What a crazy game. You've got an old-school NFC North -- formerly NFC Central -- battle. The black and blue division. Two foes who like to use the "run and defense/smash mouth" method to win football games.
Or not.
Let's try 558 yards passing as opposed to 208 yards rushing. Or think about the 72 passing attempts compared to 54 rushes.
People who bet the "under" in this game could see the writing on the wall before the first quarter was over.
Let's try to sort out this mess of a game, which was by far the most fun game I've seen this season. Obviously my being a Bears fan helped, but there were so many wacky occurrences. Like ...
- The Vikings lost the turnover battle five to one, yet still only lost by a touchdown.
- Gus Frerotte threw four interceptions to a Bears secondary that has been decimated with injuries -- Nathan Vasher, Charles Tillman, and Danieal Manning all missed the game.
- It was Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton at QB. Glance back up above at those passing vs. rushing numbers.
- Vikings punter Chris Kluwe -- who may not have a job much longer -- dropped a snap that hit him in the hands, then tried to pick it up and punt it. He had it blocked by former LSU star Craig Steltz. Then Kluwe inexplicably tried to kick the ball off the ground. I'm not sure about the thought process, except that I'm sure there wasn't one. Not only is that illegal, but he ended up kicking the ball to the fastest Bears player on the field not named Devin -- Garrett Wolfe -- who ended up taking it to the house.
- Minnesota punt returner Charles Gordon was so terrified his offense would be pinned inside the five-yard line that he decided to block with the ball in the air instead of fleeing the scene. The ball bounced right into him, and the ensuing scramble resulted in a Bears touchdown ... when rookie Zackary Bowman recovered the ball in the end-zone. It's pictured here at the top. Side note: Bowman also iced the game with an interception. It was his first appearance in an NFL game. You see, the Bears promoted him from the practice squad this week because of the injury woes in the secondary. Not a bad week, huh?
- Marty Booker dropped two potential touchdowns while in the end zone open, even though he made possibly the best catch of the season a few weeks ago. He later used his running ability to score a touchdown, even though he's more on the roster for hands than speed.
- The Vikings blocked a Robbie Gould field goal ... and later they jumped offsides before he tried a career long attempt, which enabled him to knock through a routine 48-yarder.
- Desmond Clark fumbled on the one-yard line ... but Rashied Davis dove on it for a touchdown before the Vikings could nab the takeaway.
Seriously, this was insanity. I mean, the teams combined for 89 freaking points. Sure, there were some things that weren't surprising. The Bears had trouble finding running room on the inside against the Vikings stout defensive line. The Vikings receivers torched the inexperienced Bears corners on several occasions (Gus threw for 298 yards), and Adrian Peterson owned the Bears again.
The predictable, however, was the exception rather than the norm.
Hey, we aren't complaining. Predictable is boring.



















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-20-2008 @ 9:45AM
M.M.C.C.B.S. said...
That should be a safety for Vikings
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 9:47AM
Brody said...
It was a fun game to watch, but neither team looked all that great. It was a game riddled with mistakes and bad football. Neither team should feel inspired by their performance.
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 11:14AM
BearsFan51 said...
It was very funny that someone at NFL.com had Kluwe credited with 1 rush for 76 yards. That stat was still on the nfl channel scroll for most of the day.
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 11:21AM
EYE said...
THIS WAS A GREAT GAME TO WATCH. THE FINAL SCORE REMINDED ME OF TECMO BOWL OR MADDEN. LOOKS LIKE THE BEARS FINALLY FOUND A QB. IF THE BEARS DEFENSE COULD ONLY STOP PEOPLE THEY'D BE 7-0 OR AT THE VERY LEAST 5-2 CUZ THEY GAVE AWAY THE GAME LAST WEEK TO ATLANTA
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 3:50PM
HUSKERDIVA said...
I'm so excited!!! Childress finally put Taylor AND Peterson in at the SAME TIME!!! Now he has 5 plays!!! Seriously, what a great game and kudos to Lovie. He finally does have a QB. Orton did a great job!!! EYE, I'm not so sure they gave that game away to Atlanta, Matt Ryan, like Orton, is the real deal. Sorry.
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 8:56PM
thejtos said...
I noticed on 4th and 1 he decided to pass instead of using Chester or Adrian- I guess neither of those 2 get 1 yard? we need bill cowher- not the coach known as the semi-conducter
Reply
10-20-2008 @ 11:05PM
A.J. said...
Every now and again, there will be a game like this one, that can be best described in 3 letters.
"WTF?"
Reply
10-21-2008 @ 11:54AM
Mtn man said...
I seen the headlines that read: NFL fires head coach! I got all excited thinking Wilf had smartened up. Ah shucks, it was the 49ers that smartened up.
Reply
10-21-2008 @ 6:58PM
Lefty said...
I watched my beloved Vikings lose a game that Should have been a blow out for them.
IFFFFFF they would Quit makeing Dumb mistakes they could beat every team out there!!! Either they play like a team or they will have ti buy Tickets to go to the Super Bowl!!!!
Reply
10-21-2008 @ 9:34PM
ralph said...
YOU CANNOT REPLACE BIG PLAY E.J. HENDERSON WHEN HE WENT DOWN THAT KILLED THE VIKINGS.
Reply