikings ran against the Bears with around ten minutes left in the half.

After punting the ball, the Vikings had the ball at their own 20. After a nine-yard gain, thanks to a Dalvin Cook screen pass, the Vikings were facing a first-down from their 30 with five-and-a-half minutes before half-time. The issue, though, is that the Vikings have also struggled to move the ball against this stout Bears front. That’s something that most of us expected coming into this game, as the zone blocking scheme the Vikings runs doesn’t do the best against big/athletic defensive lineman like Khalil Mack or Akiem Hicks.

Despite how staunchly the Bears D had been, the Vikings showed that they were committed to the run. Beyond that, they also clearly have wanted to get Justin Jefferson more involved in the game plan this week as he had four catches for 46 yards on the half. That 11.5-yard-per-catch average is a far cry from the 25-yard average we became accustomed to earlier this season, a sign that the Vikings are looking to dink and dunk against the Bears to move the chains.

To his credit, Cousins was 13 of 14 for 121 yards and a touchdown (with no picks) going into the two-minute warning. I was going to say that I’m sure people will find a way to complain about that, but then… He threw that interception even though that pick was on Thielen, I know who I’m dealing with and I’m sure there are 10,000 Tweets about Cousins being awful peppering the Vikings social media landscape. Two turnovers against a stout defense in a divisional game that was going to be close regardless of how you sliced it?

Yeah. Color me concerned.

The Bears ended up kicking a field goal, which gave Cousins and company a chance to get some additional points with 49 seconds left in the half (before the Bears receive the ball after the half) and two timeouts.

The Vikings’ offense started their final first-half drive from their own 25. This drive could really help Cousins’ … I was going to say reputation amongst Vikings fans but really there’s nothing he can do short of winning a Super Bowl that’d convince people who decided in 2018 that he was overpaid that he is anything but that. He’s not perfect, but that’s not what most people look for in their quarterback, especially a franchise like the Vikings that has never shown the ability to draft/develop a quarterback. Or so you’d think.

The Vikings attempted a couple of short runs and let the clock tick down to zero, something that does make sense considering the fact that the Bears defense is the Bears defense, but it did feel a bit Denny Green era to me.

The positives here are that the Vikings are still winning this game despite the turnovers, but this game feels iffy, which is not what I was hoping to write about for at halftime. Cousins is playing well, but he’ll have to play even better (or hope that his typically reliable receivers like Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph don’t have once in a career lapse) in the second half.