PURPLE POISE

VIKINGS 29

BEARS 22

Kevin O'Connell is still just 5 games into what will hopefully be a long head coaching career, but he has been getting a crash course in what it's like to be a Viking. It will be wild, and often will cause blood pressures to skyrocket.

But under his leadership, this Vikings team is already showing a level of calmness and poise in those tense moments that speaks very well of him, and bodes very well for the future.

Now, it of course didn't have to be tense at all on Sunday with the lowly Bears in town, but that is not the Vikings way. They WILL make things difficult. 

For most of the first half it certainly didn't look like there would be any Sunday tension. The first half was mostly a beatdown.

The Vikings first 3 drives all ended in touchdowns. Kirk Cousins set a new team record with 17 straight completions to start the game. Many of those were to Justin Jefferson, who set a new career high in  catches, and even completed a pass on a nifty trick play. A pair of short Dalvin Cook TD runs and a shovel pass from Kirk to Jalen Reagor gave us 21.

The Bears offense for most of the first half was completely anemic. Justin Fields is just bad, and he was bad. What pass plays that were available were not completed. They got a field goal on their opening drive but looked fully unequipped to compete in a high scoring game.

But if you ever doubted that momentum in a football game is a real thing you got a lesson today. Late in the first half the Vikings were driving again to add to the lead. But near midfield, the Bears sacked Kirk and forced a punt. Which was shanked. Which was coupled with a penalty that gave the Bears even better field position. Which was quickly followed by a spectacular deep ball catch by Darnell Mooney. Which was quickly followed by a Bears TD.

We got in a spot for a long field goal before the half, but Greg Joseph pushed the long kick wide. We were up 21-10 but the euphoria of a dominating half had dimmed.

And the momentum stayed with the visitors, as we let them drive right down the field to open the 3rd for another TD. They failed on the 2, which helped.

Chicago took a weird chance on an onside kick, but we got on it. But we squandered the short field position when another long Joseph field goal try was blocked. It was an awful game for our special teams. 

Chicago only got a field goal to cut the lead to 2, but we failed to snatch the game back when Kirk got picked off. Kind of interesting that it happened on almost the exact same play as the Mundt drop from last week. Kirk was ripped all week for throwing the short easy pass, but here you see what can happen when you take more of a chance.

Our reeling defense of course let the Bears get in range for a go ahead field goal. So preposterously here we were, trailing in the 4th quarter after having a 21-3 lead.

But this is where we shine. Two weeks in a row we needed Kirk to engineer 4th quarter drives to win games. Hell, we needed two in each of those games. This time we just needed the one. 

And what a drive it was. A 17 play, 75 yard drive that ate up 7 minutes. 5 3rd down conversions, including a Kirk scramble. A couple key catches by the beleaguered Irv Smith. Some iffy clock management aside, the drive could not have been better. It finished with a Kirk sneak for the TD and a 2 point pass to JJ. 

But we still needed the defense to slam the door. This looked unlikely when we failed to jump on a fumble, and let Fields complete a long pass. But on a swing pass out to old friend Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Cam Dantzler stood him up, and ripped the ball out to ice the game.

That's what it's all about. Making big plays at the end of the game. This Donatell defense has been brutal at times, but for whatever reason they have been able to make a key stop or two late in these games. They are taking the bend but don't break philosophy to its absolute limit. 

I do not understand why this defense makes no adjustments when receivers are wide open, or when Fields is allowed to run all over the place without being spied. Hunter did get a sack today but has been a non-entity too often. They can be better. They will need to be better when they face better QBs soon.

But the guttiness this team displays is tremendous. Absolutely no way they go 3 for 3 in these games in previous years. No way. This team makes their own messes, but when it is go time and they have to do it they are doing it. That's how you build a winner.