The Defense
I do want to preface this by saying the Vikings defense was by no means great. They had trouble getting pressure on Chase Daniel even without Kyle Long in the starting lineup.
The secondary was also pretty bad in the first half giving huge cushions to the Bears’ receivers. They also had some chances to make some big plays but whether it was a penalty on the other side of the field, or just not being able to jump on a fumble, the Vikings couldn’t come up with the ball.
After the first half, the Vikings defense buckled down. The offense put them in some pretty tough spots but they only did give up 16 points to the Bears offense. They held Chase Daniel to 195 passing yards and kept he Bears to just 72 yards on the ground. In most weeks that would be more than enough for the Vikings to win especially on the road.
The defense showed a lot of fight and it is very encouraging to see Everson Griffen continue to bring it every single snap. This guy is playing with his tail on fire and if he can keep it up the Vikings defense will provide enough pressure up front to make quarterbacks make mistakes and allow the big turnovers to happen.