Bears are not terrible- good win

I am really glad they won. I think my biggest issue is they seemed to let off the gas. Offense was unstoppable and suddenly the inconsistency returned. Defense frustrates the hell out of me. New system, same old shit. When was the last time the Vikings were consistently successful stopping a running QB? The lack of a consistent pass rush is going to catch up with them too.

Anyway a win is a win so I'm smiling. Rest of  the division lost so that is a good thing too.

3/0 in the Norris and 4/1 overall?

I think we all would have jumped at this in August. 

Style points are lacking, nobody is calling them elite, bunch of new schemes and coaches in a league where wins/losses are decided by razor thin margins.

Its pretty amazing and I urge all to just enjoy the journey lol! 

Frustrates me to see Hunter trying to play LB. He’s an edge rusher, let him rush the passer.

@"1VikesFan" said: I am really glad they won. I think my biggest issue is they seemed to let off the gas. Offense was unstoppable and suddenly the inconsistency returned. Defense frustrates the hell out of me. New system, same old shit. When was the last time the Vikings were consistently successful stopping a running QB? The lack of a consistent pass rush is going to catch up with them too.

Anyway a win is a win so I'm smiling. Rest of  the division lost so that is a good thing too.

Soon as the ST's started reading their own press they crapped the bed. 

That last drive by our offense was a thing of beauty. And I agree OP, KOC/Phillips play calling today was pretty stellar. 

@"Riphawkins" said: Frustrates me to see Hunter trying to play LB. He’s an edge rusher, let him rush the passer.

I'm hoping Hunter can come around with just settling into new assignments ; he has the tools.

But Kendricks is not a thumper inside, which is what they really need - and wont get till they acquire one in the future. 

The Vikings are 4-1, atop the NFC North by themselves. They're the first team in NFL history to win in London and return to the U.S. to win the next weekend, and they are 3-0 in the NFC North.None of it was as easy as they'd hoped, or as it appeared it could be in the first half against the Bears on Sunday. But a 29-22 win over Chicago at U.S. Bank Stadium has the Vikings in first place as they figure it all out.
A game that appeared destined for a blowout turned into one that required a fourth-quarter comeback. But the Vikings delivered another one, with Kirk Cousins' quarterback sneak capping a 17-play drive with 2:26 left.
"Our team can handle a lot because our quarterback can handle a lot," head coach Kevin O'Connell said after the game.
By the end of the Vikings' third touchdown drive, Cousins had broken Tommy Kramer's single-game franchise record for consecutive completions, starting the game with 17 straight. Jefferson had hit Cook for 23 yards off a double pass, and the Vikings had built a 21-3 lead.
O'Connell described the offensive performance as "seeing our philosophy come to life."
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-bears-29-22-kirk-cousins-cameron-dantzler-4-1-record/600214345/

No matter how you parse 4-1 and first-place in the NFC North, it remains 4-1 and first-place in the NFC NorthBecause Minnesota’s sports zeitgeist is a glass-half-empty thing, a decent chunk of Vikings Nation likely walked away from Sunday’s 29-22 victory over the Chicago Bears believing their team’s 4-1 start is something of a mirage.
The Vikings might have won three straight games, and sit alone at the top of the NFC North with a 3-0 record, but they’ve been living on the edge against teams already assumed to be their inferiors. While they fairly pounded Green Bay in their season opener, the Vikings needed fourth-quarter rallies against the Bears, Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints.
Certainly, the wary believe, this will all catch up to Minnesota’s snake-bitten NFL franchise.
Dalvin Cook begs to differ.

“We’re not living on the edge. We’re playing ball,” the Vikings tailback said. “Plays are made when they need to be made.”
Cook ran 18 times for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, making, as he noted, plays when they needed to be made. On the Vikings’ game-winning, 17-play drive, Cook ran six times for 23 yards, including for one of the team’s six first downs.
But no matter how you parse 4-1 and first-place in the division, it remains 4-1 and first place in the division. As linebacker and team captain Eric Kendricks said after Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium, “We’ll take it.”
Vikings fans should, too.
“Are we where we want to be as far as how we’re playing?” veteran safety Harrison Smith said. “No, but we’re winning, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. We need to get better in some areas but we’re going to savor these wins; they’re hard to come by.”

Anyone who can, or would, read this remembers the previous two seasons, when Minnesota limped out of the gate and spent the rest of the season fighting itself as much as its opponents. After five games, we can unequivocally say that in their first season under head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings are better than they were last year. Who cares if the team’s they’ve beaten are a combined 8-12? The Vikings lost to previously winless Detroit last Dec. 5.
Beating the teams you should beat is a prerequisite for good football teams, and if you’ve been paying attention to the first five weeks of the NFL season, you know most games are close. As Smith put it, “Stuff happens that you think shouldn’t happen.”
Should the Vikings have smoked Chicago on Sunday? Maybe. They were up 21-3 after two quarters yet trailed 22-21 with 9 minutes, 31 seconds remaining. Then they made plays when they needed them, capping a 17-play , 75-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak by Kirk Cousins, then scoring on a two-point conversion pass to Justin Jefferson.
When the Bears showed they weren’t going to lie down, cornerback Cameron Dantzler stole the ball from former Vikings receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette after a 15-yard reception — and had the presence of mind to slide inbounds so Minnesota could run out the clock by taking knees.
Even as the Bears crawled back into the game and took a lead, one got the sense that Chicago’s shortcomings would ultimately lead to a Bears loss. Not the Vikings’ shortcomings, the Bears’ shortcomings. This is how far the Vikings have come in a handful of games. This is progress.
Minnesota won’t run the table this season, but the Vikings have to be the hard favorite to win the NFC North. That’s a playoff berth and maybe a bye. It’s still out there for the Vikings to take.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say we’re where we want to be. It’s so early in the season,” Kendricks said. “But we’re doing good things. Being 4-1 in the league, it’s (freaking) hard, you know what I mean? Looking back at it, we’ve put a good body of work in.
“We’ve been in a lot of situations we can learn from, but no, we’re not where we want to be. We’ve got to get better; we know that.”
To be able to say this while sitting undefeated against NFC North foes is a luxury, but one the Vikings have paid for. They’ve built some equity here. That should buy, if not outright optimism, a little trust.
“If you can learn when you’re winning, it’s pretty awesome,” Smith said. “It doesn’t happen all the time. I think that kind of shows you how good we can be. We’re just scratching the surface.”
Go ahead, believe him.
https://www.twincities.com/2022/10/09/john-shipley-its-safe-for-vikings-fans-to-feel-good-about-their-team/

Just bask in it, we need to remind ourselves this is a first year HC with new schemes and it's gonna take some time to gel.  Pretty sweet to be 4-1 and 3-0 in the division with our only loss to the NFL's only undefeated team thru 5 weeks...  and it was in their place and we had a number of miscues that could have had it a bit closer.

Kirk hasn't been perfect this season, but I'm pretty impressed with his late game heroics the past couple weeks.  This is a different Kirk than we've seen in the past.  Nice to see the running game be an asset this week too.  I really don't have too many worries about this offense at this point.  Improvement on defense over the course on the season will decide if this team can be an actual contender in the playoffs.

the offense glaringly let off the gas, only to sputter out a referee aided drive in the end ( not unique to our boys,  the league is defined by games defined by umpire intervention this season)  the defense thought it had the game in hand until they didnt and then they over reacted and got exposed.  the special teams were anything but special... but yet once again the better team won.

I am concerned that we keep talking about a learning curve for the play calling,  the player learning a new system.... etc etc etc,  but are we really seeing an improvement from one week to the next?  this bears team has look like ass all season and today was winning in the 4th quarter.  about the only thing I really like today was our running game,  it seemed to find yards more often than not, but even then at times it was pathetic in terms of when to run and what types of runs to call.  seemed like it was 8 yards or no yards on to many plays.  also I am sorry,  I dont see Cook as a 13M guy or whatever his average is,  he is good until contact but seems to go down to easy.  I know he is the best athletic RB we have,  but when was the last time he broke a run or did something overly positive another RB like Mattison couldn't do?

On D.. well our front 7 still are wanting,  our blitz's are very un-inspiring or effective,  and our coverage makes me wonder why we are playing prevent in the first half... 

I dont think we have the team to compete with the upper echelon of the NFL, yet we are 4-1 and leading the NFC North  so WTF do I know?  

I would have liked to see them put away the Bears in the first half, but its hard to ignore the fact that the team has shown resiliency and keeps finding ways to win. I fele it speaks well of the coaching and fame management changes and in a league where so many fames are decided by a scorw, those things end up making a big didference. I do worry that the talent on D is not there, at least for a 3-4, but at the same time the D keeps finding ways to cone up with plays late to seal the game. It is very dofferent than what we are used ro seeing even if they haven’t figured iur how to dominate yet

Like Cook said: 'Plays are being made when they need to be made'. That really sums it up. And that is very un-Vikinglike. Can the team play better? Obviously. Will they? You'd hope that would be the case. Its very easy for hardcore fans to be very nitpicky and a little negative, I do get it. Every play gets scrutinized. There's been a lot of inconsistency. But yet again, didn't we all say that would be the case as they learned new systems on both sides of the ball? Yet here they are, 4-1, and nobody saw it coming. 

I don't know if they can continue to be so clutch in key moments. I'm not exactly sure what kind of team this is. But its been nerve wracking yet fun. And my hope as a Viking's fan is they get incrementally better each week. The offense was on fire in the first half, a juggernaut. The Bears D didn't know which end was up. We'll see what's what moving forward but the wins are huge.

@"Tyr" said: I would have liked to see them put away the Bears in the first half, but its hard to ignore the fact that the team has shown resiliency and keeps finding ways to win. I fele it speaks well of the coaching and fame management changes and in a league where so many fames are decided by a scorw, those things end up making a big didference. I do worry that the talent on D is not there, at least for a 3-4, but at the same time the D keeps finding ways to cone up with plays late to seal the game. It is very dofferent than what we are used ro seeing even if they haven’t figured iur how to dominate yet

For instance, the offense has looked much better since Weeks 1 and 2.  Jefferson has still gone off but it hasn't been at the expense of the rest of the offense.  We've found ways to get Thielen, KJ, and Irv opportunities and it played a big part in Kirk starting off 16 for 16 or whatever it was and the Vikings driving for 3 straight TDs to start.  I don't really have any concerns with the offense at this point.  The running game was a lot better and I would expect that to to continue as the line gels.  It may have felt like we took our foot off the gas but in reality we had a couple drives stall out in Bears territory and we missed some long FGs.  Shit happens.  We still scored 29 points this week...  28 last week...  And 28 the week before that.  If we keep doing that on offense we'll be good.

Defensively... the pass rush needs to get better and we're still a little vulnerable to giving up chunks plays at inopportune times but we have a lot of youth in the secondary.  I will say the Vikings did an excellent job against the Bears running game.  They were the top rushing team in the NFL and we held them to 78 yds on 24 attempts...  3.3 ypc.  I'll take that after we've been giving up well over 100 yards and over 4 yds per rush.

Special teams took a step back this week, but they'd been really good to this point. I think this was a blip.

I guess I just don't expect domination in all phases every week.  Especially when we have a first year HC.  Did anyone even expect us to be a contender this year?  Except Maroon?  :-D
Like this was supposed to be a year where O'Connell cut his teeth and started building this team for the future.  Competitive rebuild is what I kept hearing from the fans and media. It feels like fans are grading our performances like we're the Kansas City Chiefs who've been one of the best teams in the league for awhile now and have an elite young QB.  Not a team with a rookie HC that we all new had some roster flaws going into the season. 

The Bears *are* terrible but we have a long history of giving shitty Bears quarterbacks their moment in the sun.  Yesterday was no different.  Justin Fields will revert to looking like hot garbage up until we return to Chicago in the season finale.

I'm satisfied with a win. In the past Vikings teams would fall prey to these trap games and play down to their competition. They let the Bears back into the game but responded and found a way to win. That is a trend I hope to see continue.
I don't see where the improvement needed to be truly competitive on defense is going to come from. But the team is trending in the right direction.

While I’m satisfied with the win, or at least enjoying it. Why does this team historically let garbage teams with bad or backup QB’s have their best games against them?
It boggles the mind!

@"Riphawkins" said: While I’m satisfied with the win, or at least enjoying it. Why does this team historically let garbage teams with bad or backup QB’s have their best games against them? It boggles the mind!

They are usually close and not pretty. Even in Bud Grants days.  

@"purplefaithful" said:

@"Riphawkins" said: While I’m satisfied with the win, or at least enjoying it. Why does this team historically let garbage teams with bad or backup QB’s have their best games against them? It boggles the mind!

DiVISIONAL games...

They are usually close and not pretty. Even in Bud Grants days.  

True ChuckF but yesterday never should have been close. Most if not all of the Bears points came off a short field. Two missed FG's and the horrendous punt. The Vikes definitely allowed the Bears back in the game. Shouldn't happen. If the Vikes are going to be successful long term this season they need to fix these issues.

I am happy with the win, just not sure winning like this is sustainable.

@"purplefaithful" said: The Vikings are 4-1, atop the NFC North by themselves. They're the first team in NFL history to win in London and return to the U.S. to win the next weekend, and they are 3-0 in the NFC North.

For Vikings, winning ugly beats the alternative — just ask the Packers about thatThe Packers and Vikings played similar games on Sunday, with one notable exception: the Vikings survived an opponent's second-half rally to win while the Packers were done in by one.In one of the more underrated scenes in "Bull Durham" — arguably the best sports movie of all-time, at least in my opinion — Tim Robbins' naive young character Nuke LaLoosh explains to Kevin Costner's crusty older character Crash Davis, "I love winning, man. I (expletive) love winning. You know what I'm saying? It's like, better than losing."
Their minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls, was riding a hot streak after a long stretch of losing.
As Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, the Vikings started off winning pretty, grabbing a 21-3 lead over the Bears.

But Minnesota wound up needing a fourth quarter rally (again) for its third win in a row in a 4-1 start. The Packers played a nearly identical game until the end, losing 27-22 to the Giants in London to fall to 3-2.
We have paid a great deal of attention so far this year to the "how" when it comes to the Vikings. I don't think they've played a great full game yet: one great half against the Packers, one great half against the Bears and three really good fourth quarters. They probably need to find another gear at some point to establish more consistency when they face even better teams with more on the line.
But let's not underrate the "what." They're 4-1. Having a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in your fourth-quarter bag is a very nice thing to reach for when you need it.
Winning hard or ugly is the nature of the NFL — and it certainly beats the alternative of losing in any fashion.
Just ask the Packers.
They led the Giants 17-3 in the first half and 20-10 at the break. New York rallied to lead 27-20 late, but Green Bay had the ball deep in Giants territory late with at least a chance to tie. Instead, third- and fourth-down passes from Aaron Rodgers were batted down and the Packers lost.
Contrast these quotes ...
Vikings safety Harrison Smith: "We're winning games, which is awesome. I do not take that for granted."
Packers corner Jaire Alexander: "I ain't worried, but if we lose next week, then I'll be worried."
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers: "Frankly, I don't like all this conversation about losing next week."
A lot can happen between now and the end of a 17-game season. But I can practically guarantee that "how" the Vikings won games in the first five weeks will fade from consciousness. All that matters in the end is results.
And as Nuke LaLoosh can tell you, winning is better than losing.
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-packers-aaron-rodgers-kirk-cousins-randball/600214509/