Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations on the Bears-Vikings game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 17 to close out the regular season. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
MINNEAPOLIS — Well, it’s here: The final game of the 2018 NFL regular season. After years of the Chicago Bears being bad led to lengthy and drawn out seasons, this one flew. It’s bittersweet, but luckily the Bears aren’t done yet: The playoffs start next week and Chicago is still playing!
After clinching at least the third seed last Sunday with their win in San Francisco, the Bears had an outside shot at the second seed and first round bye today: They needed to win and the Los Angeles Rams needed to lose, at home, to the 49ers. Given the latter was unlikely to happen, today’s game didn’t mean much for Chicago.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings played for their playoff lives today: They needed a win or a Philadelphia loss or tie to clinch their spot in the playoffs (which would be at least the sixth seed and a date with the Bears (again) in the Wild Card round at Soldier Field next weekend). If Minnesota won and Seattle lost to Arizona (unlikely), then the Vikings would clinch the fifth seed and the Seahawks would drop to the sixth seed. If MIN lost and PHI won, the Chicago would host the Eagles next weekend.
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Matt Nagy said all week that the Bears would play to win today’s game unless they saw that LA was blowing out SF at halftime. But given the Vikings’ desperation and the Bears’ real lack of urgency today, plus with the game being in Minneapolis, I expected the Vikings to win and clinch their postseason spot:
The Vikings are desperate and at home. The Bears make them sweat in the first half until they realize LA is crushing San Francisco, so they sit their starters. At least Trubisky gets valuable road experience in a hostile environment.
Prediction: Vikings 23, Bears 10. https://t.co/nWKMPSjwZF
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 28, 2018
In the end, the Bears absolutely dismantled the Vikings from start to finish, never letting Kirk Cousins & Co. get into any sort of rhythm and picking them apart on the offensive side of the ball. With the Philadelphia Eagles’ win in Washington, the Vikings are eliminated and Chicago will host Philly next weekend at Soldier Field in the Wild Card round. And the Bears finish 12-4. There are no words to accurately describe what the Bears accomplished this season. Just amazing.
I shared my live in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from today’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium below:
PRE-GAME
1. I thought that the Bears should prepare to play and win today no matter what because it keeps their mental preparation rhythm and routine going. They’ve won eight of their last nine games (with the slip-up being an overtime clunker at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants), so it’s clear that they’ve been on a roll. How do you get these players to do anything differently when playing a divisional opponent? And how do you ask them to get back into gear the following week against (likely) the same opponent?
Plus, the Bears have not played *that* well on the road this year, though they were 4-3 coming in to today with all three losses being heartbreakers (two in OT). So I want to see them come out and show that they can continue to play fierce on defense and steady on offense in a crazy environment away from Soldier Field. And most importantly, this will be excellent experience for Mitch Trubisky: He gets an opportunity to play in a hostile environment and playoff atmosphere a week early with no real consequences. How will he handle the noise and juice the Vikings’ home crowd will no doubt give their defenders? How will he handle communication with his line and weapons? How will he play knowing that Nagy won’t put a single creative thing on tape for next week’s opponent to see — effectively rendering today’s game as a “Pure Mitch Show”. I want to see him come out and be in command of the offense, move the ball and show that he can continue to make the strides he has the last two weeks.
2. It’ll be really interesting to see how Matt Nagy handles the game after halftime. If the Rams are blowing out the Niners, I wouldn’t be THAT surprised if he sat the starters. But relate the following scenarios with the information I listed above on playoff scenarios: If Philly is crushing Washington, as expected, then what happens? If he keeps his starters playing, he has a chance to knock Minnesota out and play Philadelphia. What happens if the Seahawks are losing to the Cardinals? If he rests his starters and the Vikings pull away, they face Seattle next weekend. While I certainly understand and agree that you have to play/beat the best to be the best, putting yourself in what you might find advantageous matchups is the name of the game, and that includes what team you face. I’ll be fascinated to see how the team manages this.
3. Like I also said above, this is the last game of the regular season. It flew by and it’s bittersweet because the weekly routine of having a ton of football to watch will end for the next nine months. Enjoy today’s game, no matter what happens. And then let’s get ready for the playoffs.
FIRST HALF
4. Excellent start. The Bears won the toss and deferred. The defense set the tone by forcing a three-and-out from the Vikings. What’s interesting is that MIN passed on all three plays — wasn’t Kevin Stefanski supposed to commit to the run? I understand tendency breakers, but the Bears were ready for it. On the Bears’ first drive following the punt, the Bears marched right down the field, thanks to five strong runs (three BIG ones from Jordan Howard and two from Anthony Miller). Trubisky hit Trey Burton on a nice field-vision pass play on a critical third down in the red zone too. Howard galloped in from five yards out to put Chicago up 7-0. Huge start. Only issue was Miller getting injured on his second run — it seemed like his shoulder, the same one that gave him problems with dislocations earlier this year, acted up again. That would be a big loss if it’s a serious injury.
The Vikings have had problems stopping Jordan Howard for three years. Why would you ever deviate from giving him the football? What an incredible opening drive. What a start.
Just hope Anthony Miller is okay.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 30, 2018
5. Don’t tell the Bears’ defense that this game is meaningless. They have absolutely throttled Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ offense. The Vikings haven’t really come close to sniffing a first down. They have two yards of total offense midway through the second quarter. Two total yards of offense. This is amazing.
This is why the Bears have a chance to win the Super Bowl even with the road to the Big Game going through New Orleans — defense absolutely travels. They look fast and sharp so far at U.S. Bank Stadium. Speed is even faster on turf over grass.
6. As I mentioned above — this game was going to be huge for Mitch Trubisky. He’s made some really nice plays today, including a GORGEOUS throw down the left sideline to Taylor Gabriel that set up the Bears’ second touchdown, a one-yard plunge from Jordan Howard. He’s had some trouble getting the offense lined up and snapped quickly, with the play clock draining a couple times so far in the first half. He needs to be more aware, but this is part of the experience he’s getting playing in a game/atmosphere/stadium like this. Huge for him.
Meanwhile, Cody Parkey missed the second extra point, clanging it on the right upright. The Bears HAVE to get this straightened out.
7. Also, as things stand right now, the Rams are dominating the 49ers, forcing four turnovers in the first half so far and they are up 21-3 in the first half. The Eagles are marginally up over Washington so far. Let’s see how Nagy proceeds going forward: Bears go into halftime up 13-3.
If the Bears do end up sitting their starters in the second half, let's look at what happened at U.S. Bank Stadium after two quarters in a game the Vikings NEEDED:
Bears 13, Vikings 3
Trubisky: 11/14, 108 yards, two gorgeous throws
Cousins: 9/14, 44 yards, lots of in-fighting pic.twitter.com/DE9rQJWvIn— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 30, 2018
SECOND HALF
8. The Bears decided to field their starters for the second half. I like the call. They had a very good drive going, with the OL having their way with MIN’s front in the running game and the Bears moving the ball efficiently down the field. But an absolutely phantom holding call on Kevin White negated a big first down on a screen to Jordan Howard, and the Bears were forced to punt. An opportunity for more points coming out of halftime was ruined due to a BRUTAL call.
On the ensuing drive, the referees TWICE handed free first downs to the Vikings on some extremely ticky-tack calls. Clete Blakeman and his crew are well respected throughout the NFL, but today has been a disastrous showing for them. Vikings scored a touchdown after a lengthy drive and some fourth down drama to cut the lead to 13-10.
9. It seems Trubisky will take the field again after that Vikings’ touchdown, even though the Rams are up 38-10 on San Francisco. I like this decision — here’s Trubisky’s chance, under some pressure, to try to respond on the road to an opposition’s touchdown to give them some life. The crowd will be louder and MIN’s defense will be flying around a bit faster knowing they have life. How does he respond?
10. Turns out, absolutely brilliantly. Trubisky was absolutely masterful on this drive, capping a lengthy, life-draining drive with a touchdown handoff to Tarik Cohen. Trubisky made some excellent throws and decisions on third down to complete the drive. The killer instinct that he’s shown the last three weeks has been something to admire in the growing, second-year quarterback. Just phenomenal.
The Bears then went for two, and they converted after Trubisky faked a handoff to *checks notes* Prince Amukamara, and fired a conversion pass to *checks notes* Nick Kwiatkoski. Yes, you read all of that correctly. Bears up 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Insane.
Mitch Trubisky has drained the life out of opponent after opponent in crunch time this year. What he's done the last three weeks in the fourth quarter is sensational growth.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 30, 2018
11. The Bears sat Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks on the ensuing MIN drive, and forced a turnover on downs. Adrian Amos with a MASSIVE hit on fourth down jarred the ball loose near the line to gain. Bears take over on the Vikings’ 33 yard line with a chance to completely put this away and put the nail in the coffin of the 2018 Vikings. What a masterful job by Matt Nagy.
The Bears have killed the Vikings in their own building.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 30, 2018
12. Philadelphia is up big on Washington, so as it currently stands, the Bears would host the Eagles at Soldier Field next weekend. And Nick Foles just left that game due to injury, and Nate Sudfeld is their QB3. He’s better than the average third string QB, but the Bears have to be excited to have a chance at a young QB on the road in a playoff game against the best defense in the league.
Then again, Adam Schefter posted this:
Eagles believe QB Nick Foles has bruised ribs and they think he’s OK, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2018
13. The Bears’ backups on the defensive line are hammering Kirk Cousins now. This is insane.
14. Seems like a good time to bring out this gem again:
Your quarterback is Kirk Cousins. https://t.co/vFiaCVSOam
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 17, 2018
15. Next weekend, the Bears will host their first playoff game in eight years as they welcome the Eagles to Soldier Field. I’m not going to try to analyze that game yet. All I know is that it will be fun. Farewell, this wonderful 2018 regular season.
And welcome back to Chicago, playoff football!
