COLD DOSE OF REALITY

BEARS 12

VIKINGS 10

I have attended probably 100 or so Vikings games in my life. Seen a lot of classics. Seen plenty of stinkers. Not sure I've ever been to such a wretched, disgusting game as the one that took place Monday night:  A humiliating, season-destroying loss to a terrible Bears team that the Vikings will never recover from.

Early on I dubbed this Vikings season "the season from hell". And that was before Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles at Lambeau Field. Just an excruciating season in which nearly everything that could go wrong did.

But then we had Dobbs Mania. Joshua Dobbs briefly became one of the best stories in sports, practically coming in off the street and helping the Vikings to a pair of wins that put the Vikings at 6-4 and firmly in position to not only still make the playoffs, but make a genuine run at the division title.

But I was fooled. A season cannot be hell unless we are also teased. Teased with promise. Teased with hope. Only to then have it snatched away.

Even the late loss at Denver last week didn't smother that hope. But boy oh boy was that hope destroyed with this Bears loss. The season from hell is back on with a vengeance. 

This was the last game before the bye. And often in this game, the team looked like they were already on vacation.

Many will say the Vikings defense had a good game. I say look at the start of this game, where the Bears had a ridiculous 9 minute drive that featured 3 straight 3rd down conversions, and an 8 for 8 start for Justin Fields. But because it's the Bears the drive ended with no points when Cairo Santos pushed a field goal wide.

The Vikings 1st offensive play was another near-miss omen. Joshua Dobbs launched a deep ball for Jordan Addison, who almost came down with what would have been a gigantic play. Almost. The whole fucking season is almost. Addison couldn't bring it in, and a sack of Dobbs made it a 3 and out start. 

Then the Bears put together another lengthy drive. Most infuriatingly, they let a 2nd and 27 turn into a 4th and 10 conversion, when Fields hit a wide open Cole Kmet. This time the Bears did get that field goal.

Then the turnovers started rolling in again for a team incapable of not doing that this year. Just a few plays into the next series, Dobbs badly underthrew Addison and was intercepted. 

It led to no points, but then the next Vikings series also ended in a pick, as a pass for Addison that arguably should have been caught was instead deflected and caught by a Bear. And again, the Bears didn't cash in. 

It was late into the first half, and the Vikings had like 40 yards of offense. Just awful. Dobbs almost threw a third pick, which would have been a Bears TD if it wasn't dropped. 

And yet, the half ended on an upswing. Dobbs finally hit Brandon Powell and KJ Osborn for consecutive first downs, then TJ Hockenson drew a big DPI. A Dobbs grounding penalty wrecked the drive, but Greg Joseph was able to tie it up at halftime.

I really need to stop hoping for halftime adjustments.

The first play of the 3rd was a nice surprise, a season long 21 yard run by Alexander Mattison. But the offense quickly went backwards again and faced a 4th and 7 near midfield. Now, for some reason Kevin O'Connell decided to go for it despite the way the defense was playing. Dobbs hit Hockenson, but TJ was tackled short. This was a pure panic move from KOC, reminiscent of that Colts game last year where he went for multiple 4th downs deep in his end. 

The obvious mistake cost the Vikings when the Bears cashed in on the field position with a field goal to take the lead. 

KOC made a somewhat more sensible 4th down gamble the next series, but on 4th and 2 in Bears territory, Dobbs pass was picked off for #3 on the night. The Bears got a 55 yard field goal to end the next drive, because god forbid an opposing kicker not hit a 50+ field goal every fucking game.

Would you believe the Vikings next drive ended in ANOTHER interception? This was the worst of the bunch. Dobbs was being sacked, and threw it directly to a Bears lineman, who juggled the ball into the hands of another defender. This pick also occurred fairly deep in Vikings territory, so it looked pretty certain the Bears were at minimum getting a 2 score lead.

That didn't happen though, as Fields got strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter and the Vikings at last had a turnover of their own.

By this point, this game was already a classic of ugly football, but there was still a chance for the Vikings to escape. And they finally turned in a good drive. It wasn't clean. Addison would have had a walk-in touchdown on a deep shot, but the Dobbs pass was horrible and out of bounds. But Dobbs next 3 throws were first downs to Addison and Hockenson, and then a fantastic throw over the middle to TJ for the touchdown. And against all sanity, the Vikings had taken a 10-9 lead with just minutes to go.

Things looked good, and then they looked really good when Josh Metellus laid a fabulous hit on Fields and knocked the ball loose, into the hands of Anthony Barr (welcome back). All it would take was a first down or two to get the hell out of there with the ugliest of ugly wins.

But....season from hell, remember? KOC went full PJ Fleck, even though his offense had just had their best drive of the game. 2 up the middle runs and a nothing screen pass burned off the Bears timeouts, sure, but left them with well over 2 minutes. And Ryan Wright, who has been under the radar terrible this year, had another crappy punt.

I knew in my soul what was about to happen. And it happened. But...the tease. Near midfield quickly, the Bears were then facing a 3rd and 10. But then DJ Moore got so wide open over the middle that even a bust like Fields couldn't possibly miss the throw. 36 yards, deep into Vikings territory. No chance of a missed field goal. I got up and left the moment the pass was completed. I didn't need to see this.

Santos came out. He split the uprights. Aside from an attempted lateral-palooza that was the game.

Horrible loss. The worst of the KOC era. And like all the other losses this year, completely self-inflicted. They have lost 3 home games this year to 4 win teams (Bucs, Chargers, Bears). That Can. Not. Happen.

The 4 picks from Dobbs are the headline, and to be sure the clock has struck midnight on this fun story. But I struggle to blame him entirely when his coach is so clearly doing wrong by him. 

After allowing Dobbs to improv and use his terrific athletic ability to make plays against the Falcons and Saints, KOC has completely reined him in, and is keeping him in the pocket all the time. That's not his game. He isn't Kirk Cousins. Dobbs lacks the quick decision making and accuracy to run an offense from the pocket (especially when his OL is putrid as it was here). You HAVE to either give him the authority to run or design plays that get him on the move. KOC did none of this. He said after the game that he considered putting Nick Mullens in the game, and he might as well if he isn't going to give Dobbs a chance. What is the motive for this?

The defense had a good game on paper, but it was more the Bears being bad. And once again Brian Flores went into a shell at the end, and paid the price. It may be unfair to be mad at a defense that has given up 1 touchdown in 2 weeks, but it is what it is.

This was a terrible loss not just aesthetically, but in the standings. For one, this slammed the door shut on having any chance at catching the Lions. Detroit will easily hold on to the north now. Great job letting those frauds get away with it. 

The Vikings remain in a playoff spot, back down into the 7th seed. Just behind Seattle, just ahead of the Packers, Rams and Saints. They have the tiebreaker on all these teams still, but in 2 games their playoff odds have gone from 80%-ish to basically a toss-up. That comfy position they were in 2 weeks ago is now precarious at best.

In a cursed season from hell, which still has almost a third of the way to go, I'm not sure I have it in me anymore to get my hopes up about what the Vikings could still theoretically do. 

KOC said in the aftermath that they will be evaluating who will be the starting QB. I think that after the bye in Vegas it will be Mullens. I don't know if that's good or bad, but Mullens is probably much better equipped to run the Kirk offense. Justin Jefferson is officially off IR now and should finally be ready to go, which can only help the offense. Out of the bye you face Aidan O'Connell and Jake Browning, so you would think the defense can hold up their end. Yeah, it's not impossible that this team can come back refreshed and sharp after the bye. But I'm done trying to be optimistic when for 3 months it has been almost nothing but negativity and adversity.

The season from hell is just not going to let us have anything.