Vikings beat Bears 29-13, get starters some rest and turn attention to the playoffs

CHICAGO — The Vikings arrived at Soldier Field on the final day of the 2022 regular season, playing the Bears on a Sunday in Chicago for the first time since 2019, and conducted the kind of business that typically happens on a weekday.

There was a transactional feel to the 124th game between the Vikings and Bears, from the tepid environment in a half-full stadium to the differing interests carried by two teams on opposite ends of the competitive spectrum.

The Vikings, a week away from their first home playoff game in five years, wanted a win that would keep them in the running for the NFC's No. 2 overall seed with as little stress on their starting lineup as possible. The Bears, with a shot at the top pick in April's draft, wanted to preserve quarterback Justin Fields and exit with minimal risk to a roster that could be a lot better in the future than it is now.

Both teams left with their affairs in order after Sunday's meeting, a 29-13 Vikings win that allowed them to pull most starters at the end of the first half and turn their focus to next Sunday's wild-card playoff game against the Giants. The Vikings finished with 13 or more wins for the third time in team history. Meanwhile, minutes after the game ended and 180 miles down Interstate 65 from Soldier Field, the Texans completed an improbable comeback against the Colts that guaranteed the Bears the first overall pick for the first time since the Truman Administration.

A fast start gave the Vikings some measure of satisfaction after last week's 41-17 loss to the Packers, though it came against a Bears team that came in on a nine-game losing streak and was starting two corners who'd played a combined 41 snaps this season. And while the Vikings pulled starters up by 10 points at halftime, their offense sputtered in the red zone as they twice settled for field-goal attempts — one that Greg Joseph made, another that was taken off the scoreboard because of a penalty while the Vikings were already in the locker room at halftime.

Still, the Vikings' agenda on Sunday was simple: Get a productive start, remove starters from the game, hold onto the lead and go home. They could fly home confident they'd done much of what they wanted.

"Our goal coming into today was, how many times can we stack positive plays together?" coach Kevin O'Connell said. "Outside some of self-inflicted things, the [Dalvin Cook] fumble and the [Nick Mullens] interception, offensively, I thought we stacked good plays. So a lot of things like that, I think, are absolutely something we can build upon, knowing what type of season it is now. Nothing else matters than our organization putting their best foot forward this week with everything we've got: Coaches, players, everybody who supports our team."

The Vikings, who had ruled out safety Harrison Smith because of knee soreness on Saturday, also rested linebacker Brian Asamoah and cornerback Cameron Dantzler with injuries, while keeping out linebacker Za'Darius Smith because of the personal matter that led him to travel separately to the game.

Early on, it looked like the Vikings would be able to make it an easy day for the rest of their starters.

On the Vikings' third offensive play, Kirk Cousins threaded a 66-yard pass as K.J. Osborn ran downfield out of a bunch set with T.J. Hockenson and Justin Jefferson and exploited confusion in the Bears' secondary. The completion, the Vikings' longest of the season, set up a Cousins-to-Adam Thielen touchdown on the next play that made it 6-0 after Joseph missed the extra-point try.

The offense, with Cousins completing 17 of 20 passes for 225 yards in the first half and Mullens throwing for 116 yards in the second, put up 482 yards for the day and punted only once. Whether because of Cook's fumble on their second drive or an inability to finish drives in the first half, they missed an opportunity to get starters out of the game even earlier.

With 5:28 left in the half, they took a delay-of-game penalty on a third down from the Bears' 8, in one more instance of the snap count miscommunication between Cousins and new center Chris Reed that first cropped up in last week's loss to the Packers. Cousins then threw incomplete for Thielen against a seven-man blitz; he called the delay of game his fault, adding he should have thrown to the right side for T.J. Hockenson in a one-on-one matchup when the Bears blitzed. Joseph's kick made it 16-0.

But Tim Boyle — the former Packers and Lions backup the Bears shuffled into the game in place of Nathan Peterman, who started for Fields — found Cole Kmet for first downs on back-to-back plays. Then the Bears ran wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. on an end around with former Vikings fullback Khari Blasingame driving safety Camryn Bynum out of the way to clear space along the Vikings' sideline. Jones kept his feet in bounds on the way to a 42-yard touchdown that made it 16-6 after the Bears missed a two-point conversion attempt.

Cousins hit Osborn for 30 yards on the Vikings' final drive of the first half to put them in position for what might have been a decisive score. But after two short runs forced the Vikings to use their final two timeouts, Cousins threw short on third down for Cook.

"I needed to throw it to the end zone or out of bounds instead of inbounds," Cousins said. "So there were a few plays there where we left some stuff out there."

The Vikings field-goal unit rushed on for a last-second attempt, and Joseph made the kick before time ran out. Both teams went to the locker room thinking the Vikings' lead was 19-6.

But Bears coach Matt Eberflus remained on the field, questioning officials about the field goal. An official threw a flag at the end of the discussion, and referee Brad Allen announced a video review showed the Vikings had 12 men on the field when Hockenson was unable to get off the field before they attempted the kick. O'Connell found out in the locker room the points had been erased.

"We did not handle that situation as cleanly as we wanted to," O'Connell said. "Luckily, we were able to put a touchdown drive together to start the second half."

Mullens was the Vikings quarterback for that drive, which ended with a 1-yard scoring run by Alexander Mattison and a 23-6 lead.

Peterman led the Bears' lone touchdown drive of the second half, hitting Kmet for an 11-yard score. But Boyle, who completed as many passes to Vikings defenders (two) as to his teammates, was picked off by former Chicago cornerback Duke Shelley late in the game. After the play, Shelley ran to the 50-yard line and spiked the ball in the middle of the Bears logo at midfield.

O'Connell gave Shelley, Osborn and former Bears defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga game balls afterward. Players passed along updates on the early games, while waiting for the start of the 49ers-Cardinals game that ultimately guaranteed the Vikings the No. 3 seed. O'Connell and Cousins allowed themselves a moment to reflect on the Vikings' 13 wins.

"Vikings win!" tweeted Osborn, who finished with 117 receiving yards, after the game. "Now let's get to the business."

The business, now, is the task of extending this improbable season as far as it will go.