A few plays doom Bears against Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS - The Vikings' 34-14 victory over the Bears may look like an all-game domination on paper, but the showdown for first place in the NFC North didn't start out that way.
It took just a couple minutes and a total of five plays late in the first half to turn the tide in favor of the Vikings, who improved to 7-5. The 6-6 Bears appeared in charge for much of the first half, but the momentum and the lead turned in a hurry. On the verge of taking a 14-3 lead, the Bears instead found themselves trailing 10-7 in the blink of an eye.
First the offense blew an ideal scoring opportunity when it failed to get any points from first-and-goal at the Vikings' 1-yard line, which was set up by a 26-yard Matt Forte run. But after an incomplete pass, runs by Forte and fullback Jason Davis failed to reach the end zone. On fourth down, the Bears chose not to attempt field goal, but Forte was stopped short of the goal line again.
The failure by the offense was immediately made much worse when, on the Vikings' first play, Gus Frerotte launched a bomb down the left sideline that caught former Bears wide receiver Bernard Berrian in stride for a 99-yard touchdown and a 10-7 Minnesota lead 4:48 before halftime.
"It's amazing what a shift in momentum can do," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "You've got to be able to get the ball in on four tries from the 1. If you can't get it in from there, you don't deserve to win. And you can't let them have a 99-yard touchdown pass."
On that play, safety Kevin Payne broke toward the opposite sideline from Berrian just after the snap, leaving cornerback Charles Tillman alone with Bernard. Just before Frerotte's release, Tillman also broke toward the middle of the field, leaving Berrian alone with his thoughts and the longest touchdown pass in Vikings history.
"I can't say it wasn't my fault," Tillman said. "It was great execution on their part."
"It was three-deep coverage," Smith said. "We just didn't play it well."
Defensive coordinator Bob Babich was at a loss to explain what Tillman and Payne were reacting to on the play.
"Without watching tape, I don't know exactly what they saw," Babich said. "I can't speak for them. It was just a deep ball that got over our heads, and it's very disappointing."
The Vikings also gashed the Bears' defense with the running of Adrian Peterson, as usual. He had exactly 100 yards by halftime and finished with 131 on 28 carries.
But the Bears aren't conceding the division title yet.
"It's not in our control anymore, but we still control what we do the last four games," Orton said. "We have to win them all."
The Bears have the easiest remaining schedule with three straight home games, against the Jaguars (4-7), Saints (6-6) and Packers (5-7), before ending the regular season against the Texans (4-7) in Houston. The Vikings are on the road against the Lions (0-12) and Cardinals (7-5) and then at home against the Falcons (8-4) and Giants (11-1).
That doesn't make Sunday's loss any easier to swallow.
"We controlled our own destiny before (Sunday) night," Smith said. "Now we need a little help."
After falling behind 17-7 at halftime, Payne's interception of a tipped Frerotte pass and 37-yard return to the Vikings' 4-yard line helped give the visitors renewed hope, as it set up a 2-yard TD pass from Kyle Orton to Forte, slicing Minnesota's lead to 17-14 with 8:53 left in the third quarter.
But Orton's first interception in his last 207 throws allowed the Vikings to rebuild their 10-point advantage. Orton's first interception since Sept. 28 was picked off by Vikings safety Darren Sharper, who returned to 7 yards to the Bears' 35. A 21-yard TD run by Chester Taylor put the Vikings up 24-14 with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Peterson's 1-yard run made it 31-14 after Orton was picked off again, for the second time in 6 throws midway through the fourth quarter. His next pass was also picked off, as he finished with a passer rating of 39.1, completing just 11 of 29 for 153 yards.
"You can't win many games when you throw 3 picks," Orton said. "We have to make more plays in the passing game. I have to make more plays."
On the Bears' second possession Devin Hester caught a short slant, beating cornerback Antoine Winfield to the inside. Winfield dove at Hester's feet but missed, then the Pro Bowl return specialist left Sharper clutching air when he tried to bring him down in the open field and then raced through the remainder of the Vikings' secondary for a 66-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Bears lead just 7:56 into the game. It was Hester's and the Bears' longest play of the season.
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