MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Kirk Cousins scored on a quarterback keeper with 2:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, Ihmir Smith-Marsette fumbled away the football 74 seconds later, and the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears, 29-22 Sunday.
After going down 21-3 with a little over 6 minutes left in the second quarter, the Bears fought back, scoring on four straight possessions spanning across the second and third quarter.
Justin Fields connected with Darnell Mooney on a circus one-handed catch for 39 yards before David Montgomery punched it in from 9 yards out with 1:08 remaining in the first half, moving the score to 21-10 going into halftime.
Justin Fields maintained a rhythm coming out of the tunnel into the second half, connecting twice for 15-plus yards with Equanimous St. Brown and Cole Kmet before hitting Velus Jones Jr with a 9-yard touchdown pass nearly five minutes into the third.
The Bears came up short on a two-point conversion after Dante Pettis couldn’t find the goal line on a Fields pass, but Minnesota missed their second consecutive field goal before Cairo Santos booted one of his own to make it a two-point game in favor of the Vikings, 21-19.
The Bears’ defense followed up Santos’s second field goal of the day with a Kindle Vildor interception of Cousins at the 12:54 mark in the fourth quarter.
Chicago took the lead 3 minutes later on Cairo Santos’s third field goal of the day, this time a 51-yarder through the uprights to move the Bears ahead by one, 22-21.
But just like Cousins did against the New Orleans Saints last week and the Detroit Lions two weeks ago, he led a comeback drive late in the fourth to retake the lead.
Cousins led the Vikings down the field on a meticulous 17-play, 7-minute drive, culminating in Cousins scoring on a QB sneak from one yard out on 3rd and goal with 2:26 remaining. Perhaps adding the icing on the metaphorical cake, Cousins found Justin Jefferson for the two-point conversion to give the Vikings a 29-22 lead.
Fields showed some Moxy on the Bears’ final drive of the game, finding David Montgomery for 21 yards on 2nd and 21 one play after taking a sack on first down.
Prospects even looked promising after Fields found Smith-Marsette for 15 yards on the next play, but Smith-Marsette was stripped of the football by Minnesota’s Cameron Dantzler Sr. with 1:12 remaining to seal a Bears loss.
Justin Fields finished the day 15/21 for 208 passing yards and a TD, while running 8 times for 47 yards on the ground. David Montgomery had 12 carries for 20 yards and a TD while catching 4 passes for 62 yards through the air.
The loss moves the Bears record to 2-3 on the year, 0-2 in the NFC North. Chicago’s next game is against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football, Oct. 13.
