The Bears lost a fourth-quarter lead Monday night in Minnesota for the second straight week. But this time they rallied for an exciting 12-10 victory on Cairo Santos' fourth field goal of the game, a 30-yarder, with :10 remaining.
The Bears defense registered four interceptions of Joshua Dobbs
and held the Vikings out of the end zone until Dobbs' 17-yard touchdown pass to
tight end T.J. Hockenson gave Minnesota a 10-9 lead with 5:44 left in the
fourth quarter.
Justin Fields then rebounded after losing
two fourth-quarter fumbles to put the Bears in position to win. The third-year
pro completed a 36-yard pass over the middle to DJ Moore to the Minnesota 13 on
third-and-10, setting up Santos' decisive field goal.
"I really just wanted to prove to my teammates that I had
their back," Fields said. "The way the defense was playing all game,
I had to come back and at least give us a chance at the end. It felt great.
Those two fumbles, adversity's hitting. After the second one, I was sick to my
stomach. But the defense [forced] a three-and-out and we got the ball back.
When you do have that opportunity at the end of the game, everything before
that is out the window."
The Bears defense provided that opportunity with a stellar performance, generating four takeaways for the second straight game and limiting the Vikings to one offensive touchdown and fewer than 250 total yards for the second time this season. The unit held Minnesota to 2-of-9 on third down (22.2%) and 0-of-2 on fourth down.
"Defense creates
momentum in a lot of different ways," said coach Matt Eberflus. "They
do it through third-down stops, they do it through big hits, and they do it
through taking the ball away. That's what we always preach to the guys, and they
did all three things today."
Monday night's victory was
particularly satisfying after the Bears had allowed the Lions to score 17
points in the final 2:59 last Sunday to turn a 26-14 deficit into a 31-26 win
in Detroit.
"We all showed
character tonight after not finishing last week and then kind of that sticking
with us this week," Santos said. "Getting the job done today was
awesome for our team."
"After last week we
wanted to do the same thing, but just stick the knife in them," said
safety Eddie Jackson. "We wanted to go four quarters. It wasn't pretty.
We've got things to clean up on that touchdown drive. But overall, the defense,
I feel like we played lights out."
Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker and T.J. Edwards all
registered interceptions, while Montez Sweat recorded
1.5 sacks, splitting one with Brisker.
Throwing mostly short,
quick passes, Fields completed 27 of 37 for 217 yards and an 87.3 passer rating
and rushed for a game-high 59 yards on 12 carries. He was sacked three times.
Moore led all receivers with 11 catches for 114 yards.
With the win, the Bears
improved to 4-8 and are now 4-4 since beginning the season 0-4.
The
Bears opened the game by marching to the Vikings' 24. But their drive stalled
following a sack of Fields, and Santos missed a 48-yard field goal attempt wide
right. Fields completed 8 of 8 passes for 37 yards on the possession.
The defense continued to
assert its dominance as Johnson intercepted an underthrown pass intended for
Jordan Addison and returned it 20 yards. But the offense failed to pick up a
first down and the Bears were forced to punt.
Gordon made a key play on
the opening drive of the second half, wrestling Hockenson out of bounds inches
short of a first down after a 6-yard reception on fourth-and-7 from the
Minnesota 49.
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