Escaping Chicago

(by Travis Aune MSU Founder)

In a game that was exciting at times and just plain ugly at other times, the Vikings escaped Chicago with a 20-17 victory over the Bears to move their record to 3-2 on the young season.   The victory came after placekicker Kai Forbath nailed a 26 yard Field Goal with just twelve seconds left on the clock.  Forbath had been shaky on extra points so the field goal was definitely not a sure thing.

First Half

In a word offensively the first half was ugly.  Quarterback Sam Bradford attempted to give it a go and it did not go well.  Bradford made it just before halftime before being relieved by Case Keenum.  Bradford went 5-11 for just 36 yards and took four sacks and a safety as it became obvious he couldn't move.  Despite the ugliness, the Vikings had a 3-2 halftime lead.  The three points came when Everson Griffen got a strip sack that was recovered by Linval Joseph.  That turnover led to a 26 yard Kai Forbath field goal.  The first half was something that all Vikings fans would soon like to forget.

Second Half

In the second half, the Vikings had brought in Case Keenum and brought in Jerick Mckinnon as the feature back replacing Latavius Murray, who had been ineffective.  Keenum went 17-21 for 140 yards and a touchdown.  Most of the yards were on short passes including a thirteen-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph that put the Vikings up 10-2.  The Bears used some trickery to close the gap after a fake punt touchdown made the score 10-9.  Jerick Mckinnon rambled off a 58-yard touchdown to make it 17-9 Vikings.  Mckinnon was excellent as he had sixteen carries for 95 yards.  He also caught six passes for 51 yards so he had 146 yards from scrimmage.  After the Bears tied the game at 17 the Vikings punted into the end zone.  On first down safety Harrison Smith picked off rookie Mitch Trubisky with about two minutes to go and the Vikings ended up pulling off the win.

What does this mean?

The Vikings moved to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in the division.  With Sam Bradford looking likely he is going to miss some more time with the injury, I would expect that Case Keenum gets the start Sunday at noon against the Packers.  I would also expect Jerick Mckinnon to get the majority of the carries going forward.  The game is Sunday at noon at US Bank Stadium.  I would give the game ball to Jerick Mckinnon because 146 yards is not a very common night and he saved the day.