Cameron Dantzler saves the day for Vikings with three big plays against the Bears

Cameron Dantzler made three plays on Sunday that saved the Vikings a slew of points and thrust them into first place.

He saw reason to celebrate. His mentor shut him down like a parent flipping on the basement lights at midnight.

In the moments after the Vikings' 29-22 victory over Chicago at U.S. Bank Stadium, Patrick Peterson, the Vikings' senior cornerback, pulled Dantzler off the field and toward the tunnel, away from the bright lights and toward Peterson's movable classroom.

"It was a walkoff," Peterson said. "Like a walkoff home run. So, walk off. Great play, but it was time to go home."

The Vikings were in danger of losing a game after blowing an 18-point lead against the Bears' Paleolithic passing offense. The Vikings led by seven with 2:26 remaining, when the Bears began driving.

With a little more than a minute remaining, former Viking Ihmir Smith-Marsette caught a pass in the left flat, feinted toward the sideline, stiff-armed Dantzler and cut inside.

Dantzler was the Vikings' third-round pick in 2020. He received some acclaim as a rookie. As a sophomore, he will be remembered for letting the Lions complete a last-second touchdown pass while he guarded an empty patch of end zone, the play that might have gotten the people who drafted him fired.

Now Dantzler was pulling himself off the U.S. Bank Stadium turf and spotting his old teammate carrying the ball "loose," he said. He snatched it and ran down the Vikings' sideline for 16 yards as his teammates leapt and screamed.

One of the hallmarks of Vikings history is strange plays.

Jim Marshall ran the wrong way. Drew Pearson pushed off. The 12th man entered the huddle. Eric Guliford materialized. The Minneapolis Miracle was dreamed into existence.

And on Sunday afternoon, a football advancing dangerously toward the Vikings' end zone … suddenly wasn't.

By becoming a momentary Man of Steal, Dantzler turned a possibly devastating loss into a reason to celebrate, if only momentarily.

"You've got to stay on an even keel," Peterson said.

Maybe Dantzler will get back to even on Monday. On Sunday afternoon, he was all smiles, because of those three big plays.

Play 1: The Bears had scored a touchdown in the third quarter to cut the Vikings' lead to 21-16, and went for two. Quarterback Justin Fields whipped a quick pass to Dante Pettis on a receiver screen. Dantzler bolted past the blocking, grabbed Pettis by the shoulders and slung him down before the goal line. "I kind of knew it was coming because of film study," Dantzler said.

Play 2: Early in the fourth quarter, with the Bears trailing 21-19, Fields wove through the Vikings' defense for an apparent 52-yard touchdown.

As Fields sprinted past, Dantzler, being blocked by Smith-Marsette, twisted and threw his hands up, drawing a 10-yard penalty in the same area he would later steal the ball.

The Bears would settle for a field goal. Dantzler laughed and called it "a flop."

"It was kind of a smart play by me,'' he added.

Play 3: Dantzler stole the ball from Smith-Marsette. "I saw an opportunity," Dantzler said. "I took it."

"I've seen that a lot of times," Vikings receiver Adam Thielen said. "Usually, it's been against us, in practice."

"They work on that all the time in practice," receiver Justin Jefferson said.

"That was one of the coolest plays I've ever seen," nose tackle Harrison Phillips said. "That's a grown-man play right there."

Peterson's method of congratulating Dantzler was to tell him to "do it again."

"Cam has been playing great all year," Peterson said. "He came into this season knowing that he was the starting cornerback. … He knew what he had to work on. Me and him talked endlessly throughout the summer and spring and even during the season, because I want the best of him.

"He has all the intangibles to be a top-notch cornerback in this league."

When you play cornerback, there's nothing more tangible than the feeling of cowhide, and the sound of grown men screaming your name.