Vikings Thoroughly Beaten in Perplexing Performance vs. Bears

The Minnesota Vikings marched into Chicago on the back of consecutive victories and a week off only to be thoroughly dismantled. Despite only losing by a single score, the Vikings’ ineptitude on Sunday is perplexing.

Everything was set up for them to get a rare win in Chicago, considering the recent struggles the Bears had gone through. As the raw stats tell, that outcome was never in the cards. Minnesota was overwhelmed on both sides of the ball.

Let's start with the offense. Teddy Bridgewater took a significant step in the wrong direction after positive growth in recent weeks. He completed 17 of 27 throws for a mediocre 151 yards through the air. His lone touchdown was a wide-open dump-off to a tight end from play action, and his interception was the game-ender.

A vast majority of Bridgewater’s completions were of the checkdown variety, content to throw underneath after abbreviated scans down the field. Even when the Vikings faced 3rd-and-long situations, he repeatedly dumped it short.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Problems extended to the receivers and the offensive line too, only worsening the issues at the quarterback position. Bridgewater looked down the field at covered targets for most of the day, and his offensive tackles continued to do their best turnstile impressions.

At day’s end, the Vikings only mustered 243 total yards, 48 of which came from a successful fake punt. Excluding the fake, the Minnesota offense only averaged 19.5 yards per drive, good for a single first down.

Every down was an issue too. The Vikings failed to effectively run the ball, averaging 3.4 yards per carry over 16 rushes offensively. That limitation and the short passing left the Vikings needing big chunks on a number of third downs. Predictably, they failed, converting only 2-of-11.

Because the Vikings failed to convert third downs, the Bears dominated the time of possession 38:38 to 21:22. The Minnesota offense was unable to find a rhythm from the sideline, and the defense was unable to regroup stuck in the clutches of the Chicago offense. That nasty loop can be summed up by the massive difference in statistics for the two offenses.

	Pass Yds	Rush Yds	First Downs	Third Down	Sacks Taken
MIN	140	103	10	2-11	2
CHI	330	138	24	10-17	0

The final score flatters the Vikings in comparison to these statistics. In every way, the Vikings were outclassed by the Bears.

Defensively, one of the league's most potent pass rushes failed to get to Jay Cutler outside of a single forced fumble by Brian Robison—one Minnesota failed to jump on. Everson Griffen was consistently impactful, but the rest of the defensive line struggled as rushers and the blitzes failed as well.

That only highlighted the issues in the secondary, where the Vikings were completely outmatched against a couple of redwood-sized receivers. Cutler was able to buy all kinds of time in the pocket and throw lasers to Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, who combined for 18 receptions, 225 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

It was a culmination of problems for the Vikings, beginning with the lack of energy the team played with. From start to finish, Minnesota was completely flat, looking like a second-rate team throughout.

Game plans were an issue as well. On top of being outfought and outplayed, the Vikings were outcoached, which Mike Zimmer all but admitted after the game, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press:

"

Mike Zimmer said he didn't do a good enough coaching job wishes would have had some calls back on josh Robinson

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) November 16, 2014"

His defense was bobbed up and down by Cutler and the Bears like a yo-yo, and he knew it.

If not for some early exploits in special teams and timely red-zone stops defensively, Minnesota would have been absolutely blown out. Games with the yardage margins seen in this game are usually over before the fourth quarter ever begins. The Vikings were lucky to even stay in this contest.

Minnesota now has six games left to make things right. The perplexing up and downs of the young team need to be stabilized somehow. More cold-weather games and more accomplished quarterbacks remain on the schedule. Unless Sunday's issues are reversed quickly, many more losses remain too.

Statistics via ESPN.com.