Imrem: Imagine that, Bears fans surprisingly encouraging

Some football fans came a long way in search of a victory Sunday afternoon in Soldier Field.

They were in a beat-up old van. It had Bears decals scattered over its body. The license plate screamed "SWTNESS."

The plate wasn't from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa …

Think Manitoba, of all places.

Or more accurately, "Friendly Manitoba."

Why in the world would anyone from up there come down here to see their Bears play the Vikings in what essentially was a meaningless game?

The Bears' season ends in Minnesota, a lot closer to Winnipeg than Chicago is.

Come to think of it, why would anyone from down here stay down here and sit in frigid conditions to witness these two underachievers apply noogies to each other?

No need to respond because the question is better left unanswered. What we hear might make us lose faith in mankind.

More startling than the Manitoba bunch was that the 55,320 fans in attendance - 6,472 had tickets but had to do laundry - didn't come to bury the Bears.

OK, so they didn't necessarily come to praise them either. But from the opening kickoff the clear intention was to be encouraging.

For their kindness, fans were rewarded with the Bears' 21-13 victory.

"(The feeling was) we're not going to have a homefield advantage," Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. "Rightfully so. We hadn't performed the way the fans think we should perform."

The crowd that did show up had a few options to protest the Bears' 3-6 record and 106-37 combined deficit the previous two games.

They could have booed the Bears. They could have cheered the Vikings. They could have remained silent to make the place seem like a funeral home.

Instead, seriously, fans greeted the Bears as if this team's record was 6-3 and in the middle of playoff contention.

The love wasn't unconditional, mind you. When the Bears stopped a promising first possession with 3 penalties, the crowd did become restless and boos were heard.

"Our fans are as passionate as they get," Bears coach Marc Trestman said. "They love their football team. When they're disappointed they show it in different ways."

To be honest, it was surprising that the disappointment wasn't manifested in anger when the Vikings took a 10-0 lead.

There were those penalties, a Minnesota fake punt that set up a touchdown, a missed field goal, overall much of the same slop the Bears had served much of this ugly season.

Maybe the crowd didn't get nasty, or nastier, because apathy overtook their passion.

Finally, though, something happened on the way to Snooze City: The Bears scored a touchdown, then another for a 14-10 halftime lead and then another to ensure that people could leave happily for Alsip to Zion, Rogers Park to Morgan Park and to places in between … and even to places beyond like Manitoba.

These fans didn't even care that the Bears hadn't played all that well, what with the penalties and Cutler throwing one interception by nature and another just for fun at the end of the first half.

Two differences separated this game from the two previous that ended in ignominy:

First, the opponent was Minnesota instead of New England or Green Bay; second, the opposing quarterback was rookie Teddy Bridgewater instead of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.

The Bears still have a long way to go - which they acknowledged - to be able to compete with the NFL's better teams.

"We gotta keep winning … we gotta play better," Cutler said. "As soon as we start playing better, they'll start being better fans."

Actually, this crowd was about as good as the Bears had any reason to hope they would be.

Bears players should take up a collection to buy a new van for those folks from Manitoba.

mimrem@dailyherald.com