by Jonathan Storti
1/29/09
NFL Football
The Chicago Bears defeated the Minnesota Vikings 36-30 in a tremendously exciting game Monday night NFL game. Bears quarterbacks Jay Cutler shook off the critics and turned in his best performance all season long. What appeared to be an unexpected blowout by Chicago turned into a duel between Cutler and the ageless Brett Favre. Chicago leapt out to a 16-0 going into halftime only to see it evaporate in the second half. Brett Favre led a ferocious comeback and connected with wide receiver Sidney Rice on several clutch plays. Trailing by a touchdown and facing 4th down with only seconds left, Favre reached into his bag of tricks and completed a game tying touchdown pass. In overtime both teams traded possession until Cutler threw a game winning pass to complete the upset. At times Minnesota looked completely inept, but was eventually able to find their offensive rhythm. Unfortunately their defense was never able to match Favre’s intensity. While the game didn’t matter a great deal to the Bears it certainly hurt the Vikings championship momentum. The Vikings will most likely lose their 1st round bye in the playoff thanks to their inability to beat the less than stellar Bears.
The Bears’ season has been a disappointment, this is undeniable, but their resilience and toughness Monday night is something to build upon. Chicago has been plagued by poor pass protection all season, but Monday Cutler was provided enough time to make big throws down the field. When given time Cutler can make the elite throws a top quarterback requires, he only needs to cut down on the interceptions. While this football season is basically over for the Bears, they can take consolation in knowing their heading in the right direction. The same cannot be said of the Vikings who underperformed Monday and in previous weeks. After starting so promisingly Favre and the Vikings have not been able to continue their prodigious offensive output. Playoff teams need to be playing their best football at the end of the season and the Vikings are not. The one positive for Minnesota is that Favre played well in a very cold game, temperatures hovered in the 20s. Games below freezing had been a nemesis of Favre lately, but he played extremely well in the second half. The Vikings need to regroup and reignite themselves or they may not get beyond the 1st round.
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