Minnesota Vikings MVPs: Week 10 vs. the Chicago Bears

Defensive MVP – Honorable Mentions

The Vikings offense got a lot of love for what it was able to accomplish in Week 10, but it was the defense that totally shut down the Bears on Monday night. Chicago only had 149 yards of total offense on the day and they only converted two of their 13 attempts on third or fourth down.

Minnesota showcased an excellent tackling performance and defended five passes on the night, intercepting one of them. Between Nick Foles and Tyler Bray, the Bears only completed 52 percent of their passes. Plus, Chicago only averaged 2.4 yards per rushing attempt in the matchup. Not bad at all considering the Bears offense didn’t get into the end zone once.

Here are three players who were great on defense for the Vikings, but not quite the MVP from Week 10.

Anthony Harris – S

The Vikings defense has been re-worked by head coach Mike Zimmer since they had to make so many adjustments due to injuries and players leaving this offseason. Minnesota invested heavily in Anthony Harris to stay with the team and he hasn’t been a letdown. He accumulated five tackles (four solo) while adding a pass defense against Chicago.

Harrison Smith – S

Harrison Smith was everywhere on Monday. Despite not having good tackling numbers, he had two great pass breakups with one being an interception that he returned for eight yards. He primarily dropped back into coverage against the Bears, but he also had one quarterback hit.

Kris Boyd – CB

The cornerback situation for Minnesota has been a bit of a mess this season, but fans have seen the young defensive backs recently step up in a big way. In this game, they showed tight coverage and surefire tackling by Kris Boyd and Jeff Gladney, both of whom had four tackles on the day.