THE BRIAN FLORES MASTERPIECE

VIKINGS 9

BEARS 3

You don't usually think of football games being won by coaches, but I think Sunday was one of those times. The Vikings managed their unthinkable 7th straight win at the onetime cursed Soldier Field because Brian Flores put together the kind of masterful work from the sideline that becomes the stuff of legend. 

It was a game played in a dreary rain the whole way, so that surely helped some. Still, this is a Bears team that rolled up an absurd 59 points in Carolina last week.

The Vikings had Carson Wentz at QB again, with Kyler Murray still in concussion protocol. And we were also without Jordan Mason and Jauan Jennings. So you figured we weren't going to pile up the points in those conditions. 

Each team did get a field goal on their opening drive. The rest of the half was muck. Neither team did anything. The Vikings eeked out another field goal. Byron Murphy picked off Caleb Williams. It was 6-3 at the half.

The 2nd half opened with the one Bears drive where they looked in control. It was the one series the Bears got their run game going. But at the brink of a lead, Jalen Redmond delivered the greatest punch since Rocky and popped the ball out of D'Andre Swift's hands just shy of the goal line, and Isaiah Rodgers jumped on the fumble.

The defense had turned the Bears away, but the offense remained useless. Punter Brett Thorson was actually our best weapon for much of the game, managing to flip field position a few times. Wentz was not good, missing quite a few throws and taking some sacks. Kevin O'Connell had a pretty dismal game calling plays, again abandoning the run too often. 

That ineptitude from the offense seemed destined to cost the Vikings the game when the Bears made a few plays and got deep into the redzone. They had a 1st and goal inside the 10, and it felt like a TD here was probably ballgame. But then Williams came up lame on a scramble and was gone from the game. Backup Tyson Bagent threw a couple of incompletions, but the Bears still had a chip shot field goal that would tie the game. 

But Isaiah Rodgers zipped off the edge of the line and blocked the kick, maintaining that small Vikings lead. This was such a Bud Grant game. Messy weather, rough defense, blocked kicks.

Not gonna pretend Williams leaving the game wasn't a good thing for the Vikings, but we did still need to do SOMETHING on offense to finish this off. Wentz had a bad day but picked his best driven for his last one. He hit Jordan Addison on a clutch 3rd down. He hit a big one to TJ Hockenson. And he might have even had a dagger TD to Justin Jefferson if the DB didn't hold to prevent the catch. Add in a big run from Aaron Jones, who had a tough 100-yard game, and the Vikings were in position to clinch things.

But they only wound up with another field goal, and a 6 point lead with a minute left.

The ghosts of past Soldier Field trauma returned when Bagent hit a couple of big throws, and before you knew it, the Bears were nearing the endzone. What a horrible thing it would be to blow this game now, to this QB. We even had a near game ending Rodgers pick and an extra second added to the clock to give Chicago one last play. 

But Bagent's last throw never occurred, as rising superstar Dallas Turner obliterated the poor sap meant to block him and crushed Bagent for a game clinching sack. A perfect exclamation point for a tremendous performance by this defense.

Last week was a fun win. This win shows that the whole season could be great. Rain or no rain, when you can do this to great offenses, you have a chance to win every game. The Vikings need more from the offense, but this division can absolutely be had. 

Game on!