The Minnesota Vikings somehow topped their Week 2 mishap against the Packers with an even bigger clunker against the Chicago Bears in a 16-6 loss Sunday at Soldier Field.
Chicago came into the game banged up, missing multiple starters including Akeem Hicks and even lost their starting quarterback Mitch Trubuisky on the first possession of the game, but backup Chase Daniel, who has just four career starts since 2010, carved up Mike Zimmer’s defense.
With Daniel replacing Trubisky, he orchestrated a touchdown drive that chewed 7:16 off the clock in the first quarter.
The Vikings had a chance to tie things back up on their ensuing drive but Kirk Cousins missed Adam Thielen on a shot down the sideline.
With the game moving quickly, the Vikings’ second possession ended with a turnover on when Stefon Diggs fumbled as the Vikings crossed midfield.
Chicago’s offense again chewed off a good chunk of the clock, this time on a 16-play, 57-yard drive lasting 6:36. It ended in a field goal sending the game into halftime.
The Vikings had just two drives in the first half, neither resulting in points and accumulating a measly 49 yards of offense.
Things continued to get worse in the second half. On the first play of the third quarter Cousins was sacked, fumbling the ball that resulted in another turnover and a short field that the Bears turned into a field goal for a 13-0 lead.
After two more possessions resulted in punts, the Vikings finally looked like they had something cooking when Cousins hit Diggs for 39 yards on a fourth down conversation. But two plays later, Cousins once again fumbled, making it third down and 35 and the Vikings were forced to punt again.
Finally with 2:58 remaining, the Vikings found the scoreboard with a two-yard run from Dalvin Cook, but that’s all the offense could muster.
Cousins finished 27-of-36 for 233 yards and no touchdowns. Most of his yardage came late in the fourth quarter when the Bears backed off with a 16-0 lead. Thielen had two catches for six yards and Diggs had seven catches for 108 yards.
With the loss the Vikings fall to 2-2 on the season and will play the New York Giants next week on the road.
