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Opportunistic Bears lead Vikings at half
2007-12-17
Brian Urlacher intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble and the battered Bears defense looked like the playmaking unit of old to help Chicago take a 13-6 lead over the Minnesota Vikings at halftime on Monday night. Nathan Vasher also intercepted an ill-advised pass from Tarvaris Jackson in the final minute of the half, returning it 34 yards to the Vikings 12 to set up Jason McKie's 1-yard scoring run with 30 seconds to play. It was the kind of mistake -- deep down the middle of the field while he was under pressure -- that Jackson had not made during an impressive four-game stretch that pushed the Vikings back into the playoff picture. Under the bright lights of prime time, Jackson and the Vikings offense looked like the error-prone plodding unit of old in the first half. They turned the ball over three times and put their aggressive defense in bad positions throughout the first half. In what has been a tough season for the once-proud Bears defense, Urlacher and Co. came to play against their NFC North rivals. They held the powerful Vikings running game to just 50 yards in the first half, including 22 on eight carries by star rookie Adrian Peterson. The stingy performance made up for some monumental struggles by the Bears offense with Kyle Orton at the helm. Making his first start in two years, Orton was 13-for-21 for 95 yards and didn't lead the offense to a first down for the first 21:30. The Vikings moved the ball with a little more success, but turnovers and dropped passes kept them from cashing in. On their first possession, Vikings receiver Robert Ferguson had a quick slant pass from Jackson bounce off his chest and into the arms of Urlacher, who returned the interception 12 yards to give the Bears the ball on the Minnesota 14. Then the Bears offensive line struggled with an amped-up Dome crowd, committing two false start penalties to derail the drive and force them to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. Peterson fumbled a handoff from Jackson deep in Chicago territory later in the first quarter, and Urlacher pounced on the ball to squelch the drive. The Bears committed seven penalties in the first 30 minutes to allow the Vikings to hang around, including an illegal substitution penalty on fourth-and-1 at the Minnesota 25 that forced coach Lovie Smith to send Gould out for another field goal. The Vikings were just as inept on offense, but took advantage of a very questionable personal foul penalty to move in position to close the gap. After McKie's run made the score 13-3, Jackson took off on a scramble with the clock winding down and headed up the Vikings sideline. He stepped out of bounds near midfield when he was hit by a Bears defender, drawing the penalty. Another quick pass to Sidney Rice set up a 48-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell to put them within a touchdown at 13-6. Vikings safety Dwight Smith started the game despite being cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession earlier this week. Coach Brad Childress has earned the reputation as a no-nonsense disciplinarian since taking over the team before last season, partly because he has punished Smith on three separate occasions for off-the-field infractions. Yet with Tank Williams inactive with a knee injury and Mike Doss slowed by a sore hamstring, Smith played every snap in the first half. The game started with two teams seemingly going in completely different directions. Just three months ago, the Bears were entering the new season as the heavy favorites to again represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They were coming off a loss in the big game against the Indianapolis Colts, and still had a fearsome defense and Devin Hester returning punts and kicks. Hester has been brilliant again this season, but the injury plagued defense has sunk toward the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category, including points allowed (29th), passing defense (26th) and rushing defense (25th). Aside from injuries, Urlacher's unit simply wasn't tackling or pursuing with its usual vigor, problems that were first exposed by the Vikings on Oct. 14, when Adrian Peterson rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-31 victory at Soldier Field. They were much more active in the first half on Monday night, stymieing a Vikings team that entered the game riding a wave of four straight easy victories.
Bears KR Hester signs four-year contract (2008-07-27)Hester, Bears end Saints' season again (2007-12-30)Opportunistic Bears lead Vikings at half (2007-12-17)Grossman starts, hands game to Seahawks (2007-11-18)Favre leads Packers to top of conference (2007-10-01)
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