The Chicago Bears were coming off a short practice week and trying to have a short memory when they hosted the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Soldier Field.
After Monday night’s demoralizing 32-7 loss at San Francisco, the Bears were counting on the return from a concussion of quarterback Jay Cutler to re-energize the team on both sides of the ball.
The Bears looked energized early, taking an 18-3 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Bush, his second of the day. On the extra point, holder Adam Podlesh took the snap from center and ran in for the two-point conversion with 4:01 left until halftime.
The Bears had gone up 10-3 on a 47-yard field goal by Robbie Gould with 32 seconds left in the first quarter. The drive covered 25 yards in 10 plays. The drive featured a taunting penalty against a feisty Cutler for flipping the ball at the Vikings' A.J. Jefferson.
The Vikings' Walsh had a 30-yard field goal attempt blocked by Julius Peppers with 12 minutes left until halftime.
Devin Hester was ruled out for the game in the second quarter after suffering a concussion, the Bears said.
The Bears' defense got back to its turnover-producing ways early when Adrian Peterson fumbled and Charles Tillman recovered at the Vikings' 34. Nick Roach forced the fumble. The Bears converted the opportunity into a 1-yard touchdown by Bush with 7:17 left in the first quarter to take a 7-3 lead. The drive included a 15-yard pass from Cutler to tight end Kellen Davis to the Minnesota 1.
The Bears lost the ball on their opening series when Matt Forte fumbled with 13:07 left in the first period. The fumble was recovered by Chad Greenway at the Bears' 28. The drive resulted in a 40-yard field goal by Blair Walsh.
After dropping two straight, the Bears needed to fend off the Vikings, who entered one game back at 6-4. And the Bears were trying to at least keep pace with the Packers as leaders of the NFC North. The Bears and Vikings will meet twice in three weeks. On Dec. 9, the Bears travel to the Metrodome.
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson reportedly missed the team bus to Soldier Field, but hailed a taxi cab in front of the team hotel and made it to the stadium at 10:23 a.m. for the noon start, according to the NFL Network. The Vikings' protocol calls for players to arrive no less than two hours before kickoff.
One of the many serious flaws in the Bears' loss at San Francisco was an offensive line that allowed backup quarterback Jason Campbell to be sacked six times. The Bears since have demoted right tackle Gabe Carimi and replaced him in the starting lineup with Jonathan Scott.
“We could talk about chip help and giving this guy some help,” Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice said. “There are a couple of things that I know are right and here’s a couple of them: In a season when you run three-step drops, you should have no sacks at the end of the season, and to give up three in one game is totally unacceptable. Secondly, it’s hard to chip bull rushes because a guy is down the middle of a guy, and at a certain point a player needs to grit his teeth, buck up and win a fight. So those are a couple things from the protection issues from the game.”
The Bears entered Sunday’s game having scored one touchdown the previous two weeks.
“The concerns offensively -- the lack of rhythm, the lack of the fast starts, the lack of success on first down -- are still haunting us,” Tice said. “We felt like we had a decent plan, going in, playing some smash-mouth, getting to that third-and-medium, giving ourselves a chance to convert to stay out of those long situations and giving those nickel pass rushers a chance to tee off. That didn’t happen in that football game. So where do we go from here?”
Questions about the competency of the Bears' offensive line linger.
“We’re evaluating our guys to see what’s going to give us the best chance to succeed and do some of the things we’re trying to accomplish offensively,” Tice said.
The Bears have another NFC home game next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
fmitchell@tribune.com
Twitter@kicker34
2nd quarter: Bears 10, Vikings 3
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2nd quarter: Bears 10, Vikings 3
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2nd quarter: Bears 10, Vikings 3
