Schmidt’s Week 5 game grades: Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears

Minnesota Vikings defensive grade: A-

The Vikings’ defense was the strong point for the win against the Bears. The defense was put in a tough position for most of the first half as the Bears had great field position throughout the first two quarters. But the Vikings’ defense came up big and shut out the Bears in the first half.

At the end of the first half, the defense was able to help the team get their first points of the game. Everson Griffen was able to get a sack and strip the ball from the Bears’ quarterback. The fumble was recovered by Linval Joseph which gave the Vikings the ball on the Bears 13-yard line.

The second half was tougher for the Vikings, as they had some bad luck and were fooled on a trick-play. The bad luck play came on the only touchdown scored by the Bears offense.

Andrew Sendejo mis-judged the ball as he jumped too soon and was only able to tip the ball which was then caught by the Bears’ tight end.  The score put the Bears within two points.

The Bears would use trickery on the two-point conversion that confused the Vikings’ defense and allowed the Bears to tie the game.

However the Vikings’ defense came up with the play of the game when Harrison Smith was able to pick off the Bears’ quarterback. The interception was with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and it set up the game-winning field goal for the Vikings.

Overall, the Vikings’ defense played another solid game and kept the Vikings in the game when the offense was struggling. The Vikings will rely on their defense for the rest of the season, which may be a good thing. The old saying is that defenses win championships.