Chicago Bears Come Back to Beat Minnesota Vikings 31-30 in Wet Wild Game
Sep 15, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett (83) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during the first quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
I told you guys it wasn’t going to be easy. The Bears overcame the elements and 4 turnovers a to pull out a 31-30 win over the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings to move to 2-0 and under head coach Marc Trestman. The second half appeared to slow down a little bit, at least on the scoreboard, but it was still a wet, wild game. Check out my first half review here.
I’m not sure we’re ready to call Jay Cutler Captain Comeback just yet, but he and the offense showed a lot of composure to hang in there and put together a game winning drive late in the 4th quarter. Cutler finished the day 28-39 for 290 yards with 3 TD’s and 2 INT’s to go along with a fumble. He ended the day with a QB rating of 97.2.
The 4th quarter highlighted the best and worst of Jay Cutler. The best of course was the game winner to Martellus Bennett, his second TD of the game, for the game winner. The worst, was starting the quarter by throwing an interception as he tried to connect with Brandon Marshall deep.
The Bears couldn’t seem to get out of their own way in the second half, as Matt Forte had what seemed to be a killer fumble on the Bears’ next possession. The Vikings took Forte’s fumble down and kicked a field goal to extend their lead to a 6-point margin, forcing Cutler’s late heroics.
Someone who cannot get lost in the stat sheet is the effort of Devin Hester. He may not have scored a return TD, but he set a Bears record with 5 kickoff returns for 249 yards, consistently setting the Bears up with excellent field position.
The defense held their own, keeping Adrian Peterson out of the end zone and “only” allowing his 100 yards on the ground. The defense isn’t all to blame, as 14 of the Vikings’ 30 points were on special teams and the result of a 61-yard fumble return, but there are still some big red flags. Two weeks in and there’s barely a pass rush to be found. The linebackers continued their stellar play while the secondary needs to shore things up on third down. Tim Jennings had a pick-6, so he’s picking up right where he left off last season and last week in taking the ball away.
The special teams had an up-and-down day. Of course, with Hester getting off in the return game, they get good marks, but they also let Cordarralle Patterson get a kickoff return and had a couple of miscues along the way.
We’ll have plenty more coverage. Come back and check out our Report Card, the 4th Phase Game Ball, the Rookie Report and Stock Watch and see who went missing on our Week 2 Milk Carton and plenty more.