The Chicago Bears completely dominated the Vikings run game. This helped them shut down the Vikings pass game
The Vikings came into this game without much of a rushing presence. However, some would chalk that up to Dalvin Cook missing time. Off of the bye week, and with Cook healthy, the Vikings were looking to find more balance in their run to pass ratio as they move down the stretch of the season. It was the Chicago Bears job to say that no matter who is running behind that line, the Bears were going to shut it down.
Dalvin Cook ran the ball nine times for 12 yards. The team ran the ball 14 times for 22 yards. The run game was virtually ineffective.
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The game script of going down 14-0 added to it, but the Bears ability to shut down the run early forced the Vikings to abandon their plan altogether. This made life so much easier for the Bears as they were able to gear up on the pass rush and attack the Vikings in all areas.
The Vikings were able to rack up 242 yards passing the football, but a lot of that came when the game was out of hand at 25-14. The Bears sacked Kirk Cousins twice, they picked him off twice, and he averaged less than six yards per attempt on 46 attempts.
This was possible due to the impact of shutting down the run and forcing the Vikings into being a one-dimensional football team. It was good of the Bears to focus on this early, then establish a lead so that it was not an impactful factor late.