Minnesota Vikings embarrassed by Chicago Bears in week 8

The Minnesota Vikings got embarrassed on Halloween by the Chicago Bears during their week 8 game on Monday Night Football on October 31, 2016.

For week 8 of the 2016 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings went on the road to Chicago to meet up with the 1-6 Bears in an NFC North showdown. The game took place on October 31, 2016, and the Monday Night Football matchup was bound to

The Minnesota Vikings started on offense and struggled to establish the run. Minnesota was able to get some competitions and pick up some first downs until the drive stalled and the Vikings were forced to punt the ball away.

Locked inside their own 10 yard line, the Chicago offense took over. After grinding out some plays, Howard finds a gap and fights through some arm tackles for a massive gain, putting them in the red zone. The Vikings held them out of the end zone, forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal, making the game 0-3 in favor of Chicago.

The next possession by Minnesota resulted in Locke getting a 71 yard punt, the longest of his career, which pinned the Bears deep again. This time, the Bears couldn’t pick up a first down and punted it away and the Vikings got it at midfield.

Minnesota passed three times, all incomplete. Two of them were targeted at wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who just doesn’t seem to be quite on the same page as quarterback Sam Bradford.

The teams traded punts until a shovel pass from Jay Cutler to Jordan Howard picked up some big yardage and put Chicago in field goal range. However, the Vikings defense kept them out of the end zone yet again, and a made field goal gave the Bears a 0-6 lead in the second quarter.

More ineffective offense from the Vikings, but Chicago continued to grind away with their running back Howard. The Bears put together a scoring drive where the young running found pay dirt on the outside, putting the Vikings behind 0-13.

Finally, Minnesota got a drive extended after a Chicago penalty for being on the field and didn’t squander that opportunity. A Thielen catch and an interesting wildcat run from Asiata put the Vikings right on the goal line.

Two run plays and a sack put an end to the Vikings touchdown hopes, and they settled for a field goal with 25 seconds left in the half. Chicago took advantage of the time and their time-outs, getting a chance at a hail mary to end the half. Thankfully, it was batted down by Xavier Rhodes.

The second half started with the Bears getting the ball again. Chicago struck once again, putting together a drive the ends with an Alshon Jeffrey touchdown. With the Vikings in a 17 point hole, the game was already feeling out of hand with Minnesota unable to put together anything offensively.

Next: Vikings vs Bears injury report

From there, the Vikings offensive struggle continued and the Bears started to eat at the game clock. Eventually in the 4th quarter, Minnesota found the end zone. Sam Bradford connected with Stefon Diggs on a 25 yard touchdown pass that narrowed the lead to 10 points with 5:41 to play.

No more scoring after that point, and a dismal performance by the Minnesota Vikings results in a 10-20 loss against a struggling division opponent.