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The best and worst PFF grades from the Vikings’ Week 5 clash vs the Bears
The Minnesota Vikings scored a hard-fought victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon by a score of 29-22.
During Sunday’s game, the performances of both individual players and the team were mostly really good. The Vikings proved once again that the offensive line is better than they have had in years.
Let’s take a look at the PFF grades against the Bears.
The best pictures from the Vikings’ Sunday’s win against the Chicago Bears
The Minnesota Vikings scraped by the Chicago Bears 29-22 after blowing an 18-point lead with the Bears scoring 19 consecutive points to take the lead.
The Vikings then went on a 17-play, 75-yard drive that took 7:00 off the clock to take the lead for good with a quarterback sneak from Kirk Cousins.
Throughout the game, there were a lot of great pictures that help signify the Vikings’ win over the Bears. Here are the best of the best from Sunday’s game.
The Minnesota Vikings found another way to win an ugly game, beating the Chicago Bears 29-22 after blowing an 18-point lead.
The Minnesota Vikings tried like crazy to give away the game to the Chicago Bears after jumping out to a 21-3 lead early in the game but they came out on top 29-22. The win makes the Vikings the first team to win in London and then win the following week without having a bye.
The first half was immaculate for the Vikings’ offense. Cousins started out with 17 consecutive completions for 176 yards which broke Tommy Kramer’s long-standing record. He was lights out and changing a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage and threw accurate strikes all over the field. In fact, Cousins didn’t throw into one tight window all game long.
Incredible via @ESPNStatsInfo:
“Kirk Cousins threw 41 passes Sunday and none were into a tight window (1 or fewer yards of separation). That's the most attempts without a tight-window throw since Next Gen Stats began tracking in 2016.”— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 9, 2022
Justin Jefferson was also dominant with 12 receptions for 154 yards while also catching a two-point conversion. He set multiple records on the day, including a career-high for catches. Jefferson also completed a pass for 23 yards to Dalvin Cook in setting up a Jalen Reagor touchdown.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 21-3 lead before quarterback Justin Fields completed a pass to Darnell Mooney at the end of the first half where Mooney made a circus catch to setup a David Montgomery touchdown.
The score was 21-10 at halftime after kicker Greg Joseph missed a field goal. Joseph had a rough day missing both of his field goals.
The second half was rough for the Vikings. The Bears scored the first 12 points of the quarter to take a 22-21 lead. In that time, the Vikings missed a field goal and Cousins threw an interception on a hi/lo read, something he has struggled with over the last few weeks.
The game-winning drive from Cousins and the offense was calculated and efficient. The Vikings went 17 plays totaling 75 yards and 7:00 off the game clock with Cousins getting a sneak to finish the drive.
Once the Bears got the ball back, it only took five plays for the Vikings to finish the game with Cameron Dantzler stripping former Vikings Ihmir Smith-Marsette of the football leading to the victory formation for the purple and gold.
The Vikings have a lot of things to clean up after improving their record to 4-1 in their third-straight ugly win. Up next is the Miami Dolphins who had to play their third-string quarterback due to injuries in a 40-17 loss to the New York Jets.
The Minnesota Vikings are making things look easy against the Chicago Bears
The Minnesota Vikings have made things look easy thus far going into halftime with a 21-10 lead.
The Vikings’ offense came out extremely effective in scoring touchdowns on their first three drives. The unit also set multiple records on the day with two coming from both Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins.
Here are the three main takeaways from halftime of the Vikings week 5 matchup.
QB1 went Zero Dark LeBron mode in the first quarter
The Minnesota Vikings have been incredibly inconsistent this season on offense. In the first quarter, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins was carving up the Chicago Bears defense with precision and ease.
In the first quarter, Cousins was on fire. He completed all 13 passes for 125 yards with seven of those passes going to Justin Jefferson for 91 yards.
This is exactly what we have been wanting from this offense. It’s been calculated and consistent with quarterback Kirk Cousins looking the most confident he has all season behind center.
At the line of scrimmage, Cousins has been making a lot of checks and potentially calling his own plays, as Locked on Vikings host Luke Braun pointed out.
kirk's calling like half of these plays
— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) October 9, 2022
With the Vikings offense playing this well to start the day, the Bears could be in for a very long day.
The latest of many team records for the star receiver
On the Minnesota Vikings opening drive, wide receiver Justin Jefferson set a Vikings team record for the most receptions in the first three years of a career. On his third reception of the day, he surpassed Hall of Famer Randy Moss who held the record with 226 receptions.
.@JJettas2 (228) passed Hall of Fame WR Randy Moss (226) to set the franchise record for most pass receptions in a player's first three seasons in the NFL.
— Vikings Communications (@VikingsPR) October 9, 2022
The drive was really good for Jefferson. He was involved early and often with four receptions for 55 yards. He was hit twice on out breaking routes where he gained separation with relative ease by using shoulder fakes and explosive cuts.
He almost scored on his final catch of the drive, but was stopped just short. Dalvin Cook took it in from one yard out to take a 7-0 lead.
4️⃣ takes it in for the TD!@dalvincook
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/I3frk2ecsi
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 9, 2022
This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last team record that Jefferson breaks in a Vikings uniform.
The expert predictions are incredibly one sided
On Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears at noon central on Fox.
The game will be the Vikings third home game this season with all three coming against NFC North foes. The Vikings have won four of the last five matchups against the Bears and it looks like it will be five of the last six after Sunday afternoon.
Here is how the experts are picking Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Bears.
There have been quite a few changes to the 53-man roster and practice squad this week. Here is the updated Vikings roster
Going into Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings are 7.5-point favorites per Tipico Sportsbook.
The game kicks off at noon on Fox and will be the Vikings third home game with all of them coming against NFC North division rivals.
As the Vikings head into the game, there have been some roster moves that need updating. Here is the updated 53-man roster and practice squad heading into Sunday.
The Vikings’ run game has been so-so. Fortunately for them, they’ll face the Bears’ last-place run defense. Will Chicago have answers?
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The Bears defense faces a tall order this Sunday against the Vikings. Minnesota has some big name receivers in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen that Chicago must contend with. And it won’t be easy if top cornerback Jaylon Johnson (quad) can’t go in Week 5.
But it’s one of Minnesota’s offensive weaknesses that could become a strength on Sunday.
The Vikings run game has been decent this season, but they’re only averaging 98 yards per game. Fortunately for them, they’ll face a Bears run defense allowing an average 183.3 rushing yards per game, which is the worst in the NFL.
“It’s technique,” said head coach Matt Eberflus, via the Sun-Times. “It’s tough. The NFL’s tough now. If you show something [that’s vulnerable], they’re going to keep attacking it. So you gotta make sure that you shore those things up.”
So not only does Chicago’s defense have to contend with Minnesota’s high-powered passing game, featuring fifth-leading receiver Justin Jefferson, but they have to deal with running back Dalvin Cook.
“I’m shaking my head,” said defensive coordinator Alan Williams about trying to contain both Jefferson and Cook. “We’re gonna have our plate full.”
Cook has yet to eclipse 100 rushing yards in a game this season. But facing the league’s worst run defense, that’s something that could most definitely change in Week 5.
“I’m sure they won’t stop running the ball,” Bears defensive end Robert Quinn said, via the Sun-Times. “If we don’t slow him down, it sets up the play-action and all that other stuff. You want to stop the run, and that should make everything a little easier.
“It sets up everything else [for an offense] if you can’t stop the run. Then it’s kinda, to be honest, demoralizing.”
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Here are four keys to the Vikings’ offense being successful on Sunday
The Minnesota Vikings offense is still a work in progress but they have come up big when it mattered the most.
Throughout the season, the Vikings have shown elements of being great but haven’t been able to utilize them with any form of consistency.
The Chicago Bears are 2-2 on the season but they aren’t a very talented team which the Vikings can take advantage of in a big way.
Here are four keys for the Vikings offense to take advantage of the Bears defense and get the win on Sunday.
