Morning Box Score: Bears Even Record with 39-10 Victory
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 17, 2011 2:40PM
In perhaps their most complete performance of the season, the Bears dominated the Minnesota Vikings in all three phases of the game to ensure they remain out of the NFC North basement, evening their record with a decisive 39-10 victory over the Vikings at Soldier Field on Sunday night.
On their first drive of the night, Jay Cutler sold a convincing play-action that gave him time to connect with Devin Hester on a 48-yard bomb to give the Bears an early seven point lead. Still in the first quarter, rookie Stephen Paea sacked Donovan McNabb in the Vikings' end zone, adding two more points with a safety. That gave the Bears the ball back and they capitalized on the opportunity. When Marion Barber waltzed into the end zone from three yards out, the Bears had built a 16-0 first quarter lead. The Vikings added a field goal, but the Bears scored again. A short punt that gave the Bears excellent field position led to their third TD score of the night, with Cutler connecting with rookie wideout Dane Sanzenbacher to cap a quick four-play drive. For good measure, Robbie Gould added a field goal just before halftime to give the Bears a 26-3 advantage at intermission.
The Vikings sacked Cutler, forced a fumble and then scored a touchdown early in the third quarter, it looked like they might shift the game's momentum and allow Minnesota back into the game. Devin Hester had other plans. The returner extraordinaire took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for his second touchdown of the night and set Soldier Field into a frenzy. The game was never in doubt after that point. A pair of Gould field goals capped the scoring for the Bears.
The offense played it's most balanced game yet, with Matt Forte running for 87 yards on 17 carries, while Barber ran it 11 times. Balancing the 28 running plays, Jay Cutler threw 31 times behind generally good protection. He completed 21 of those 31 passes for 267 yards and 2 touchdowns. While he wasn't picked off, he did get sacked and fumbled the ball which led to the Vikings lone touchdown. But that was the only time all night he was sacked.
On defense, the Bears limited Adrian Peterson to just 39 yards on 12 carries. While McNabb completed 19 of his 24 passes before yielding to rookie Christian Ponder, the Bears defense prevented the Vikings from making any big plays or even sustaining many drives. Julius Peppers, doubtful to even play because of a sprained knee, recorded two sacks. The retooled secondary held up pretty well. Special teams played a key part as well. In addition to Hester's electrifying kickoff return, he also ran a punt back 27 yards to give the offense the ball well into Viking territory. Even before Hester's big returns, Minnesota's attempts to avoid him resulted in some short punts that gave the Bears offense excellent field position.
While it was nice to see a complete Bears effort -- in primetime, no less -- the fact it came against the now 1-5 Vikings doesn't do much to suggest real improvement. We're optimistic that the offense is finding more balance between the running game and passing game, and the changes at safety seemed to improve the overall defense. The Bears have another high profile game next weekend when they travel to London to take on the 4-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Wembley Stadium.