Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears Match Player Stats On Nov 01, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Nov 1, 2015

CHICAGO -- Teddy Bridgewater picked up his game in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Vikings picked up a 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Blair Walsh pushed through a 36-yard field goal for the deciding score as time expired.

Minnesota's quarterback completed 10 passes in the first three quarters but a pair of big plays in the final two minutes are the throws that counted for the Vikings.

Charles Johnson caught a 35-yard jump ball from Bridgewater over Bears safety Antrel Rolle to get the Vikings to the 27 with 25 seconds left.

Bridgewater, who finished the game 17 of 30 for 187 yards, connected with receiver Stefon Diggs on a third-down curl route and the speedy rookie spun away from cornerback Sherrick McManus to sprint inside the left pylon, squeezing past safety Adrian Amos for the 40-yard score tying the game at 20.

Just 47 seconds later, the Vikings got the ball back after a Bears' three and out aided by rookie running back Jeremy Langford's dropped pass.

The Bears had jumped ahead 20-13 on a dramatic score with 4:55 to play. Quarterback Jay Cutler took a shotgun snap on second-and-goal at the 4 and rambled right into open pastures with Vikings safety Harrison Smith closing for a collision right at the goal line. The wreckage resulted in Cutler landing in the end zone to cap a drive lasting more than eight minutes.

Smith's third-quarter collision with Forte, hit squarely on the knees on a textbook open-field tackle, sent the Bears' Pro Bowl running back to the locker room for the rest of the game.

Walsh made a 48-yard field goal to tie the game 13-all early in the fourth quarter.

Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller helped Chicago salvage the first half.

Trailing 10-3, the Bears flipped the field on Fuller's nifty interception, stepping in front of Diggs to set the Bears up with a first down at Minnesota's 34 with 1:01 left in the second quarter.

Cutler hit wide receiver Alshon Jeffery with a 13-yard gain in front of safety Harrison Smith and on the next play dropped a perfect pass to Jeffery -- who accelerated past Smith on a stop-and-go route -- in the back-right corner of the endzone for a 21-yard touchdown, knotting the game at 10. Before those connections, the Bears had only 69 total yards in the first half.

Vikings cornerback Marcus Sherels got Minnesota on the board when he coasted down the sideline for a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown with 3:37 left in the first quarter, the third special teams score for Bears' opponents this season. Minnesota tacked on a 43-yard Walsh field goal with 9:05 on the clock in the second.

NOTES: Line judge Ron Marinucci was helped off the field in the fourth quarter after staggering briefly and falling to the turf in the fourth quarter. ... Bears WR Eddie Royal left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return. ... OL Matt Slauson made his first career start at center for the Bears with rookie Hroniss Grassu inaction. LT Jermon Bushrod was also inactive. Charles Leno started alongside LG Vladimir Ducasse, who shifted from right guard to take Slauson's spot. ... Vikings DT Sharrif Floyd was inactive and replaced in the starting lineup by Tom Johnson. ... Vikings RT T.J. Clemmings suffered a stinger on the final series of the third quarter.