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Week 15 Game Recap: Chicago Bears 13, Minnesota Vikings 20
What you need to know
| Chicago Bears |
The Bears offense made little noise in this game, and the final score was relatively close only because Minnesota QB Tarvaris Jackson seemed determined to give away the game.
QB Kyle Orton led the hapless Chicago attack, accounting for 184 passing yards. He took care of the ball pretty well, but his accuracy was spotty, and he mustered only one drive longer than 35 yards. Orton was sacked only once, but his one turnover, an INT on his last pass of the night, clinched the Vikings victory.
Bears RB Adrian Peterson was mostly ineffective running the ball against the stout Vikings front seven. He did manage eight receptions. Rookie RB Garrett Wolfe had a few carries in relief of Peterson, but he also found little room to run. FB Jason McKie scored the lone Bears TD from the one yard line on his only rushing attempt.
Devin Hester was the only Bears WR to finish with more than two catches. WR Muhsin Muhammad nearly scored on a second quarter grab. TEs Greg Olson and Desmond Clark were not big factors in this game.
Led by fired up LB Brian Urlacher, the Bears defense did a great job containing the Vikings rushing attack for most of the night, though they began to wear down at the end. The Chicago front seven put consistent pressure on QB Tarvaris Jackson and forced the young QB to turn the ball over four times, which kept the Bears in the game despite their offensive woes.
| Minnesota Vikings |
QB Tarvaris Jackson threw the ball accurately at times, but he also made several huge mistakes that nearly cost his team the game. Jackson's first INT killed the opening drive, and a muffed exchange with RB Adrian Peterson on the second drive led to another turnover. Just when it looked like he was settling down, he threw a crazy INT in the third quarter that put the Bears in Vikings territory with the lead.
The Bears front seven and eight kept Vikings RB Adrian Peterson bottled up most of the night, holding him to one yard or less on 12 of his 20 carries. Peterson did run impressively on the few occasions he was able to find room, and in the end, his two TDs made his fantasy owners happy. RB Chester Taylor spelled Peterson on occasion and had only five carries.
WR Bobby Wade was open all night and led the Vikings with six receptions. No other Minnesota receiver had more than two catches. In the third quarter, WR Robert Ferguson got loose for a huge 71 yard catch and run that set up the Vikings' first TD.
The Vikings defense shut down the Bears ground attack, but they only put only sporadic pressure on QB Kyle Orton. Against a shaky offense at home, they managed only one sack and one turnover, the latter coming in the final two minutes to ice the game.
What you ought to know
| QB Kyle Orton, Pass: 22 - 38 - 184 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 1 - 0 |
Considering it had been two years since he started a regular season game, Orton played about as well as could be expected. He displayed decent footwork and stood up pretty well in the pocket, and he usually found a way to get rid of the ball before getting hit (he was sacked only once). Orton came out throwing, but he played conservatively and took care of the ball for the most part; his lone turnover, a desperation heave in the final two minutes that was picked off by S Darren Sharper, ended the final Bears threat. The big negative with Orton's performance was his inability to move the offense (seven of the fourteen Bears drives went three and out). Bottom line, he did little in this game to prove that he deserves to be a starting QB in the NFL.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 9 - 26 - 0, Rec: 8 - 51 - 0 (9 targets) |
The Bears came out throwing and never tried to establish their rushing attack, so Peterson did not receive many opportunities to run the ball. When he did run, he could not find much daylight against the Minnesota front seven (not surprising since few RBs have had success against them this year). Peterson was very active in the passing game at least, and as long as Orton is playing QB, he should have decent value in PPR leagues.
| RB Garrett Wolfe, Rush: 3 - 5 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wolfe entered the game periodically to spell Peterson, but he was given only three opportunities to carry the ball. He did not make much of an impact in the passing game, either, though he did show a little sizzle on one of his receptions.
| RB Jason McKie, Rush: 1 - 1 - 1 (1 targets) |
McKie scored the only Bear TD from the one yard line after WR Muhsin Muhammad's apparent TD was taken off the board.
| WR Devin Hester, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 4 - 28 - 0 (6 targets) |
The Bears worked to get Hester involved in the offense, but he was unable to bust off a big play, and he also had trouble holding onto the ball. The Vikings kicked away from Hester most of the night, and they did a good job containing him on the few occasions he did return kicks.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (5 targets) |
Berrian wasn't a big factor in this game. It looked for a moment like he might catch a long TD pass to tie the game with less than two minutes to go, but Orton's pass floated a bit and was picked off by S Darren Sharper.
| WR Muhsin Muhammad, Rec: 2 - 30 - 0 (6 targets) |
Orton looked for Muhammad at critical moments in this game, but the veteran WR came up with only two catches. He appeared to score on one of them, but after an official review, the play was overturned and spotted at the one yard line.
| TE Greg Olsen, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Olsen finally got a little involved in the fourth quarter, but until then he was barely noticeable.
| TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Clark caught a first quarter pass to get the Bears in the red zone, and he was not heard from again.
| PK Robbie Gould 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Gould made all of his place kicks and booted all of his kickoffs into or near the end zone.
| CHI Rush Defense |
For most of the night, the Bears rush defense did a great job containing Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. They stacked the line with eight men and repeatedly dropped Peterson for losses or short gains. In the end, though, the line began to wear down, and Peterson got nearly half of his rushing production and his final TD in the fourth quarter.
| CHI Pass Defense |
The Bears pass rush kept steady pressure on Tarvaris Jackson most of the night. They sacked the young QB only twice, but they clearly got in his head and forced several ill-advised throws. LB Brian Urlacher had an outstanding game, collecting both Bears sacks, a fumble recovery and an INT. DB Charles Tillman was all over the field and made 11 unassisted tackles, though his unnecessary roughness penalty near the end of the first half set up a Vikings field goal.
| QB Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 18 - 29 - 249 - 0 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 7 - 25 - 0 |
Jackson threw the ball well at times, but he also made some terrible decisions that nearly cost the Vikings the game. Jackson was very much in synch with WR Bobby Wade, his favorite target, and he also connected with WR Robert Ferguson for what was nearly a 72 yard TD pass (Ferguson was tackled at the one yard line). But Jackson also made some crazy passes, one a bad miss to a wide open Sidney Rice (who could have scored), and two others that were easily picked off. Jackson also bungled a handoff to Peterson in the first quarter that the Bears recovered and turned into a field goal.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 20 - 78 - 2, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (1 targets) |
As expected, Peterson was the focal point of the Vikings offense. Overall, the Bears did an excellent job containing the rookie RB (a telling stat: he was held to two yards or less on 13 of his 20 carries). Peterson ran hard and busted off a few good runs, but his final stats were disappointing for sure, considering he had annihilated the Bears in their earlier meeting. Still, two rushing TDs made everything right for his owners. Two down notes: Peterson was thrown to only once (but for 17 yards), and he muffed a first quarter handoff that resulted in a lost fumble (plus he almost muffed the handoff on the play he scored his second TD).
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 5 - 31 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (3 targets) |
Taylor took a back seat to Peterson in this game. He ran hard, was somewhat involved in the passing game, and averaged six plus yards per carry. But it's hard to rack up big numbers when you only get six touches, and that's all Taylor got.
| RB Tony Richardson, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Richardson had one rushing attempt, and he caught both passes thrown his way.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 6 - 70 - 0 (7 targets) |
Wade was open all night and had good chemistry with Jackson. He is clearly the favorite target in this offense.
| WR Robert Ferguson, Rec: 2 - 79 - 0 (5 targets) |
Ferguson made one big play in the third quarter that turned the game around. His 71 yard catch and run to the one yard line set up the first Vikings TD and gave Minnesota momentum that it never lost.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Rice missed connections with Jackson (Jackson's fault) on a second quarter crossing route that could have been a TD. He then hurt his ankle (possible fracture) in the fourth quarter.
| WR Troy Williamson |
Williamson was inactive for this game, but just to note that he is healthy and would likely replace Rice in the starting lineup if the opportunity arises.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe (2 targets) |
Shiancoe was not much of a factor in this game. He was the target of a long third quarter pass from Jackson that was picked off by S Brandon McGowan.
| PK Ryan Longwell 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 1 XP, 6 points |
Longwell drilled his first two field goal attempts from 40+ yards, but he missed his only PAT attempt in the third quarter (after a bad snap).
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Vikings throttled the Chicago rushing attack. Going up against interior linemen Pat and Kevin Williams, the Bears RBs simply had nowhere to run. MLB E.J. Henderson led the Vikings with seven solo tackles.
| MIN Pass Defense |
The Vikings pass rush was sporadic, and the secondary gave up passes here and there, but it's hard to find much fault considering they never allowed the Bears to seriously threaten (Chicago did get to the red zone twice, both times as a result of turnovers). S Darren Sharper made a game saving INT in the final two minutes to ice the victory.
