The Minnesota Vikings put on a dominant performance for the second week in a row, beating the Chicago Bears 30-12 on Monday night. Minnesota moves to 12-2 on the season, and they control their destiny for the first time since October. They can earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC or at least a division title thanks to the Buffalo Bills beating the first-place Detroit Lions.
The Minnesota defense snuffed Chicago’s offense every time they looked to get something going. The Vikings got a little help from the Bears, who continued to make things difficult for themselves. Most notably, they had a touchdown, which would have been their only six-point score outside of garbage time, nullified by an ineligible man downfield. A series of calamities pushed them back until they settled for a field goal, and even three points were too much for them to muster for most of the game.
Here are five numbers that break down Minnesota’s drubbing of the 4-10 Bears.
1
The Vikings are the only team with a takeaway in every game played this season. Minnesota’s defense stood up on the first drive, stopping the Bears on a fourth-and-one in Chicago territory, letting the offense put up three to start the game.
It looked like the Bears were starting to piece something together on the second drive. However, Jonathan Greenard came off the edge, knocking the ball out of Caleb Williams‘ hands. Blake Cashman recovered the fumble and brought it into Bears territory.
After that, the offense finished off the short field, with Sam Darnold hitting Justin Jefferson in the back of the end zone to make it 10-0. Recently, much of the conversation surrounding the team has been around the offense and Darnold. The defense’s ability to make big plays and get the offense the ball back has been crucial. If they keep turning the ball over at this rate, they will continue to make the offense’s job quite a bit easier.
3
Darnold and the offense converted three third downs of 10 or more yards. Earlier this season, when things were going wrong, the offense seemed almost to keel over and die every time they got behind the sticks.
For example, a procedural penalty derailed the offense on Minnesota’s third drive against the Detroit Lions, and they could never recover. This week, the Vikings offense was surgical in the first half on third-and-long, consistently executing.
It started on third-and-17 when Kevin O’Connell and the offense returned to a play that worked in the earlier game against the Bears. Darnold worked the ball to Aaron Jones underneath, using the defense’s attention on the vertical routes to allow Jones to get the ball in space and work his way to the sticks.
On the same drive, Darnold slung the ball to Brandon Powell on third-and-10, who found the soft spot in the zone for a 12-yard pickup. The final conversion came when Darnold threw a short pass to T.J. Hockenson on third-and-15, letting Hockenson pick up 16 yards for the first down.
Despite the offensive line looking far from their best on third-and-long in the first half, Darnold stuck in the pocket and moved, taking what the defense gave him and letting his teammates grind out the remaining yards.
0.1
Caleb Williams finished the first half seven of nine for 60 yards and had an average depth of target of 0.1 yards. Chicago’s offense seemed far out of their depth in the passing game.
Even more surprising? Three of these passes were beyond the line of scrimmage, and none were over 10 yards. Williams looked overwhelmed by Minnesota’s defense all night, missing open receivers and holding on to the ball for far too long.
It wasn’t until Williams found Keenan Allen for 26 yards early in the third quarter that Williams completed his first throw of over five yards on the night. While Darnold was mocked during the early years of his career for the infamous sound bite, Williams was the one seeing ghosts on Monday night.
4
Justin Jefferson had four yards of separation on his touchdown catch, the most he’s had in the end zone in his career. Minnesota’s star receiver took the time to shout out legend Randy Moss, who announced he was battling cancer.
Jefferson finished with 73 yards on seven catches and a score. Fans — and no doubt Jets himself — will think about what could have been after he had an uncharacteristic drop on what would have been a sure touchdown. But everyone will remember his tribute to Moss long after this game.
2,556
The Vikings held their opponent scoreless and without a third-down conversion for the entirety of the first half for the first time in 2,556 days. The last time Minnesota’s defense was this dominant was on December 17, 2017, when they routed Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Williams and the Bears struggled to convert relatively easy situations. They failed on two fourth-and-one attempts in the first half alone. Brian Flores’ defense didn’t make it much easier for them throughout the game. Chicago finished two of 16 on third and fourth down, one of which came well into garbage time after the Vikings had pulled all their defensive starters.