Matthew Coller: The studs, duds, right and wrong from Vikings' Bears stomp

Looking at key factors to the Vikings win over Chicago.

Dec 16, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reacts after a touchdown run during the third quarter against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings improved to 12-2 with a decisive win over the Chicago Bears. Let’s take a closer look in detail at the numbers and comments from head coach Kevin O’Connell coming out of the victory…

What went right

Have a day, Jonathan Greenard

Most teams have had no answer for Jonathan Greenard this year as he ranks in the top five in QB pressures in the NFL and is tied with Myles Garrett for fifth in sacks but the Bears in particular really had no way of slowing him down. On 16 pass rush snaps, he created six pressures and a strip sack. PFF gave him a 92.6 (out of 100) pass rush grade for the day, his second highest of the season.

Tell us, Josh Metellus

Kevin O’Connell announced on Tuesday that he awarded Metellus a game ball after watching the film back of Monday’s game. The PFF grades concur with his takeaway. Metellus was the highest overall graded player on defense (82.8). He produced good scores in every facet of the game with the top run defensive grade (Dallas Turner was second), the top tackling grade and the top coverage grade among players with at least 10 coverage snaps. Metellus also added two QB pressures.

The Vikings needed a performance like that out of him while they are still trying to make up for the absence of Ivan Pace Jr.

“I think it can't be understated, just his role within our defense,” O’Connell said. “He lines up everywhere. So many, so many different jobs. The way he handles it snap to snap is probably the most important thing because a lot of guys you know play the same spot get into a rhythm you start seeing the tendencies and tells. He's got to be able to do those things from two or three different spots. His football IQ is off the charts, play styles always there, he's been he's been really really good for us.”

Shaq Griffin and Fabian Moreau in coverage

Stephon Gilmore has a very good chance of returning this week, per KOC. In his absence the two veteran corners did an admirable job of filling in.

Moreau had 28 coverage snaps and was targeted just three times for 26 yards.

Griffin played a full workload of 56 total snaps (31 in coverage) and gave up two receptions on five targets for 30 yards.

It may be possible that Brian Flores uses Moreau at times down the stretch to rotate with Gilmore.

O’Connell talked about the need to keep players fresh over the final stretch of the season.

“It's probably the hardest thing to do, especially when you're tied for the best record in the conference,” he said. “You're trying to see if you can take this thing to a place where you could possibly get that one seed. It's going to be very competitive. At the same time, you got to pick your spots.”

Jalen Redmond, again

The sample size of quality play from the former XFL’er is growing. Redmond’s 28 snaps were the second highest total of the year (only behind last week) and he continued to show that he belongs in the NFL. He scored a 79.2 grade with both of his tackles being stops for negative plays by the Bears.

The defensive tackle unit is deeper and more versatile with Redmond in the mix and it isn’t so reliant on just three players. Harrison Phillips only had to play 31 snaps and Jerry Tillery just 21.

Getting everyone involved on defense

Along the same lines, the combination of Flores working in more rotational players and some blowout snaps at the end of the game resulted in more players getting opportunities. Dallas Turner played a career high 34 snaps and produced a solid 71.2 grade, two pressures and one highlight reel sack. Pat Jones’s workload was down from earlier this year but he still contributed 20 snaps. Jamin Davis took eight snaps, and Kamu Grugier-Hill got 12 plays.

Among the developing players, Dwight McGlothern had 10 snaps and was targeted twice without a completion. Bo Richter, Jay Ward and Brian Asamoah also saw action.

The thriving running game

O’Connell is always going to lean toward the passing game first but over the last two weeks the backfield has paid dividends when they have been asked to carry some of the load. Against Chicago, Aaron Jones gained 86 yards on 18 carries and Cam Akers picked up 24 more on 10 carries, including a touchdown at the goal line. Both RBs graded above average by PFF.

One of the ways they were able to run successfully was by using big personnel groupings. Josh Oliver had 36 snaps and played an enormous role in the run game. He was awarded the highest offensive PFF grade of anyone on the team. Johnny Mundt also saw the field for 20 plays and CJ Ham 16 plays. O’Connell noted that the Bears kept their extra corner on the field when facing off with bigger bodies, which gave them an advantage.

The short passing game

The story of this season has been Sam Darnold’s remarkable downfield passing but against Chicago he went 0-for-3 on deep balls and 6-for-12 on intermediate passing (between 10-19 yards). It was the short game where he was most effective. Darnold completed 14-of-16 throws for an average of 7.6 yards per attempt.

One throw in particular was a third-and-long conversion on an underneath pass to Aaron Jones.

O’Connell talked about why checkdowns to Jones have been so effective:

“He's got a great feel for just in space, I think last night was a perfect example … it's all about angles and trying to maximize every inch because we needed it on that play,” O’Connell said. “I thought there were some other times in the game where we probably could have checked it down to him and who knows what he could have gotten. I think every time we see those on tape, I think it's registering with Sam [Darnold] of, I'm going to be able to put the ball and play to this guy, and he's phenomenal with the ball on his hands.”

Dalton Risner with another quality pass blocking game

The Vikings decision to put in Risner at right guard has paid off in spades. He has not allowed a sack and posted an impressive 81.1 PFF grade against Chicago. He is now up to ranking 21st in the NFL in pass blocking grade among guards with more than 300 snaps. (His predecessor ranks 70th of 81).

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What went wrong

The left side of the offensive line

It has been a difficult recent run of games for left guard Blake Brandel, who graded under 50 by PFF for the third straight contest. He allowed four QB pressures and produced hid lowest grade of the season on Monday night (42.3). The 28-year-old guard may be impacted by not having Christian Darrisaw to his left and/or the adjustment to playing deep into a season for the first time in his career. With 914 snaps, he now is more than 600 snaps over his previous career high.

Cam Robinson continued his steady play as a pass protector with a 63.4 grade and four pressures allowed. However, he bizarrely took four penalties, which dragged his grade down to its lowest point since being acquiring by the Vikings.

Darnold under pressure

For the season, Darnold has the third highest grade in the NFL while under pressure and the third best QB rating (99.0). But versus Chicago, he wasn’t able to make as many spectacular plays as in recent weeks when he had defenders in his face. Darnold only went 6-for-16 when under duress with 3.6 yards per pass attempt.

That is the nature of the beast when it comes to playing under pressure in general. The concern with asking Darnold to make big-time plays out of structure is that it increases the variance of outcomes. Some weeks it can be 52-yard touchdowns, other weeks negative plays. Darnold was pressured far too much against the Bears (42.9% of drop-backs), which the Vikings will need to address as they play two good defensive

Special teams miscues

It’s not easy to quantify special teams as a whole but two of the worst plays of the night came on ‘teams. The Vikings were flagged for roughing the punter early in the game and then in the fourth quarter Ryan Wright had a punt blocked late in the game that gave the Bears the ball in Vikings territory.

The Vikings have the sixth worst net yards per punt and the worst yards per punt return in the NFL this year.