It Doesn’t Matter That Vikings Win Over Bears Was Ugly
Dustin Baker
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Did you watch the Minnesota Vikings win over the lowly Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon? Did you leave the living room unimpressed?
Welcome to the club.
It Doesn’t Matter That Vikings Win Over Bears Was Ugly
And get used to it. Next year, when you watch Bears-Vikings at Soldier Field, something similar will occur. Then, in 2025, you will turn on the television to watch Minnesota at Chicago and hop off the sofa trying to understand what you just saw.
That’s how it goes when the Vikings venture to that building — the nature of the beast — and there are slim-to-none exceptions. With no palpable explanation, Minnesota always produces ugly football at Soldier Field, and generally, Chicago returns the favor.
Bears-Vikings games at that building are about survival and little else.
The Vikings encountered a 2 for 13 afternoon per 3rd Down conversion rate, plus an underwater time-of-possession mark by about 10 minutes — and still won by six points. Kevin O’Connell’s team made fans feel like disaster was afoot in the 4th quarter, and make no mistake, it seemed that a nasty climax was impending.
But this is nothing new for the clubs in that city — nothing new at all.
Even when the Vikings are good — or the Bears are good and the Vikings are bad — the game follows that unscripted script at Soldier Field. For example, the 1998 Vikings defeated the Bears by just three points in Chicago on their way to an almost-storybook season. The 1998 Bears finished 4-12 when it was all said and done. Do you think the 1998 Vikings meandered off the field all mad that they could topple the eventual 4-12 Bears by only three points?
No. Nobody cared because it’s the nature of the beast for Bears-Vikings in the Windy City.
Overall, even when the Vikings are good, they play sloppy and win — or just lose — at Soldier Field:
2019 | L 16-6
2017 | W 20-17
2015 | W 23-20
2009 | L 36-30
1999 | W 27-24
1998 | W 31-28
Thankfully, for those questioning the legitimacy of the Vikings win on Sunday, a “real” test is around the bend on Monday Night Football. The San Francisco 49ers don’t have the same stink as the Bears — at all — and arrive in Minneapolis in six days.
Minnesota needed a win in Chicago to keep the season relevant, and they got it. It doesn’t really matter if it was ugly because that’s the absolute modus operandi for Bears-Vikings at Soldier Field.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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