Bears Fall in Final Seconds: Longwell's 55-Yard Field Goal Wins It for Vikings

Oct 14, 06:44 PM

Current Headlines: By John Mullin, Chicago Tribune

Oct. 14--What was expected to be a grinding matchup between two run-first offenses that have difficulty scoring turned quickly into a long-range points fest in the Bears' third straight NFC North game.

But the Minnesota Vikings escaped Soldier Field with a 34-31 victory Sunday in a game in which all eight touchdowns were scored from at least 33 yards out. Fittingly, the Vikings won the game with a 55-yard field goal as time expired.

Devin Hester tied the game 31-31 with 1 minute 38 seconds to go when, behind perfect protection from the offensive line, quarterback Brian Griese heaved a ball as far as he can throw it and Hester took it behind safety Dwight Smith for an 81-yard touchdown.

But rookie Adrian Peterson, whose rushing had destroyed the Bears much of the game, returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to set up Minnesota at the Bears' 38. Lance Briggs then sliced through the Vikings' line and dropped Peterson for a 4-yard loss that forced Ryan Longwell to try his field goal from 55 yards.

The kick, the longest of Longwell's career and the longest by an opponent at Soldier Field, barely cleared the crossbar. But barely was enough.

The Vikings took the game away from the Bears with a 73-yard touchdown run by Peterson late in the second quarter, then held on for a decision that dropped the Bears (2-4) into last place in the division behind the Vikings (2-3), who broke a three-game losing streak.

The Bears closed to 31-24 when Griese connected with Muhsin Muhammad for a 33-yard score, but the Vikings recovered the onside kick.

The long-range bad news is that the Bears will have to look at Peterson for a long time. He has had four 100-yard outings in his five-game NFL career.

The Bears, who turned the ball over four times, allowed 311 rushing yards and 224 to Peterson, and they let the Vikings steadily seize momentum that belonged to the Bears well into the second quarter.

Griese completed 26 of 45 passes for 381 yards but threw two costly interceptions. He underthrew tight end Desmond Clark and was intercepted on the final play of the third quarter. The turnover let the Vikings build their lead to 24-14 on a 48-yard field goal by Longwell with less than 12 minutes to play.

The Bears responded with a 32-yard field goal by Robbie Gould, but they failed to stop a third-down conversion pass to former teammate Bobby Wade in their territory

When Danieal Manning went for a strip and failed to get that or the tackle, Peterson iced the game with 35-yard touchdown run to put Minnesota ahead 31-17 with just over four minutes remaining.

Griese then overthrew Muhammad for a second interception.

The four scores of a 14-14 first half came on plays covering a combined 255 yards: the Bears getting a Devin Hester punt return of 89 yards and a Griese pass to Bernard Berrian for 39 yards, the Vikings answering with a 60-yard pass from Tarvaris Jackson to Troy Williamson and a 67-yard run by Peterson.

As if to prove that was far from a fluke, Peterson cut back behind a block by left tackle Bryant McKinnie on defensive end Alex Brown, then stepped effortlessly through poor tackling from Bears safeties Manning and Brandon McGowan for the 73-yard scoring run late in the third quarter.

After that play coach Lovie Smith addressed the defensive backs, whose overall play may have been their worst of this season. It did little good.

The afternoon began on a huge up for the Bears. In another special-teams lesson, Minnesota's Chris Kluwe tugged on Superman's cape and paid. Dearly. He boomed a punt 54 yards deep into the Bears' left corner of the field, forcing Hester to drift back to take in the ball over his shoulder at the 11-yard line. Then he started easing across virtually the entire field against Minnesota coverage that stayed generally in its lanes.

But as too many coverage units already have learned, it is Hester who decides where lanes are. He found one. Rather, he created one. Hester slipped in among Vikings defenders, picking his way and changing speeds until finally he turned north.

Hester broke one tackle and accelerated as he burst along the Minnesota sideline with enough protection to watch comfortably as his convoy took out Kluwe. He breezed to the 89-yard return, the longest punt run-back of his 25-game career.

It was Hester's second punt return for a touchdown this season and third return for a score, including his 97-yard kickoff run-back at Detroit.

But Minnesota needed only four plays to take some of the emotional edge back. The Vikings moved in three plays from their 26 to the 40, from where Jackson stood in a secure pocket as wideout Williamson, the seventh pick of the 2005 draft, got behind safety Adam Archuleta and took the ball in stride to tie the score as the first quarter ended.

The Bears made it three scores in barely five minutes, but with a little help from the Vikings. On a first-and-10 from the Minnesota 39 created by an illegal-contact penalty on the Vikings, Griese took a deep drop and got off a perfect throw as he was being flattened by defensive end Kenechi Udeze.

Bernard Berrian caught the ball behind Antoine Winfield after the cornerback lost his footing. The completion was the longest to a Bears wide receiver this season and second-longest offensive play of the year for the Bears.

The Bears appeared to be taking the measure of the Minnesota offense after that, forcing two straight three-and-outs. But on a second down from the Vikings' 33, Peterson swept left end, broke a tackle by McGowan and evaded attempts by Archuleta and Charles Tillman. He cut across nearly the entire field and finished the run of 67 yards for a touchdown, the second of the season on the ground by the No. 6 pick out of Oklahoma in this year's draft.

Archuleta was benched early in the third quarter, with rookie Trumaine McBride stepping in at right cornerback and Danieal Manning moving back to his regular spot at free safety alongside McGowan.

The Bears had an edge early that may have been a particular surprise to the Vikings. With coordinator Ron Turner creating mismatches with his scheming, the Bears ran on the NFL's top-ranked rushing defense for 62 yards in the first half, including 46 on nine carries by Cedric Benson.

The Bears took loquacious Vikings safety Darren Sharper at his word. Sharper declared last week that tight ends were really nothing to worry about and if one caught a pass on him, he "should be fired."

The Bears ran their first four plays with some combination of tight ends John Gilmore, Greg Olsen and Clark in the formation. Turner also used Olsen frequently as a lead blocker in the backfield, occasionally pulling fullback Jason McKie and still pounding Benson at Minnesota defensive packages that had difficulty early stopping the run.

jmullin@tribune.com

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