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Vikings defeat Bears 29-13, wait to see if they can move up to No. 2 seed

chris tomasson, pioneer press
·2 min read

The Vikings did their part Sunday. Now, they’ll wait to see if they get the No. 2 for the NFC playoffs.

The Vikings defeated Chicago 29-13 at Soldier Field in the regular-season finale. To get the No. 2 seed, they need San Francisco to lose or tie at home against Arizona later in the day. Kickoff was 3:25 p.m. If the 49ers don’t stumble, the Vikings (13-4) will be the No. 3 seed and play the No. 6-seeded New York Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium next weekend.

The Vikings used starters in the first half Sunday against the Bears and took a 16-6 lead. They used reserves in the second half but were able to increase their lead.

Before giving way to Nick Mullens for the second half, Kirk Cousins completed 17 of 20 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown. On Minnesota’s first possession, Cousins hit K.J. Osborn for a 66-yard pass to the Chicago 4 and then threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen for a 6-0 lead. Greg Joseph missed the extra point

Osborn led the Vikings with five catches for 117 yards. Justin Jefferson had four catches for 38 yards to finish the season with 128 catches for 1,809 yards, the sixth-highest total in NFL history.

Dalvin Cook carried 11 times for 37 yards for the Vikings to finish the season with 1,173 yards. Backup Alexander Mattison had 10 carries for 54 yards and scored touchdowns on 1-yard runs in the second and third quarters.

The Vikings led 16-6 at halftime, but it looked for a few minutes as if it would be 19-3. Greg Joseph hit a 24-yard field goal as the clock ran out and players left the field. But the score was waived off due to Minnesota having 12 men on the field. The Vikings had to scramble to get their field-goal unit on the field after Cousins completed a pass to Dalvin Cook to the Chicago 6 and clock ran because they had no remaining timeouts.

Joseph ended up making three field goals, including a 50-yard boot on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter also featured Vikings cornerback Duke Shelley getting an interception against his former team. Shelley, who played for the Bears from 2019-21, had called it a “revenge game” on Friday and said the Bears made a mistake in releasing him.

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