NFL Week 6 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 19, Chicago Bears 13

The Minnesota Vikings overcame the loss of star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in the first game he’s missed with injury in his record-breaking young career, holding onto a 19-13 lead late in the game to improve to 2-4.

The two NFC North teams are more likely jockeying for draft position than playoff seeding, but Minnesota’s defense, with coordinator Brian Flores dialing up blitz after blitz, turned Chicago over a few times to seal the deal.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields left in the second half with a hand injury and was ruled out fairly quickly, which is not always the best sign. He was replaced by undrafted free agent rookie Tyson Bagent, who moved the ball fairly well but ultimately threw an interception down in the red zone to effectively end this game.

Neither team reached the 300-yard mark in total offense.

Offensive spotlight: Tight end T.J. Hockenson was the only Vikings pass-catcher to hit the 50-yard mark. Rookie first-round wideout Jordan Addison hauled in three receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown.

According to PFF's first review of the game film, Minnesota pass-catchers were charged with four drops on the day, and left tackle Christian Darrisaw allowed zero pressures over 33 pass-blocking snaps.

The Bears hardly moved the football until a few late drives as Minnesota played a bit of prevent defense up 19-6. Darnell Mooney had the explosive play of the day, hauling in a 39-yard reception on a deep pass from Justin Fields and avoiding a few tackles before getting tripped up. D.J. Moore followed up his remarkable eight-reception, 230-yard, three-touchdown outing on Thursday Night Football with five receptions for 51 yards. 

Defensive spotlight: Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores knew exactly how to get after Bears quarterback Justin Fields and stop him from producing as he had in his last two games, sending extra pass-rushers on seemingly every obvious passing down and racking up four sacks plus an interception.

They continued to heat Tyson Bagent up when he entered the game, too, eventually leading to a sack-fumble touchdown from linebacker Jordan Hicks that ended up as the deciding score. 

Chicago’s defense deserves credit for holding Minnesota’s offense to just 220 yards, with Kirk Cousins averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and the Vikings ground game averaging just 2.1 yards per carry. Both free agent linebacker additions T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds made a few nice plays, teaming up on an interception when Edwards hit Kirk Cousins’ throwing arm as he was releasing the football, and Edmunds made a diving catch over the middle to secure the ball. 

Rookie spotlight: Vikings first-round rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison tallied three receptions for 28 yards but hauled in the team’s sole offensive touchdown after running a very nice corner route to the back left of the Chicago end zone between two defenders.

Bears rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott was more involved today than he’s been to date, with Chicago trading away Chase Claypool and placing Equanimeous St. Brown on injured reserve. Scott had two receptions for 12 yards and also narrowly missed a big gainer down the left sideline with his feet just out of bounds. Rookie tackle Darnell Wright made several key blocks to spring running back D’Onta Foreman in the run game, as well.

Box Score

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