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 ...
Sports
- 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.
