Vikings take care of business with 30-12 win over Bears

Everything the Vikings want to accomplish is right in front of them.

After clinching a playoff berth over the weekend, the Vikings earned the right to set their sights on taking back the NFC North, a pursuit that started with the game against the Chicago Bears on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.

In front of a national audience, the Vikings took care of business with an impressive 30-12 win over the Bears, making a statement about themselves in the process. The win also helped the Vikings (12-2) pull even with the Detroit Lions (12-2) in the NFC North with three weeks to go.

It was a dominant display from the Vikings, as they scored seemingly at will on offense, and made life miserable for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams on defense.

The vibes couldn’t have been much better for the Vikings to start the game.

After honoring legendary receiver Randy Moss before kickoff with a very special moment featuring former teammates Cris Carter and Jake Reed, the Vikings immediately forced a turnover on downs when edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery combined to stuff a run for no gain.

That put the Vikings in good field position, and while they stalled out after a few plays, Will Reichard connected on a 52-yard field goal to make it 3-0.

On the next possession, Greenard made his presence felt again, sacking Williams to force a fumble, which was recovered by linebacker Blake Cashman. This time around the Vikings took advantage of the good field position with quarterback Sam Darnold throwing a touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson to extend the lead to 10-0.

Not long after that, Darnold uncorked a pass downfield, and it seemed as if the Vikings were about to run away with the game. Instead, Jefferson dropped a surefire touchdown pass near the goal line, taking the blame by patting his chest and holding his hand up in the air in the immediate aftermath.

It got worse from there, as head coach Kevin O’Connell left the offense on the field on fourth down only to have Darnold throw his first interception in more than a month.

Luckily for the Vikings, the defense continued to dominate, forcing another turnover on downs, which led to Reichard nailing a 31-yard field goal to make it 13-0 at halftime.

Just when it looked like running back D’Andre Swift had plunged into the end zone to give the Bears some life after halftime, the touchdown got wiped off the board because of an illegal substitution. A few plays later, the Bears had to settle for a 29-yard field goal from Cairo Santos to cut the deficit to 13-3.

That’s when the Vikings took complete control. They put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive, relying heavily on the ground game before running back Aaron Jones plunged into the end zone to make it 20-3.

After the Bears settled for a 39-yard field goal from Santos to make it 20-6, the Vikings put the game away for good when running back Cam Akers plowed his way into the end zone to stretch the lead to 27-6.

As the game wound to a close, the Vikings pulled most of their starters, which allowed Williams to throw a touchdown pass to Keenan Allen to cut the deficit to 27-12. In the final minutes, Reichard tacked on a 46-yard field goal for good measure to finalize the score at 30-12.