CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO/AP) — David Montgomery burst through a big hole in the defense and carried most of Minnesota's secondary with him across the goal line. That 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, his second score of the game, put Chicago ahead again by double digits.
Every time the Vikings made a push, this once-flailing Bears offense had an answer.
Montgomery rushed 32 times for a career-high 146 yards as Chicago trampled Minnesota's depleted defense and hung on for a 33-27 victory on Sunday to stay in the hunt for the expanded playoffs.
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“It’s been fun, man, being able to go out there and just let it loose,” said Montgomery, the second-year runner and catalyst for a revived group that has averaged 33 points over the last three games.
“He’s really, really hard to bring down with one guy. He runs with just extreme passion. The guys love that, and we’re feeding off of him,” coach Matt Nagy said.
The Bears (7-7), who entered the afternoon one game behind Arizona for the new third wild-card spot in the NFC, never trailed in winning at Minnesota for a third straight year.
“There’s really good camaraderie right now, just an intensity and a focus that I like to see, and we’re in a good spot. We’ve just got to keep it going,” quarterback Mitch Trubisky said.
Nagy improved to 5-1 against the Vikings (6-8), whose postseason chances all but vanished.
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“The last time we played them they didn’t score a touchdown on us defensively,” coach Mike Zimmer said, “and this week we couldn’t slow them down.”
Chicago punted only once, on the opening possession. The only setback after that? Cameron Dantzler intercepted Trubisky’s third-and-goal pass into a crowd in the end zone with 2:57 left and a 30-27 lead, finally giving the Vikings the break they needed.
But the Bears, who were plenty vulnerable on defense themselves, delivered their second fourth-and-1 stop in Minnesota territory to get the ball right back for a field goal.
Dalvin Cook rushed for 132 yards and a score, but he was stuffed on third-and-1. The Vikings called a bootleg on the next play, but the Bears swarmed the edge and forced Kirk Cousins to scramble and throw errantly off his back foot. Cairo Santos, who converted all four of his kicks, stretched his streak to 22 straight field goals made.
The Bears then intercepted a last-snap heave by Cousins into the end zone. The Vikings, who finished 3-5 at home this year, had four goal-to-go situations that yielded only two touchdowns.
“There are so many things that you point to that you can go back and agonize over,” said Cousins, who went 24 for 35 for 271 yards and two scores.
Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 104 yards and set the single-season franchise rookie record held by Randy Moss with 73 catches and counting. Cousins connected with tight end Tyler Conklin for his first career touchdown catch, a 20-yard score off a play-action rollout that pulled the Vikings within three points with 8:05 remaining.
But the combination of steady pressure and conservative decisions left the Vikings lacking the quick strikes to catch up on a day when their defense was far from complementary.
WBBM Newsradio's Josh Liss and Pat Cassidy spoke to Bears coach Matt Nagy following their win against the Vikings.
Liss: Matt you win the coin toss, put the offense on the field, I believe for the first time in your Bears coaching career. You wind up punting, but it is your only punt of the game. David Montgomery sort of takes it from there with the offense. How did you like seeing them put up 33 points?
"Yeah, that was awesome. I thought for the offense to come out right away and we had that three and out, which I think the biggest part of that was we went three and out, but then our defense came back and got a three and out. We got field position and then we went down and scored," Nagy said. "The mentality there was good from both sides, but David just ran his tail off. The offensive line blocked really well, the tight ends, the wide receivers down field. We were just clicking in all facets on offense and the defense made big plays at opportunistic times."
Cassidy: Cairo Santos made 22 straight field goals. He is the best thing for the Bears since Robbie Gould.
"Yeah you know what, he is really kicking the ball well right now," Nagy said. "There's a ton of trust we all have now with him. As you saw yesterday there was some situational football where the one third down we called a quarterback run...we liked the play and the design of it, but they made a better play on defense - all that said, we still made the field goal and those points there are important and we just have a lot of trust there with Cairo and where he is kicking it, how he is kicking it, he's in a good place right now."
Liss: Santos coming up big on an accurate season, maybe the most accurate Bears kicking season ever. That fourth field goal after a double digit lead shrinks to three in the fourth quarter. You needed every one of those 199 rushing yards. David Montgomery, you mentioned him, complementing him - 146 on 32 carries two touchdowns. Matt, at what point does it make sense whether it is game planning leading up during the week or while the game is evolving, it seems like you went off script and handed the ball off way more than usual? How did that all come together, and with Bill Lazor still calling plays right?
"Well I would just say this, here's the thing, with any game that you get into when you are able to, with first and second downs, get a nice chunk whether it is six, seven yards and you keep them kind of guessing with some of the jet sweep motions that we have, it keeps them off balance, those linebackers have to see sideline to sideline, and our offensive line, we are creating gaps and then David runs really hard and it's hard for one person to bring him down, so he did a really good job there and I just think in games like this, when you are turning yards, I mean we stayed out of a lot of third downs. We said if we are going to win the third down battle, we will have a great chance to win and we were 6 to 12, and a lot of that started with the run game," Nagy said.
Liss: These are compliments drifting your play callers way, I suppose it has been a nice sort of rhythm you have gotten into with Bill at the call.
"Yeah it has been great," Nagy said. "You can see really the last three and a half games right now, we are in a good place offensively and when you score 30 points you are always going to have a good chance to win, and our defense all year long has been playing really well, and this game here again, that's a good offense that we faced yesterday with a good quarterback, a great running game, wide receivers that are really coming on, and so I am just proud of our guys. They are fighting and we did everything we could to come out with that win. Obviously it came down to that very last play of the game."
Liss: What's the theme of this week? You are still in it. What do you want the players thinking with another must-win approaching?
"Number one, their record means nothing. Like you said, with the Jets. It's the NFL, so what we need to do it get right back to the mentality that we have had the last two weeks and that is a big part in why we are doing what we are doing, is these guys are focused the right way, they are taking practice very seriously, and it all matters to them. They are fighting, but they also understand it does not matter who we play, it matters about how we play. And so when we go out there and we play our game, we feel really good about that, so we have to put in a good week of practice together. Jacksonville is going to do everything they can to beat us. We have to be prepared, we have to coach well, we have to play well, we have to do everything we can to get that win," Nagy said.
You can hear more from Matt Nagy on the Bears Coaches Show on Mondays at 7 p.m.
The Chicago Bears travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars on Sunday at noon for Week 16.