Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings were 6-6 and had control of the final wild-card spot in the NFC after starting 1-5. However, two losses later, the Vikings are on the outside looking in.
On Sunday, the Vikings fell to the Bears at home 33-27, and at 6-8, making the playoffs will be an uphill battle for Minnesota as they fall two games behind the seventh-seeded Cardinals for the final wild-card spot in the NFC with two games to play.
“It’s certainly not where we wanted to be,’ Vikings QB Kirk Cousins said after the game. “You look back, and you think about some really tough losses, one play here or there throughout the season, that you know you’re so close. That’s why, when you prepare all week, when you’re in the game, you feel that intention and intensity on every snap because you know that it really is one snap that can make the difference in a win or a loss and going to the playoffs or not going to the playoffs.
“Every snap then requires so much focus, and you need to cover your bases Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so you’re ready to go. This league, it’s just the way it is. Every game is back-and-forth, and then it tests you, and this season is just another reminder of that.”
These two teams met in Week 10, and in that game, Minnesota’s defense held QB Nick Foles and Chicago to 6 points(scored TD on KO return) and 149 total yards in the Vikings’ 19-13 victory. On Sunday, QB Mitchell Trubisky and Chicago scored 33 points and had 397 total yards, which disappointed Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer.
“We didn’t play very well defensively today,” he said. “Last time we played [the Bears], they didn’t score a touchdown on us defensively, and this week we couldn’t slow them down. We didn’t do a good job on the bootlegs, didn’t do a good job in the run game, so that was really disappointing.”
At this point, Minnesota will have a difficult time making the playoffs. According to ESPN.COM, the team has a 4% chance of making the playoffs, so barring a miracle, Minnesota’s season is pretty much done and will end in disappointment. Now, they play for pride.
Notes:
After missing three field goals and an extra point last Sunday, Vikings K Dan Bailey went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and made all three of his point after touchdown attempts vs. Chicago.
With 132 rushing yards against Chicago, RB Dalvin Cook became the third Viking in team history to rush for over 1,400 yards in a season and passed Adrian Peterson’s 2009 season total (1,383) to move into fifth place in franchise history with 1,484 rushing yards. Peterson (2008, 2012, 2015) and Robert Smith (2000) are the only other Vikings to tally 1,400 rushing yards or more in a season.
Jefferson continues to shine:
WR Justin Jefferson set a franchise rookie record with 73 receptions, breaking the previous record of 69 set by Moss in 1998. With 1,182 receiving yards in 2020, Jefferson ranks seventh overall in NFL history among rookie receivers, passing Harlon Hill (1,124 in 1954), Bill Brooks (1,131 in 1986), Terry Glenn (1,132 in 1996), and Michael Thomas (1,137 in 2016). Jefferson’s 1,182 receiving yards also passed Hill (1,124 in 1954) for the fifth-most receiving yards by a rookie through 14 games. Jefferson became the fifth player in NFL history to record six 100-yard receiving games as a rookie, joining Billy Howton (six in 1952), Hill (seven in 1954), Odell Beckham Jr. (seven in 2014), and Bill Groman (nine in 1960).
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