Inside The Vikings

5 things that stood out from Vikings' wild overtime victory over Bears

Minnesota found a way to extend its winning streak to four games.

Nolan O'Hara

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison, center, celebrates his receiving touchdown with Justin Jefferson, left, against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Soldier Field in Chicago on Nov. 24, 2024.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison, center, celebrates his receiving touchdown with Justin Jefferson, left, against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Soldier Field in Chicago on Nov. 24, 2024. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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Well, we can all take a breath. It wasn't always pretty, it certainly wasn't peaceful, but the Minnesota Vikings won their fourth straight game, beating the Chicago Bears 30-27 in overtime Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Where do we even begin with that one? There's a lot to digest, but here are five things that immediately stand out:

Sam Darnold, Vikings come through in OT

The Bears won the toss and had all the momentum after scoring 11 points in the last two minutes of regulation. But the Vikings defense found its form, and Jonathan Greenard came up with a big sack of Caleb Williams for a loss of 12 yards. The Bears had to punt shortly after, giving the Vikings the chance to win it with a field goal. They came through.

Sam Darnold, who briefly exited the game for a couple plays in the fourth quarter, completed four passes of 10-plus yards on a 10-play, 68-yard drive, and John Parker Romo made a 29-yard field goal to lift the Vikings to the victory. Darnold was 6 for 6 in overtime in a clutch performance, finishing his day with 330 passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes.

T.J. Hockenson made a big impact in overtime, too, with his 29-yard grab setting up the field goal. He had far and away his best game since being activated from injured reserve, catching seven passes for 114 yards.

Fourth-quarter collapse

Romo's 26-yard field goal gave the Vikings a 27-16 lead with 1 minute, 56 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. That surely sealed the Vikings' fourth straight victory right? Well, not exactly. Apparently, there was too much time on the clock.

DeAndre Carter, who had muffed a punt earlier in the game that the Vikings recovered, returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to give the Bears great field position. Williams was composed and led the Bears on an eight-play, 40-yard drive that he capped with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen. He then hit DJ Moore for a crucial two-point conversion.

That made it 27-24, and the Bears needed the impossible — an onside kick recovery. Well, turns out it's not so impossible.

They got it, as the ball hit Johnny Mundt before going ten yards and became live.

Williams quickly hit Moore for a 27-yard gain, getting the Bears in field-goal range, and ran up to the line to clock the ball. Cairo Santos booted through a 48-yarder as time expired to knot the game at 27-27 and send it to overtime.

All in all, it was an 11-point swing in the span of 1 minute, 56 seconds.

Welcome back Jordan Addison

Addison hadn't put together a 100-yard receiving game since Dec. 16, 2023. In the first 10 games this season, he had only surpassed 50 receiving yards three times. But it didn't take long for the second-year receiver to make an impact Sunday.

On the Vikings' third drive of the game, Addison made an incredible grab with Bears cornerback Terell Smith all over him, a 45-yard gain to set the Vikings up at the Bears 2-yard line, and Darnold hit him again the next play for a 2-yard score.

The touchdown tied the game at 7-7 in the second quarter.

On the first play of the second half, Darnold found Addison for another big gain, Addison bounced off a Bears defender and took off down the sideline for a 69-yard catch. The Vikings ultimately got a field goal on the drive to go up 17-10.

Addison also had a 13-yard catch on third-and-10 in overtime.

The 69-yarder was a career long for Addison, who finished his day with eight receptions for a career-high 162 yards and the score. It was a welcome back moment of sorts for the young receiver, who put together his best game of the year.

Kevin O'Connell's big challenge

On third-and-4 in the second quarter, Williams appeared to connect with Allen for a 24-yard gain on the left sideline. But O'Connell challenged the play, and officials deemed that Allen had a toe on the line. The Bears went for the field goal on fourth down, but Jerry Tillery blocked Santos' 48-yard attempt, keeping the game tied at 7-7.

Big-play Bears

Williams knew to expect heavy blitzing from Brian Flores' defense, saying before the game it could present opportunities for some big plays. Two chunk plays were how Chicago scored its first touchdown of the game to take a 7-0 lead.

First, Williams found Allen for a 40-yard gain. Then Williams escaped pressure, rolled out and found De'Andre Swift down the sideline for a 30-yard gain. Roschon Johnson capped the seven-play, 79-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Williams was also big in the big moments. He hit Moore for the 10-yard touchdown pass that got the Bears within 24-16. He had the key 27-yard strike to Moore that set them up for the game-tying field goal as time expired. And he ultimately made good decisions and kept them within reach, completing 32 of his 47 passes for 340 yards, two scores and no turnovers. He did, however, take a bad sack in overtime that helped the Vikings get the ball back.

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

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