Minnesota Vikings 19, Chicago Bears 13: Another ugly win for Minnesota

But that’s better than an ugly loss

On Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, the Minnesota Vikings almost found a new and creative way to lose to their division rivals, but managed to hold on despite themselves.

Thanks to a defense that generated three turnovers, two of which led directly to Minnesota touchdowns, the Vikings held on to take down the Chicago Bears in Week 6 NFL action by a final score of 19-13.

Minnesota got on the board first in this one, courtesy of a 53-yard field goal from Greg Joseph midway through the first quarter to make the score 3-0. The Bears then leveled things at 3-3 early in the second quarter, courtesy of a 22-yard field goal from Cairo Santos.

The Vikings got another long field goal from Joseph to take the lead back, as he drilled a 51-yarder to make it a 6-3 game midway through the second quarter. Chicago then tied it up with a long field goal from Santos, as he matched Joseph’s 53-yarder with one of his own to knot things back up at 6-6.

Minnesota’s offense had one of their standard awful turnovers at the end of the first half, as Kirk Cousins was hit as he threw and was intercepted by Chicago’s Tremaine Edmunds. But just a few plays later, the Vikings got a turnover of their own as Danielle Hunter caused a Justin Fields pass to flutter into the hands of Jordan Hicks for the Vikings’ second interception of the season.

The Vikings turned their turnover into the game’s first touchdown, as Kirk Cousins found rookie Jordan Addison in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. After that, Greg Joseph’s extra point was deflected and blocked to leave the Minnesota lead at 12-6 going into halftime.

The Vikings’ defense then took matters into their own hands at the expense of rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent, who came into the game in relief of Justin Fields following Fields being injured on a sack by Danielle Hunter. Bagent was strip-sacked by Josh Metellus, with Jordan Hicks jumping on the loose ball and rumbling 46 yards for the defensive touchdown to give the Vikings a 19-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Bears, led by Bagent, got things together and marched 77 yards down the field to cut the deficit to six on a one-yard sneak by the undrafted rookie quarterback to make it 19-13 with just under eight minutes remaining in the contest. The Vikings’ offense then proceeded to go three-and-out again and the Bears looked like they might have been pushing for the lead, but Bagent’s deep pass intended for D.J. Moore was intercepted by Byron Murphy to end the threat.

After that, the Vikings managed a first down to run out the clock and escape Soldier Field with a needed, if ugly, victory.

Minnesota will have a little more time off before their next one, as they’re slated to face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7 on Monday Night Football.

The Minnesota Vikings move their record to 2-4 on the 2023 NFL season, holding on to defeat the Chicago Bears by a final score of 19-13 for their fourth straight win at Soldier Field. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!