The Vikings nearly sleepwalked their way into an embarrassing loss to the Bears today, but a methodical fourth-quarter drive set up the game-winning score Minnesota needed to escape with a win.
The Vikings couldn’t have started any better: Kirk Cousins completed his first 17 passes, Justin Fields could do absolutely nothing, and the fans had barely settled into their seats when the score was 21-3 Vikings.
But then Cousins began to struggle, Fields began to make plays, and the next thing anyone knew, the Bears had a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
Cousins, however, engineered a methodical drive late in the fourth quarter, culminating in Cousins taking it into the end zone himself on a quarterback sneak, then throwing to Justin Jefferson for the two-point conversion, giving the Vikings the 29-22 winning score.
Although Cousins couldn’t sustain that 17-for-17 start, he did have a solid game, completing 32 of 41 passes for 296 yards, with one touchdown, one interception and one sack.
Fields played his best game of the season, completing 15 of 21 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions, two sacks and 47 rushing yards. But on the Bears’ last drive, Fields completed a pass to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had the ball stripped by Cameron Dantzler for the game-ending turnover.
