Bears to miss playoffs for 8th time in 9 years

MINNEAPOLIS - This does not appear to be the same Bears team that went into Green Bay and beat the Packers in prime time on Thanksgiving Night.

That was the high point of the season but, just three weeks later, you have to wonder how much lower John Fox's team can go after its third straight, and maybe its most demoralizing, defeat.

For the first time since the Week 3, 26-0 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle, the Bears looked as if they didn't belong on the same field as their opponent.

Sunday's 38-17 loss to the 9-5 Vikings mathematically eliminated the 5-9 Bears from the playoffs, which has been pretty much a foregone conclusion for a couple weeks. The Bears have now missed the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons, and they seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

"I just think other teams want it more than we want it, and that's the end of the story," said Bears linebacker Pernell McPhee. "When you want something, you go take it. Right now, ain't nobody really trying to take it.

"Me and everybody else just have to look at ourselves in the mirror and point at ourselves and say, 'What can we do better to help our team win?' We can't point at each other."

This latest loss was a complete team effort and brought back bad memories from the end of last year's 5-11 meltdown, when Marc Trestman's team lost five straight to end the season.

Fox was asked what has happened to his team that was riding in November and shot down in December.

"I just think we haven't improved," he said. "It does a little bit to thwart your confidence."

The tone in the losing locker room was more defeatist than it's been all year.

"It doesn't matter who we played," quarterback Jay Cutler said, "we weren't going to win with our offensive football."

Cutler's only interception, at the Bears' 16-yard line, led to second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's TD run that swelled the Vikings' lead to 31-10 midway through the fourth quarter.

Defensively the Bears' tackling was atrocious, and it was especially evident because almost every time Bridgewater threw the ball, it found an open receiver who was able to elude Bears defenders.

Bridgewater completed 17 of 20 passes for 231 yards with a career-best 4 TD tosses, and his 154.4 passer rating was the second highest in Vikings history and his personal best.

Highlighting the Bears' inability to cover or tackle the Vikings was a 33-yard TD pass from Bridgewater to Stefon Diggs on Minnesota's first possession of the third quarter that gave the home team a 24-7 lead at the University of Minnesota's outdoor TCF Bank Stadium.

Nickel corner Alan Ball watched Diggs run past him on a crossing route and then trailed the play. Safety Chris Prosinski had a shot downfield at Diggs but missed the tackle. Ball finally caught up but was dragged the final five yards into the end zone.

"He's good," McPhee said of Bridgewater. "He didn't do nothing great, he just (completed) a lot of crossing routes, and we really didn't tackle good. That's what made him look good. I don't think he went out there and was just slinging the ball all over the field against us."

Bridgewater didn't have to throw it very far as long as Bears tacklers treated Viking ball carriers as if they had a contagious disease.

The offense got off to another slow start but finally got on the scoreboard with Jay Cutler's 10-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery 5:40 before halftime, trimming the Vikings' lead to 10-7. That was Jeffery's only catch of the day, and he left early when his hamstring tightened up.

"They kicked our (butt) today," Jeffery said. "Hats off to them. They made more plays than us."

In the final minute of the half, the Vikings regained their 10-point margin on Bridgewater's 17-yard TD pass to Jerick McKinnon who ran through tackle attempts by Prosinski and linebacker Shea McClellin.

The Bears had an exceptional opportunity to make it a game when, trailing 17-7, they recovered an onside kick at their 47-yard line to start the second half. But on the third play, Vikings defensive end Brian Robison beat offensive tackle Kyle Long to sack and strip Cutler and then recover the fumble.

"We got a surprise onside kick there, and we squandered that one," Cutler said. "(If) we drive down there, we put a score up, we're right back in the ballgame. It's unfortunate."

The second Bridgewater-to-Diggs TD came six plays later, effectively sealing the verdict.

Another slow start by both the offense and defense left the Bears in the familiar position of trailing early.

Deonte Thompson's 49-yard return of the opening kickoff gave the Bears the ball at midfield but the offense moved a net minus-2 yards before punting. The Vikings then drove 93 yards in 13 plays, the last a 15-yard TD reception by the rookie Diggs in the back corner of the end zone on a perfect throw by Bridgewater.

The Bears have been outscored 96-41 in the first quarter this season.

Sunday they were outscored by the Vikings in every quarter, another example of how outmanned they were.