One thing that can be said about the 2013 Minnesota Vikings is that maybe they have character, if not yet a win. Pretty much everyone was trying to take blame for Sunday’s 31-30 loss to the Bears, most notably Coach Leslie Frazier and Adrian Peterson.
As the Pioneer Press points out, Frazier led the way immediately after the game: “There’s some things we could have done different, strategically, and that’s my fault,” Frazier said.
Brian Murphy, the beat writer for the PiPRess, also uncovers this nugget from Adrian Peterson: The best running back on the planet felt “tentative” against the Bears. “I wasn’t really sticking it up in there,” he said. “I can’t do that. I need to come and press these guys. I need to force those guys to tackle me. A couple plays I didn’t do that.”
(Although the St. Paul paper does notes that DB Chris Cook, who was left alone in coverage on the final Chicago touchdown, pointedly did not talk to the media afterward.)
Over at Vikings.com, the general feeling is pretty tentative itself, but there is the acknowledgement that Bears running back Matt Forte, with 161 yards of total offense, quietly had a bigger game than anyone expected.
The view from Chicago? Pretty positive, as you might imagine. The Chicago Tribune reports that TE Martellus Bennett nicknamed himself “The Black Unicorn.” (You can’t nickname yourself, but this one is so awesome we’ll let it slide.)
“I’m not a doctor, but I like to watch ‘House,’ ” Bennett says.
Good stuff!
CSNChicago gives some poor grades to the Bears’ offensive line.
The Daily Norsemen has to reluctantly give some mild props to QB Christian Ponder: “Here’s the thing. . .after the interception, Christian Ponder actually played some pretty damn good football.”
The Star Tribune’s Mark Craig rightly notes that even with the return of DT Kevin Williams, the Vikings are still weak up the middle on D.
Sid says: “It’s unfortunate that the Vikings lost Sunday’s game at Chicago 31-30 to the Bears, because they did so many good things.”
“That’s a terrible play,” Ponder tells 1500ESPN of his pick six. “Obviously if we take away seven points, it’s a different ball game for them and for us. So I understand that I have to play better. I have to play four quarters of football and limit those mistakes.”
See? Apologies all around. Doesn’t that take the sting out of the loss?
