For fifty-seven minutes, it was pretty ugly for the Minnesota Vikings against their NFC North rivals from Chicago. But, just as they gave themselves a glimmer of hope, an error cost them an opportunity to steal a much-needed victory.
A 56-yard kick return from Devin Duvernay with less than a minute remaining after the Vikings scored the go-ahead touchdown led to a 44-yard field goal from Cairo Santos as time expired to give the Chicago Bears a 19-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings got on the scoreboard first, courtesy of a 31-yard field goal from Will Reichard to take a 3-0 lead with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. That was all the scoring there was until just before the five-minute mark of the second quarter, when the Bears scored the game’s first touchdown. That came courtesy of a 2-yard run from rookie Kyle Monangai, and it gave the Bears a 7-3 lead.
Following an interception of J.J. McCarthy by Kevin Byard, the Bears added to their lead on a 38-yard Cairo Santos field goal to make it 10-3 at the two-minute warning. The Vikings appeared to be in a position to add more points towards the end of the first half, but McCarthy was intercepted again, this time by former Viking Nahshon Wright on a pass intended for Jordan Addison in the end zone.
Chicago added to their lead about five minutes into the second half, courtesy of a 54-yard Santos field goal to make it 13-3. They added another Santos field goal late in the third quarter, a 33-yarder to make it 16-3 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Vikings’ offense finally got itself into the end zone early in the fourth quarter. After a brilliant punt return from Myles Price. . .a rare one that was not affected by a penalty. . .it took Jordan Mason two handoffs to get the ball into the end zone, the second of which was a 16-yard blast for a touchdown to cut the Chicago lead to 16-10.
It looked like the Bears would extend their lead on their ensuing possession, but Santos pushed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide to the left and gave the Vikings the ball back with a chance to, somehow, potentially take the lead. The two teams then exchanged punts, but the Vikings got the ball back at their own 15-yard line with just over three minutes left on the clock, trailing 16-10.
The Vikings got a big conversion from McCarthy to Jordan Addison on 4th-and-4 right after the two-minute warning, and then they got into the red zone on completions to T.J. Hockenson and Jalen Nailor. Then, with the game on the line, McCarthy dropped back to pass and found Jordan Addison in the front left corner of the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 16-16. Will Reichard then hit the extra point to put the Vikings back on top, 17-16, with fifty seconds left in regulation.
The Bears then got the huge kickoff return from Duvernay, who took the ball down to the Minnesota 40-yard line, nearly already in field goal range. The game came down to the right foot of Santos, who had a 49-yard field goal attempt with seconds remaining, and he put it just inside the left upright to give the Bears a come-from-behind victory.
The Minnesota offense simply wasn’t good enough for most of the afternoon in this one. The defense gave them plenty of opportunities, but until the final offensive possession, the Vikings didn’t really do much with them. They now fall to 4-6 on the season, and they face another tough one next week, as they will travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings come up just short in Week 11 action, falling to the Chicago Bears by a final score of 19-17 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
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