Bears Defeat Minnesota and Eliminate Them From the Playoffs, 24-10

The Minnesota Vikings were one of the few Super Bowl contenders before this season started. After failing to play in front of their own fans last year, they were pretty motivated to go all the way this season.

After a bombastic signing of Kirk Cousins, which was an indication of their intentions, the Vikings were in the focus of all media as one of the few teams with a potential to take the title.

Several months later, Vikings’ season ended with a verbal incident between their two superstars, Adam Thielen, and the above-mentioned Kirk Cousins.

Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen trying to get on the same page.

📺: FOX #CHIvsMINhttps://t.co/7xNOzuqTyu

— ESPN (@espn) December 30, 2018

On the other side, the Chicago Bears were nowhere near the playoffs at the beginning of the season. But as the campaign progressed, their head coach Matt Nagy was slowly putting all the pieces together and creating one of the most intimidating defenses in the whole league.

“We’re growing. We’re getting stronger by the week,” Nagy said after the win against the Vikings. “This will be a new challenge for us, but we’re excited. We’ll be ready.”

Chicago missed the home court advantage in the NFC for one win, but that is something which won’t bother them that much, especially after seeing their results in the previous years.

“I’m very proud of this team, it is a big turnaround from last year. Being in this same locker room talking with this guys, it is the whole another different feeling.” Mitch Trubisky said after the game. The young quarterback had his usual game with 163 passing yards, without a TD pass.

Their victory against Minnesota was once again because of an excellent defense, restricting one of the best attacks in the league to only 10 points.

Cousins was limited to only 132 yards, and sacked four times, losing 31 yards. Now, for one title contender that is a bit frustrating.

Also, Minnesota’s running game was nowhere near their real potential. With only 63 rushing yards, the Vikings’ Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray have been restrained like they never did in the past season.

So, in general, Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack and the rest of the boys did their homework very well.

“They knew what the implications were from this game,” Akiem Hicks, who had 1.5 sacks today, said, “and we took it from them.”

But the guy who amazed all last night was Jordan Howard who carried the ball 21 times, collecting 109 yards and two touchdowns, smashing Vikings’ defense into pieces.

FINAL: The @ChicagoBears finish the season 12-4! #DaBears#CHIvsMIN https://t.co/XP7l2aaomW

— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2018

This was the fifth conference win of the season for the Bears who previously won only three games in NFC North during two seasons before this one.

We need to point one thing, and that is that the Bears didn’t play with full strength today, as several of their players like Allen Robinson, Eddie Jackson, and Aaron Lynch, didn’t play at all. Nagy didn’t want to risk losing them for the playoffs, as well as Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel who were removed from the game when things became intense for them.

Instead with Vikings, they will face the reigning Super Bowl champions in the NFC wild-card round game, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nick Foles and the boys shut down Washington Redskins in DC, and smash them with 24-0, which tells us that they woke up just at the right time. These guys are the current title holders, and no matter how they played throughout the season, when the playoff starts, the situation is totally different.

Of course, for the Bears and their superb defense, there isn’t a task which could be impossible to handle.

“Every time we step on the field we want to win,” Trubisky stated after the game, and that clearly reveals the intentions of this Chicago Bears’ team for the upcoming period.