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Patrick Norton Avatar
Chicago Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright (26) celebrates an interception with teammates during the second quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
MINNEAPOLIS — It wasn’t the prettiest game by any means. But when push came to shove, the Bears had just enough late-game magic to pull it off again.
Caleb Williams was just 16-for-32 passing with 193 yards. For the third time this season, Williams did not have a passing touchdown.
The Vikings struck first with a field goal in the first quarter and became the first team to keep the Bears off the scoreboard for the first 15 minutes.
The Bears scored the next 16 points. Kyle Monangai scored on a one-yard rush to cap off a 15-play, 74-yard drive with 4:55 left in the first half.
The momentum flipped when Caleb Williams was sacked on two of the first three plays of the fourth quarter. Vikings returner Myles Price then returned Tory Taylor’s punt to the Bears’ 24. Two carries for running back Jordan Mason later, the Vikings cut the deficit to six.
On the ensuing drive, the Bears drove into Vikings territory but stalled at the MIN 27. Bears kicker Cairo Santos then leaked his fourth field goal attempt wide left.
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The teams swapped punts before the Bears gave the Vikings the ball back with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter.
Ten plays and 2:24 later, Vikings J.J. McCarthy hit Jordan Addison in the end zone for the Vikings’ first touchdown with 50 seconds left.
Then Devin Duvernay returned the following kickoff to the Vikings’ 40. Game on.
Cairo Santos’ 48-yard attempt for the win? Good.
Patrick Norton
Wow. It wasn’t Caleb Williams pulling off the late-game heroics, but the Bears still found another way to win. Credit to Richard Hightower’s special teams unit. It wasn’t perfect, but they got the job done when they needed it most.
Suddenly, the Bears are 7-3 with a chance to sit alone atop the NFC North depending on the Lions-Eagles game tonight. Had to have it and they got it.
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Mark Carman
Winning ugly is oh so nice. Cairo Santos had the pressure of the season on his shoulders after the Bears did their best to give it away. Defense did its part. So did JJ McCarthy. The run game was clutch, too. 7-3.
Adam Hoge
Survive and advance. Or something. The Bears tried really hard to give away that game and still have plenty to fix, but at this point we can call them this year’s one-score darlings. They keep finding ways to pull out the wins at the end.
That was technically Caleb Williams’ fifth game-winning drive of the season, even though he didn’t throw a pass to set up the field goal. Credit to Cairo Santos, who made the 48-yard field goal despite the laces not getting fully around before the kick.
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