The Vikings defense came to play again in Chicago, limiting a Bears team that managed 59 points in week 1 to just 3 points on Sunday. In this week’s SKOL from the Sofa, charity lead Reece Field breaks down all the action.
I swear when I get to write SKOL from the Sofa, I only get low-scoring games! Last year, it was the late-season contest against the Giants we should have all purged from our memories! Thankfully this game was more entertaining (despite the box score) and actually meant something.
The Bear minimum
Kyler Murray was never going to play against the Bears, but you have to think that his limited participation in practice may have hindered Wentz’s preparation for Chicago. Combine that with far-from-ideal conditions and you have to be grateful that Wentz was able to do the minimum of what was required from him to get the win.
Wentz avoided taking bad sacks, no fumbles lost (despite an awful shotgun snap from Blake Brandel) and no interceptions thrown (just). He avoided delay of game penalties – the Vikings offense was only penalised for 10 total yards – and was able to do just enough to keep the defense fresh and get Will Reichard into scoring range. Just enough for the win!
Somebody call PETA!
Brian Flores bullied the Bears. His formations bamboozled their O-line and the front seven dominated the Bears’ run game. The secondary’s tackling left a lot to be desired but I’m tempted to let them off given the abysmal playing surface making it harder to tackle in the open field. Thankfully the big boys up front were excellent. There were splash plays from Caleb Banks, Domonique “Big Citrus” Orange and my man of the match, Jalen Redmond.
Redmond made the play of the game, stopping a near-certain touchdown by punching the ball out of D’Andre Swift’s arms to keep the Bears out of the end zone. It wasn’t just that though, adding four more tackles and a pass breakup to his tally. The league needs to stop sleeping on the former Arlington Renegade, who is quickly becoming one of its best interior defensive linemen.
I might owe someone a pint!
I hate to admit it, but Big Deal Rich might have been right about Dallas Turner; he is electric! Don’t worry – Turner not being my MOTM is nothing to do with his inexcusably low PFF grade, I just like my unsung heroes. Turner’s grade is apparently due to a couple of missed tackles on the slippery Caleb Williams… PFF must clearly have forgotten about the two sacks, two tackles for loss, four QB hits and record-setting pace for QB pressures. Maybe Mike Zimmer was right about their grades, and I don’t think Dallas Turner will care about them after his game-sealing sack anyway!
What would you do with $200k?
It’s a lot of money, right?! Especially when you find out you don’t even need to be good at your job to earn it! That’s right, the average NFL referee salary is just over $200k. Perhaps they should invest in some laser eye treatment? The standard of officiating in the Vikings’ opening victories has been appalling. Yes, the Vikings have benefitted, but it’s frustrating to know in a game that close that one more botched call could’ve easily seen the Vikings at 1-1.
Matt Daniels’ redemption arc
Last time the Vikings played the Bears, special teams were mostly to blame for the loss. This time out, they were flawless (with the help of the refs missing a blatant hit out of bounds from Tai Felton).
Will the Thrill went 3/3 kicking, kickoff coverage was solid and Brett Thorson is on his way to becoming the Norse God of Punters. The hammer of Thor averaged just under 50 yards a punt, including a 62-yard bomb from barely outside his own endzone. The only thing more impressive was his holding, which was remarkably controlled in the conditions, especially when you consider his inexperience.
There’s a lot to take away from such a low-scoring game. It was ugly, but it worked! The Vikings are top of the NFC North, and deserve to be there based on the defense alone. Hopefully the Vikings will have K1 back at QB1 next week and the next Sofa writer will have three phases of good Vikings football to talk about.
Do you want to have your say about an upcoming Vikings game? Is something really grinding your gears? You can have your say right here in Skol from the Sofa. Just drop us an email at UKVikingsFanClub@gmail.com or send us a DM on any of our social media channels.