Vikings wrap up NFC's No. 2 seed with 23-10 win over Bears
In a pep talk Saturday night, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer pulled out some trivia.Zimmer told his players that the last five NFC teams to advance to the Super Bowl all started with a first-round playoff bye. Minnesota is hoping to be the sixth.The Vikings locked up the No.2 seed in the NFC with a 23-10 victory over the Chicago Bears in Sunday’s regular-season finale at U. S.Bank Stadium, assuring they will have next weekend off before playing their first postseason game Jan. 13 or 14 on their home field.“Ultimately, we have only two games until we get to the Super Bowl,” defensive tackle Tom Johnson said. “It’s all positive.”As it turned out, even if the Vikings had lost to the Bears, they would have ended up with the No. 2 seed.Still, Zimmer wanted to make sure his team went into the playoffs on a winning note. “I’m proud of this team,” he said.“Thirteen wins is hard to get.”The Vikings (13-3) finished with their best record since they went 15-1 in 1998, and the 13 wins are the second-most in franchise history. They also earned a first-round playoff bye for the first time since the 2009 team was 12-4. The only player remaining from the 2009 team is defensive end Brian Robison, who said it was “very important” to get the bye. “You play 17 weeks in the NFL, guys are going to get banged up, they’re going to be sore, guys are going to be tired,” Robison said. “To be able to get that week off is huge, but at the same time you have to make sure that your focus stays in the right place. ”The Vikings suffered heartbreaking, last-second losses in the NFC championship game in 1998 and 2009. Which led to a reporter asking Zimmer after the game if he the franchise was cursed. “I’ve got a crystal ball and I’ve got a wood spirit hanging in my office, so there’s no damn curse,” he said. For good measure, he also has the most dominant defense in the NFL.The Vikings finished No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense (15.8points per game) and total defense (275.9yards per game) for the first time since 1970 and just the third time in team history. “That’s huge,” Johnson said.“That’s one of the goals we had coming into the season is we wanted to be the best defense. ”Minnesota’s defense certainly showed up Sunday.The Vikings held the Bears (5-11) to 201 yards total offense and had two goal-line stands in the fourth quarter. Leading 23-7, the Vikings stopped the Bears after they had first-and-goal at the 6 early in the fourth quarter. Leading 23-10, they rose up again after Chicago had first-and-goal at the 2 with 3:53 left. “I thought we played exceptionally well on defense,” Zimmer said.The offense wasn’t so exceptional but did enough to get the win. Quarterback Case Keenum completed 21 of 29 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, and Latavius Murray ran for 111 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. Murray had 1-yard touchdown runs early in the first quarter and early in the second quarter to put the Vikings up 14-0. The Bears got a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown by Bryce
In a pep talk Saturday night, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer pulled out some trivia.Zimmer told his players that the last five NFC teams to advance to the Super Bowl all started with a first-round playoff bye. Minnesota is hoping to be the sixth.The Vikings locked up the No.2 seed in the NFC with a 23-10 victory over the Chicago Bears in Sunday’s regular-season finale at U. S.Bank Stadium, assuring they will have next weekend off before playing their first postseason game Jan. 13 or 14 on their home field.“Ultimately, we have only two games until we get to the Super Bowl,” defensive tackle Tom Johnson said. “It’s all positive.”As it turned out, even if the Vikings had lost to the Bears, they would have ended up with the No. 2 seed.Still, Zimmer wanted to make sure his team went into the playoffs on a winning note. “I’m proud of this team,” he said.“Thirteen wins is hard to get.”The Vikings (13-3) finished with their best record since they went 15-1 in 1998, and the 13 wins are the second-most in franchise history. They also earned a first-round playoff bye for the first time since the 2009 team was 12-4. The only player remaining from the 2009 team is defensive end Brian Robison, who said it was “very important” to get the bye. “You play 17 weeks in the NFL, guys are going to get banged up, they’re going to be sore, guys are going to be tired,” Robison said. “To be able to get that week off is huge, but at the same time you have to make sure that your focus stays in the right place. ”The Vikings suffered heartbreaking, last-second losses in the NFC championship game in 1998 and 2009. Which led to a reporter asking Zimmer after the game if he the franchise was cursed. “I’ve got a crystal ball and I’ve got a wood spirit hanging in my office, so there’s no damn curse,” he said. For good measure, he also has the most dominant defense in the NFL.The Vikings finished No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense (15.8points per game) and total defense (275.9yards per game) for the first time since 1970 and just the third time in team history. “That’s huge,” Johnson said.“That’s one of the goals we had coming into the season is we wanted to be the best defense. ”Minnesota’s defense certainly showed up Sunday.The Vikings held the Bears (5-11) to 201 yards total offense and had two goal-line stands in the fourth quarter. Leading 23-7, the Vikings stopped the Bears after they had first-and-goal at the 6 early in the fourth quarter. Leading 23-10, they rose up again after Chicago had first-and-goal at the 2 with 3:53 left. “I thought we played exceptionally well on defense,” Zimmer said.The offense wasn’t so exceptional but did enough to get the win. Quarterback Case Keenum completed 21 of 29 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, and Latavius Murray ran for 111 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. Murray had 1-yard touchdown runs early in the first quarter and early in the second quarter to put the Vikings up 14-0. The Bears got a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown by Bryce