For those of you that watched the Bears take on the Vikings on Sunday Night Football, you can attest to the fact that this game was never much of a contest. In terms of dominating a game from start to finish, it doesn’t get much better than the way the Bears manhandled the Vikings.
The big story from Chicago’s end is that they bounced back from last week’s loss very well. More impressively, Jay Cutler had time in the pocket. The Bears kept more people in pass protection than they did last week against the Lions, and the affect was instantly noticeable.
Not only was Cutler able to stand in the pocket safely, he was able to hit his receivers to great effect. He completed about two-thirds of his passes for over 250 yards, and he actually had some run support. Matt Forte finished the night with 87 yards, and he was able to keep any additional pressure that would have been sent towards Cutler at bay.
The Bears got a big contribution from Devin Hester as well. He ended the game with 5 receptions for 91 yards, and oh-by-the-way, he also took a kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.
The Bears defense also showed up, and they were ready to play. Essentially, their play resulted in the benching of Donovan McNabb. More on that in a minute. The Bears’ biggest defensive success wasn’t against the pass. McNabb actually played pretty well throwing for 19 of 24 for 177 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. I just want that to be clear. McNabb played well, just not not well enough apparently. Getting back to my point, the Bears’ biggest success was in stuffing the Vikings’ running game all night long. Granted, the Vikings were forced into throwing far more than they would have liked due to the Bears’ offensive success. Regardless, we may have witnessed the final switch to Ponder.
Moving on from the Bears’ success in dominating the game to the Vikings’ quarterback move, nobody is surprised to see the move. It was always a matter of time as to when Ponder was given the reigns. It’s unclear if he has been given command of the Vikings’ offense permanently or just to close out this game, but we can say that Ponder looked solid. He threw for 9 of 17 for 99 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. Considering that he faced considerable pressure from the Bears and limited time with the first team offense throughout the week in practice, I’d say he did a pretty good job.
Now the Bears are back to 3-3, and they’re heading south to Tampa Bay to play the Buccaneers next week. It’s a big game because it could very possibly end up being a tie-breaker for a wild-card birth in the playoffs. The Vikings are now 1-5, and they’re hosting the Green Bay Packers next weekend in what could be another blow-out. Their overall direction may have changed, however. They’re likely moving into what we like to call the “quarterback controversy” period. The big deal with that is this. Once the rookie gets the start, there’s no going back. The Jaguars made the move earlier in the season, and some thought the 49ers would be making the move sometime this season, but Alex Smith has done more than enough to secure his job. It would appear that the Vikings may follow the Jaguars’ lead and look towards next season and the future by making the move now.
