Without Justin Jefferson the Minnesota Vikings’ offense struggled but the defense scored a touchdown and forced three turnovers en route to a 19-13 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.
The first half was ugly. Both quarterbacks turned it over when their arms were hit as they were throwing. The difference was that Minnesota turned their forced turnover into a touchdown, going on an eight play, 77-yard drive culminating with a touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Jordan Addison with 12 seconds left in the first half.
.@Espn_Jordan doing his thing in Chicago.
đź“ş: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/nXIy4svCug
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 15, 2023
Leading 12-6 in the third quarter, Bears quarterback Justin Fields injured his right hand when he was chased down and sacked by Danielle Hunter. That forced Tyson Bagent into the game and the rookie was strip-sacked by Josh Metellus on Chicago’s next offensive series and Jordan Hicks picked up the fumble and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
.@DHunt94_TX ends the drive with his 2nd sack of the afternoon.
đź“ş: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/eEpN23GH0b
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 15, 2023
Hicks was also the key player on Minnesota’s interception that led to the Addison touchdown to end the first half. He’s the second defensive player to score a touchdown for Minnesota this season, joining D.J. Wonnum who scooped up a fumble and returned it 48 yards against the Panthers in Week 4.
.@NoExcuses_23 with the strip-sack.@JordanHicks with the scoop and score!
đź“ş: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/pH9jIqdO91
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 15, 2023
It looked like Vikings were running away with it until Bagent led the Bears on a nine play touchdown drive that went 77 yards, with Bagent sneaking in for his first career touchdown to cut the Vikings’ lead to 19-13 in the fourth quarter. Bagent was 4 of 4 for 55 yards on the drive.
Minnesota responded with a three-and-out that was aided by the officials calling Cousins for intentional grounding even though he threw the ball near fullback C.J. Ham. Regardless, the Vikings punted and it was Defense vs. Bagent again and the rookie had the Bears moving down the field until he lofted a pass to the left and it was intercepted by Byron Murphy Jr., essentially sealing the victory with 1:51 remaining in the game.
.@byronmurphy with the HUGE INT!!
đź“ş: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/KXdPdBASZt
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 15, 2023
Minnesota’s offense wasn’t great without Jefferson, who missed the first of at least four weeks because of a strained hamstring. With Jefferson on the sideline, the offense generated just 220 yards of offense.
Here’s Minnesota’s drive summary:
- Field goal — 53-yarder by Greg Joseph
- Field goal — 51-yarder by Greg Joseph
- Punt
- Fumble
- Touchdown
- Punt
- Punt
- Missed field goal
- Punt
- Punt
- End of game
T.J. Hockenson led the Vikings with six catches for 50 yards. Osborn reeled in four passes for 48 yards. Addison had three grabs for 28 yards and his fourth touchdown of the season; and Brandon Powell each had three catches.
Cousins finished 21 of 31 for 181 yards and a touchdown.
Alexander Mattison carried the ball 17 times for 44 yards. He also had four catches for 28 yards, though he also had a couple of drops.
At 2-4, the Vikings now have a week to prepare for the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. The 49ers had Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and left tackle Trent Williams suffer injuries in their game against the Browns on Sunday, so their health will be paramount to Minnesota’s chances on Monday night.
