Run and done

Imagine how bad the Bears would be without Devin Hester.Even with Hester scoring on an 89-yard punt return and an 81-yard reception, the Bears still lost 34-31 at home to a Minnesota Vikings team that came in with 1 win but is now in third place in the NFC North at 2-3, a half-game ahead of the last-place Bears.Only once in team history have the Bears started 2-4 and went on to make the playoffs."If there's a panic button anywhere around, we all need to race to it," defensive end Alex Brown said. "We need to start winning right now. If we don't, it's going to be over."Ryan Longwell's career-long 55-yard field goal as time expired knocked the wind out of a rejuvenated home crowd -- at least those who stuck around to the bitter end -- that saw the Bears rally from a 31-17 deficit to tie the game with 1:38 remaining.But the defense, as it had all afternoon, failed when it mattered in what was arguably the most disappointing loss in coach Lovie Smith's four years at the helm."We stunk," Brown said. "We played horrible. The kid's a good player, but, dang, we shouldn't give up that many yards rushing."That "kid" would be Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 224 yards, more than any individual opponent in the 88-year history of the franchise.As a team, the Vikings outrushed the Bears 311-83, and the defense allowed 444 total yards, the third time in four weeks they've been gouged for more than 430."We couldn't tackle," Brown said. "He cut back, and he was gone. The kid's fast. Once he broke in the open field, it was over."I know all the coaches and everybody is going to say that we win as a team and we lose as a team but, as a defense, we lost."Brown won't get a debate from anyone who saw Peterson score on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards against a defense that failed repeatedly to tackle him when it had opportunities and then was unable to catch him once he got past them."For us, we have to stop the run to be able to win," Smith said. "We had missed tackles, and we weren't able to get off the blocks."We haven't played defense that way in a long time."Bears quarterback Brian Griese overcame a pair of interceptions and a lost fumble to throw for 381 yards.While the Bears were giving the ball away four times, the defense didn't force a single turnover for the first time since the final game of the 2005 season."Normally when you play football like that you lose the game," Smith said. "Four turnovers, zero takeaways. We gave up the big play on the defensive side of the football."The Bears' offense, which again failed to run the ball successfully, nevertheless rallied for 14 points in 58 seconds to tie the game at 31-31, but it still wasn't enough.After Peterson's final TD gave Minnesota an apparently safe 31-17 lead with 4:10 left, the Bears were given up for dead when Griese was picked off on the next play.But, after a three-and-out by the Vikings, Griese hooked up with Muhsin Muhammad for a 33-yard TD 73 seconds after his interception.The Bears' defense quickly forced another punt, and, on the second play, Griese dropped a bomb into the hands of Hester, who left Dwight Smith in his wake thanks to a wicked head fake toward the sideline.With the game tied and the stadium rocking, Bears coaches had a choice: kick to Peterson or avoid him altogether.They elected to kick to him, and it proved the wrong move as Peterson returned it 53 yards to set up Longwell's last-second heroics."Of course he's a big threat," Smith said. "They only needed a field goal. We haven't gone into many games where we don't kick the ball to a player."I thought we would go down and get good field position and go from there."It wasn't as if Peterson hadn't already enjoyed an entire afternoon of making Bears defenders look sick.On the play that allowed the Vikings to tie the game at 14-14 (Peterson's 67-yard run), Bears safety Brandon McGowan missed a tackle just past the line of scrimmage, and the rookie outran the pursuit for -- what was at that point -- the longest play of his short NFL career.Late in the third quarter, Peterson outdid himself with a 73-yard touchdown run to put the Vikings on top 21-14.Things were just getting worse and worse for a defense that considered itself one of the league's best in training camp, but is now trying to ward off creeping doubts about its ability and is having to face the realization that maybe it's not nearly as good as advertised."We just can't figure out what's going on," Brown said. "We're not very good right now."No one's arguing.