Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears: Full Report Card Grades for Minnesota
Something had to give when the Minnesota Vikings met the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.
The Vikings hadn't won in Chicago in their last six tries and had dropped 12 of 13 away games against the Bears.
The Bears had lost back-to-back games in embarrassing fashion, becoming the first team since 1923 to give up 50 points in consecutive games.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, it was the Vikings who kept their streak of misery intact, as the Bears dominated the Vikings all day long to win 21-13 and drop Minnesota to 4-6, pretty much ending any playoff hopes for the season.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler picked apart the Vikings defense all day long, completing 31 of 43 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns in a game which Chicago completely dominated after the first quarter.
Chicago dominated in every facet of the game, controlling the ball for 38:38, while Minnesota had it for just 21:22. The Bears ran 28 more offensive plays than the Vikings, and it's almost impossible to win a game with that kind of disparity.
As bad as Minnesota's offense was, the defense wasn't much better. Cutler wasn't sacked in 43 pass attempts, and the Bears' tall wideouts dominated the Vikings' defensive backs all afternoon.
Everything seemed to be going Minnesota's way as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter, but the Bears completely dominated for the rest of the day. Both teams are now 4-6.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Teddy Bridgewater does not have a big arm.
If your team has an exceptional offensive line and great receivers, that might not matter. The Vikings have neither.
Bridgewater was pressured all day long, and his throws couldn't cut through the cold Chicago air like those of his counterpart, Jay Cutler.
It's hard for any quarterback to get into a groove when he's given very little time, but especially so for a rookie whose favorite target has become a receiver who was plucked off the waiver wire about a month ago.
Minnesota finished a dismal 2-for-11 on third down, and matched up against the Bears' 10-for-17, the football game was never in doubt after the first quarter.
Bridgewater finished the afternoon 17-of-27 for 151 yards and a touchdown. He was picked off just once, but it killed the Vikings' last possession and was a ball he shouldn't have thrown, with safety Ryan Mundy just waiting for it in the end zone.
He was sacked just twice but was hurried for most of the day, often having to head straight backwards to avoid a Bears rush that was barely being slowed down by the Vikings' pass-blockers.
Vikings wide receivers were targeted just 11 times on the day, and neither Greg Jennings nor Cordarrelle Patterson was even thrown to until midway through the third quarter.
The Vikings' offensive woes are equally shared across the board, from the quarterback, the blockers, receivers, backs and coaches.
If Bridgewater wants to become a quarterback who can make a difference, he has to be able to generate some plays in a game like Sunday's. A poor performance, but hopefully he learned from it.
Considering what the last two quarterbacks did to this Bears defense, you might consider today's performance a complete fail.
There isn't a lot of ammunition to argue against that.
Grade: D
Running Back
2 of 10
When your leading rusher is a backup safety, your grade probably isn't going to be very good.
The Vikings had two possessions in the first quarter and running back Jerick McKinnon picked up 37 yards of offense rushing and receiving, with Minnesota scoring twice and taking a 10-0 lead.
He had just 21 total yards for the rest of the day after the Vikings opened their first series of the second quarter with Matt Asiata in at running back.
Other than Andrew Sendejo's 48-yard run on fake punt, the Vikings rushed for just 48 yards on 15 attempts.
McKinnon looked like he was capable of having a big afternoon early on, but as the Bears began to dominate on offense, the Vikings had to change their plans on offense and the run game was forgotten about.
Minnesota's backs had a rough afternoon pass-blocking, as well. One Matt Asiata miss during the Vikings' second-to-last possession stands out: a blitzing safety went right past Asiata and Bridgewater had to throw the ball away. Minnesota had to settle for a field goal.
It's one thing when Patterson led the team in rushing. It's another when it's Andrew Sendejo.
Grade: D
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Thank heavens the Vikings signed Charles Johnson off the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in September. Right now Minnesota doesn't look like it has another NFL-quality wideout on its roster.
Outside of Johnson, Vikings receivers caught three passes for 28 yards. Those are wishbone-era college numbers.
Is it the quarterback? The receivers? The offensive line? All of the above?
If you selected "all of the above," you're probably on the right path.
Bridgewater's first completion to a wide receiver came with 2:27 left in the first half. And this was against a defense that had surrendered 10 touchdown passes in the first half in their last two games.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph returned to action on Sunday after six missed games, but you wouldn't know that by looking at the stat sheet. He did get flagged for a penalty.
Perhaps the Vikings receivers are backing up teammate Adrian Peterson by saying, "If he can't play, none us will."
If only that were the case.
A nice six-catch, 87-yard performance by Johnson gets buried in an avalanche of ineptitude.
Grade: F
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The biggest problem with the picture above is that it was taken just a moment after the ball was snapped.
Former Viking Jared Allen didn't win a battle with left tackle Matt Kalil and fight his way to get to Teddy Bridgewater. He didn't even put a nice move on Kalil. He just ran by him.
Bridgewater was only sacked twice on the afternoon. Phil Loadholt was beaten in a similar fashion later on, but that doesn't mean the offensive line played well. They didn't.
Bridgewater was under siege all day long and was usually running for his life just a moment after getting the football in his hands.
The Vikings offense was pitiful all day long, gaining just 243 yards against a defense that had given up historically bad numbers over the last two weeks.
Vikings fans would like to see some growth from Bridgewater, but he's rarely given enough time to survey the field and try to find and open receiver. When he is given the time, none of the receivers seem to be open.
Minnesota's running game, which showed a little bit of promise in the first quarter, was left behind after the defense frittered away the Vikings' lead.
Anyone who's watched the Vikings offensive line over the last few years has seen worse performances, but considering how demoralized the Bears defense was heading into this game, it was a failed effort.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back to pass 43 times and wasn't sacked once. He was hit five times, but he never seemed to be under pressure all afternoon.
As inconsistent and as maddening as Cutler's play can be for the Bears and their fans, whenever he's given time, he usually plays very well.
He played very well on Sunday.
Cutler threw for 330 yards (his first-ever 300-yard game against the Vikings), and Matt Forte carved through Minnesota's defense for 117 yards on 27 carries.
The Bears could pretty much pick their poison after the first quarter, as they dominated the Vikings at the line of scrimmage and played keep-away for the better part of three quarters.
Defensive end Everson Griffen was active early and came close to getting to Cutler several times, but Cutler was very good at feeling the pressure and getting rid of the ball just before the rush could get to him.
Sharrif Floyd played well once again, making five tackles and playing decently against the run. He didn't have much help from his fellow linemen.
Brian Robison was a non-factor all afternoon; he registered one quarterback hit, but didn't have his name mentioned the entire game.
If you give Cutler too much time, he can kill you.
The Vikings gave him too much time.
Grade: D
Linebacker
6 of 10
"Anthony Barr has missed tackles on the Bears' last two third-down conversions.
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) November 16, 2014"
It's been a great rookie season for Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr so far, but Sunday might have been his worst game as a pro.
The Vikings had a chance, albeit a small one, to snuff any life out of the Bears during the first half when Minnesota jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The Bears have been reeling of late, and if the Vikings defense could have shut down Cutler and the Bears early on, they might have just packed it in.
Instead, the Bears offense ended up converting on 10 of 17 third downs and kept the ball away from the Vikings all day long.
Two key third-down conversions came early on and, as noted by the Star Tribune's Matt Vensel in the tweet above, Barr missed tackles on both of them.
Too many times Matt Forte was able to pick up easy yards just beyond the line of scrimmage, which gave the Bears favorable third-down yardage for most of the day.
Chad Greenway had 11 tackles, and Barr had just four on the day. Middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley had just one tackle and continues to be less and less of a factor.
The Vikings defense is much better than it was last year, but they flat-out got whipped against the Bears. You can't let a team control the ball for over 38 minutes and rack up 468 yards of offense on you and expect to win.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
At 5'10", Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson isn't going to win many jump balls against Brandon Marshall or Alshon Jeffery.
For that matter, neither is the 5'9" Captain Munnerlyn.
It was an ugly day for the Vikings secondary, who just can't match up against Marshall and Jeffery, the Bears' two Pro Bowl receivers, who stand 6'4" and 6'3", respectively.
Marshall's two touchdowns against Robinson were almost unfair, as Marshall simply boxed out Robinson and gave him no chance to make a play. The first one, a 44-yard bomb, was inexcusable as the ball was in the air for a long time. Perhaps as much blame can go to Robert Blanton, though, who was supposed to provide safety help but just let Marshall run right past him.
Marshall's second touchdown, a four-yard jump ball, is hard to blame too much on Robinson. What did the Vikings think was going to happen? Marshall lined up wide right and began waving his hand frantically to Cutler as if to say, "Hey look, I've got single coverage with a short guy on me!"
He did, and it was an easy touchdown.
Jeffery had 11 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, while Marshall had seven catches for 90 yards and a pair of scores. Jeffery now has 23 catches for 384 yards and three touchdowns in his last two games against the Vikings.
We're not going to give the secondary an "F" on the day when Xavier Rhodes finally made his first career interception. Harrison Smith made the Vikings' best defensive play of the day when he picked off Cutler and took it back 52 yards to the Bears' 27-yard line.
Smith's pick could have been a turning point, but the Vikings' limp offense quickly went three-and-out and then Blair Walsh missed a 37-yard field goal.
Not a good day for anybody in purple.
Grade: D-
Special Teams
8 of 10
The Vikings' only touchdown of the day was set up by a 48-yard run on a fake punt by Sendejo. It was Minnesota's first fake punt in a decade and set up Bridgewater's seven-yard touchdown pass to Rhett Ellison on the next play.
Blair Walsh had put the Vikings ahead earlier in the first quarter by drilling a 50-yard field goal, which was particularly impressive coming in Sunday's cold, windy conditions.
That's it for the highlights for the Vikings special teams, and that about puts them equal with all the other positional units on the day.
Punter Jeff Locke had another sub-par day, averaging just 41.3 yards per kick. His 33-yard punt in the third quarter allowed the Bears to start a drive at the Vikings' 47-yard line, and he was saved from disaster by Harrison Smith's interception.
Walsh missed from 38 yards away after Smith's interception, and the miss pretty much ended the Vikings' hopes for a victory.
Instead of a field goal that would have pulled the Vikings within one at 14-13, the Bears marched down the field for a touchdown and jumped ahead 21-10.
A great field goal and a great fake punt, but not a great day overall.
Grade: C-
Coaching
9 of 10
A completely listless performance coming out of a bye week is not OK.
Facing an opponent who's been throttled two games in a row and jumping up on them by 10 points only to get dominated the rest of the way is not OK either.
Letting two tall wide receivers who have tortured your team for years continue to dominate you is not OK.
Nothing about Sunday's thrashing at the hands of a football team that was probably just looking for an excuse to pack it in was OK.
Minnesota got dominated in every facet of the game and deserved to lose.
The only real mystery about Sunday's game is how the Bears didn't win by more than the 21-13 margin. There's every bit as much to question in the Bears' coaching slide. Taking the ball out of Cutler's hands at the end of the first half when he was throwing at will? Running a sweep to Cutler on fourth down?
But back to the guys in purple.
Minnesota's offense opened up the game doing fine. McKinnon was very good early, helping the offense move the ball down the field and getting points on both first-quarter possessions.
Then, when Minnesota got the ball for the first time in the second quarter, it was Asiata who was lined up in the backfield. Huh? He didn't get any carries, but how does it make sense to take your most effective player off the field? McKinnon never heated back up for the rest of the afternoon.
Nobody else got hot all afternoon in fact, save for Charles Johnson, the receiver who was plucked off the Browns' practice squad in September.
The Vikings were thoroughly dominated by a team that had dropped its last two games by a combined score of 106-37.
They didn't look prepared. That's unacceptable.
Grade: F
Overall Grade
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | D |
| Running Back | D |
| Wide Receiver and Tight End | F |
| Offensive Line | F |
| Defensive Line | D |
| Linebacker | D |
| Secondary | D- |
| Special Teams | C- |
| Coaching | F |
Overall Grade: D-
On Sunday, the Vikings faced a Chicago Bears team that was teetering on the brink of disaster. Minnesota jumped out to a 10-0 lead and simply needed to give the Bears a small shove to push them off the cliff.
They couldn't do it.
They couldn't do much of anything after the first quarter.
A shaky rookie quarterback wasn't given any protection and couldn't make any plays on his own. The receivers were missing in action. The offensive line was miserable.
The defense, which has kept the Vikings in many games this season, couldn't make it happen either.
The Vikings were completely outclassed by a team that had been downright pitiful in its past two outings.
Minnesota falls to 4-6 on the season, and any legitimate playoff hopes have gone up in smoke. It's time to see what's working and nurture it, and it's also time to move on from the things that aren't working.
Next up are three home games in a season that's starting to look very cold for the Vikings.
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