Morning Box Score: Bears Fold Against Vikings
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Dec 1, 2008 4:40PM
For the first 25 minutes of Sunday night's game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bears looked to have the inside track at claiming sole possession of first place in the NFC North. Then, in a matter of seconds, the momentum of the game shifted in the Vikings' favor and they never looked back on their way to their 34-14 pummeling of the Bears.
The Bears opened the scoring in the first quarter when Devin Hester caught a short pass and ran it 65 yard for a touchdown. After Minnesota got on the board with a field goal early in the second, the Bears had a drive extended by a personal foul penalty on the Vikings. But the Bears were unable to capitalize on a first-and-goal situation inside the five yard line, when the Vikings' goal line stand left the Bears without any points. Gus Frerotte then, with one pass, changed the momentum of the game and perhaps the season. From inside his own end zone, the journeyman QB found former Bears wideout Bernard Berrian for a 99 yard touchdown that landed them in the record books and turned a seemingly imminent 14-3 Bears lead into a 10-7 deficit, all in the matter of a couple snaps.
The Vikes drove the length of the field against in the waning minutes of the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the second half, Kyle Orton did his best Sexy Rexy imitation and threw three interceptions within the span of seven passes -- after going 200+ pass attempts without a pick. He was off all night, completing only 11 of 29 passes. The lone highlight for the offense, besides Hester's TD catch, was when rookie Matt Forte crossed the 1,000 yard plateau for the season.
The defense wasn't any better than the offense. The line has been dominant against the run one week, and defenseless against it the next -- this was a defenseless week. The Bears have now allowed 20, 200, 14 and 178 yards in their past four games. Sure Adrian Peterson is the league's top rusher, but they'd also seen him three previous times now.
Tied atop the NFC North entering this game, this should have been a tightly fought game. Instead, in winning by almost three touchdowns, the Vikings proved that they are clearly the better team. But does that mean it'll be Minnesota who grabs the lone playoff spot from the "Black and Blue" division? The Bears have three consecutive home games before closing out the season in Houston. Could a favorable schedule be enough of an advantage to move ahead of Minnesota? The Vikings face Arizona and Atlanta in the season's final month, so maybe it is.
AP Photo/Jim Mone