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Shuffling Bears' line continues to protect Cutler

The Bears started their sixth different offensive line combination Sunday, and their seventh this season, with Brian de la Puente at left guard and Michael Ola at right tackle.

Jordan Mills (ribs), who started the first seven games at right tackle and eight of the first nine, was inactive against Minnesota, as was backup Eben Britton, who still is recovering from an appendectomy.

The line did not allow Jay Cutler to be sacked as he threw 43 passes, completing 31 with 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 98.0 passer rating.

"They find ways to get pressure," Cutler said of the Vikings. "They came in with 30 sacks and a lot of hurries. (Our) guys did a heck of a job."

The Vikings' defense came in leading the NFL in sack percentage.

"Our guys have a lot of pride on our side of the ball," coach Marc Trestman said. "We were able to mix (protections) up enough to where we got the pocket moving a little bit. I think that helped us as well."

Gone fishing:

Defensive end Willie Young's sack celebrations have become popular for their creativity in depicting fishing themes, one of his favorite hobbies.

Young notched his team-best eighth sack Sunday and didn't disappoint, pantomiming an ice-fishing excursion in observance of the 31-degree game-time temperature.

"I had to cut a hole in the ice," he said. "And you don't hold the spinning reel in the conventional way; you have to hold it kind of backwards, upside down. I didn't have a shanty, so I was pretty cold.

"But I was able to come away with a little old perch. I thought it was going to be a muskie or something, (using an) 8-pound test line, but it didn't happen."

Going for it:

Three times on fourth-and-1 the Bears disdained a field goal, going for the first down instead.

They converted twice on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive but failed at the Vikings' 1-yard line on their opening possession of the second half.

On that play, Cutler ran a bootleg left but was stopped about a foot short of the goal line despite diving into tacklers in an attempt to get to the pylon.

"We just didn't execute the play," coach Marc Trestman said. "It wasn't something that we just picked out of a hat on fourth down. It was a play that we had prepared for over the past couple of weeks. All the moving parts weren't there.

"I thought Jay made a heck of an effort - he did everything he could. He really offered himself up to get in. That resonates with our football team."

First things first:

The Vikings, who came into the game No. 10 in rushing yards and No. 7 in average gain per run, had just 96 yards on the ground (on 16 attempts), half of which came on a 48-yard pickup on a fake punt.

"There is no team in the league that doesn't try to stop the run first," Marc Trestman said. "That's where it starts, to try to get teams into third-and-long, where they have to throw the ball, which isn't easy to do."

It was just the fourth time this season the Bears have held an opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards.

Back in action:

With Josh Morgan inactive and Santonio Holmes waived last week, Marquess Wilson, in his 2014 debut, was the clear-cut No. 3 wide receiver behind Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery.

Wilson responded with 2 catches for 11 yards, equaling his rookie output for receptions. Chris Williams was the Bears' only other active wide receiver Sunday.

Jeffery, who was targeted 17 times, caught 11 balls for 135 yards. Marshall picked up 90 yards on 7 catches and scored twice, giving him a team-best 8 touchdowns.

Try rebooting it:

The Soldier Field scoreboards and videoboards did not function for large segments of the game, which forced officials to keep time on the field. It didn't seem to matter much to most players.

"We had the lead (in the second half when the longest malfunction occurred)," Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. "It gets dicey whenever you're (in) four minute and you're trying to figure out the clock-management situation. It wasn't the greatest situation, but we made due."

Afterward, a release was issued in explanation of the Daktronics Timing System that read, in part: "It is undetermined what caused the issues. Daktronics is investigating whether the cause was software or hardware related."

Sitting it out:

Sunday's inactives were wide receiver Josh Morgan (shoulder), cornerback Terrance Mitchell, linebacker Darryl Sharpton (hamstring), guard Eben Britton (appendectomy), offensive tackle Jordan Mills (ribs), defensive end Trevor Scott (knee) and tight end Blake Annen.

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