Sam Darnold expected the Vikings to recover the Bears’ onside kick near the end of the game, thinking he would only need to kneel the ball to end it. But things got a bit more complicated, and Darnold was happy with the result in the end.
Darnold threw for 90 yards of his 330 total in overtime to set up Parker Romo’s 29-yard field goal, giving the Vikings a 30-27 victory over the Bears. This win came after Minnesota allowed 11 points in the last 22 seconds of regulation.
“You’re expecting to recover the onside kick and just take some knees,” Darnold said. “So your mindset is you’ve got to get ready to go back out there and execute at a high level, and I feel like our offense did a really good job of that, obviously, in overtime.”
Darnold threw two touchdown passes. Jordan Addison caught eight passes for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown, and T.J. Hockenson had 114 yards receiving for the Vikings (9-2), keeping them one game behind Detroit in the NFC North.
Caleb Williams passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bears (4-7) lost their fifth straight game, with three of those losses being decided on the final play. Chicago is 5-18 in one-possession games under coach Matt Eberflus, who has a 14-31 record in 2 1/2 seasons.
“I think we got better in all phases,” Williams said. “We’ve gotten better over these past couple games. I think today was a testament to that, being decisive, receivers and everybody. It’s tough.”
The Vikings seemed to have the game under control, leading 27-16 with 1:56 left after Romo’s 26-yard field goal. But the Bears made a push. Deandre Carter redeemed himself for a muffed punt earlier in the game by returning a kickoff 55 yards to the 40-yard line. Williams then led an eight-play drive, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen. A two-point conversion pass to DJ Moore made it 27-24 with 22 seconds left.
The Bears recovered the onside kick, and Williams found Moore for a 27-yard gain to the 30-yard line before spiking the ball. Cairo Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired.
Chicago won the coin toss, but Jonathan Greenard sacked Williams for a 12-yard loss on second down, leading to a three-and-out. The Vikings got the ball back at their 21-yard line, and Darnold led a 10-play drive, overcoming a sack by Montez Sweat and two penalties.
“It was just the ability to overcome, and his trust in me and my trust in him,” said coach Kevin O’Connell. “We were gonna do it via the pass on that drive for the most part, try to mix some runs in there if we could. But I think that when your best is required, I had no hesitation of trying to attack what I was seeing and trying to get our guys going to get down there and give Parker a chance.”
Darnold connected with Hockenson for a 29-yard gain, bringing the ball to the 9-yard line. After a kneel down, Romo hit the game-winning field goal.
“Football is a game where you’ve got to be able to respond,” O’Connell said. “It’s never gonna be perfect. This group is a special group, and it’s a road win in the NFC North, and I’m really proud of our team.”
Darnold surpassed his previous season high of 19 touchdown passes with a 2-yard touchdown to Addison in the second quarter, and added a 5-yard touchdown to Jalen Nailor late in the first half. Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes in the game.
Aaron Jones ran for 106 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings.
Williams was 32 of 47 with a 103.1 passer rating in his second straight strong performance since Thomas Brown replaced the fired Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator.
“He’s growing in front of our eyes,” Eberflus said about the No. 1 overall pick. “Today was a really good growth for him to be able to go out there and execute the way he did with a 103 passer rating and be able to get those drives going at the end to put us in position to win the game.”
Moore caught seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Allen added 86 yards receiving and a late touchdown.
