The Minnesota Vikings tried like crazy to give away the game to the Chicago Bears after jumping out to a 21-3 lead early in the game but they came out on top 29-22. The win makes the Vikings the first team to win in London and then win the following week without having a bye.
The first half was immaculate for the Vikings’ offense. Cousins started out with 17 consecutive completions for 176 yards which broke Tommy Kramer’s long-standing record. He was lights out and changing a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage and threw accurate strikes all over the field. In fact, Cousins didn’t throw into one tight window all game long.
Buy Vikings TicketsIncredible via @ESPNStatsInfo:
“Kirk Cousins threw 41 passes Sunday and none were into a tight window (1 or fewer yards of separation). That's the most attempts without a tight-window throw since Next Gen Stats began tracking in 2016.”— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 9, 2022
Justin Jefferson was also dominant with 12 receptions for 154 yards while also catching a two-point conversion. He set multiple records on the day, including a career-high for catches. Jefferson also completed a pass for 23 yards to Dalvin Cook in setting up a Jalen Reagor touchdown.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 21-3 lead before quarterback Justin Fields completed a pass to Darnell Mooney at the end of the first half where Mooney made a circus catch to setup a David Montgomery touchdown.
The score was 21-10 at halftime after kicker Greg Joseph missed a field goal. Joseph had a rough day missing both of his field goals.
The second half was rough for the Vikings. The Bears scored the first 12 points of the quarter to take a 22-21 lead. In that time, the Vikings missed a field goal and Cousins threw an interception on a hi/lo read, something he has struggled with over the last few weeks.
The game-winning drive from Cousins and the offense was calculated and efficient. The Vikings went 17 plays totaling 75 yards and 7:00 off the game clock with Cousins getting a sneak to finish the drive.
Once the Bears got the ball back, it only took five plays for the Vikings to finish the game with Cameron Dantzler stripping former Vikings Ihmir Smith-Marsette of the football leading to the victory formation for the purple and gold.
The Vikings have a lot of things to clean up after improving their record to 4-1 in their third-straight ugly win. Up next is the Miami Dolphins who had to play their third-string quarterback due to injuries in a 40-17 loss to the New York Jets.
