The fireworks went off, the Vikings celebrated, and the game was over.
Then 20 minutes later, the fireworks went off again, the Vikings celebrated again, and the game was actually over.
After Minnesota and Chicago went into overtime tied at 20, kicker Blair Walsh made a 39-yard field goal on the Vikings first possession of the extra session that seemingly put an end to talk of a second straight tie for the Purple.
But a personal foul was called on Rhett Ellison for grabbing a Bears’ player’s facemask, and two plays later, Walsh missed a 57-yard field goal that would have given Minnesota the win.
The Bears took the ball and got to Minnesota’s 29, but kicker Robbie Gould also missed a chance to give his squad the win.
Adrian Peterson and Matt Cassel then went to work, getting Minnesota to the Bears’ 16, where Walsh would come on and atone for his long miss earlier in overtime to give the Vikings a 23-20 win.
Cassel, who replaced starting quarterback Christian Ponder at the end of the first half after Ponder suffered a head injury, was very good throughout the second half and overtime, completing 20 of his 33 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown.
Ponder was just 3 of 8 passing for 40 yards when he departed.
Peterson ripped apart the worst run defense in football to the tune of 211 yards on 35 carries, including 30 yards on the Vikings final drive that would lead to the game-winning field goal.
In the contest, Peterson also surpassed the 10,000-yard barrier, becoming the third-fastest player in the history of football to reach the mark, with only Eric Dickerson and Jim Brown getting there quicker.
Chicago’s Josh McCown, still filling in for the injured Jay Cutler, was once again good for the Bears, going 23-of-36 for 355 yards and two touchdowns.
His main target, second-year receiver Alshon Jeffrey, had a monster game, catching 12 balls for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
On his second TD, he beat Chris Cook on a jump ball, and Cook proceeded to contact an official and get ejected after complaining about the lack of a pass interference call.
That left a Minnesota secondary that was already short-handed even thinner, but they wouldn’t give up another point, scoring 13 straight points to end the game and get their third victory of the year.
The Vikings are now 3-8-1, while the Bears loss hurts their chances of a playoff spot, as they fall to 6-6, one game behind Detroit for the division lead.
Minnesota travels to Baltimore next Sunday to face the suddenly-surging Ravens, who have lost just once at home all year.
