The Bears’ 100th season started with Super Bowl hopes and ended with a 21-19 victory over the Vikings backups on Sunday, five weeks before two teams will play for the NFL championship.
The Vikings were locked into the NFC’s No. 6 seed in the playoffs, and so they rested nearly all of their starters in their regular-season finale at U.S. Bank Stadium, including quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Bears had nothing to play for but pride, and they salvaged that on kicker Eddy Pineiro’s fourth field goal of the game.
Pineiro made a 22-yard field goal with 10 seconds to play to give the Bears the victory.
The Bears got into position for the field goal on a big play by quarterback Mitch Trubisky. On fourth-and-9 at the Bears’ 49, Trubisky hit rookie wide receiver Riley Ridley for a 32-yard pass to get to the 19.
After getting to the 8-yard line, they opted to let the clock run down rather than get in the end zone to set up the field goal.
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Neither team scored a touchdown in the first half, and the Bears led 11-6 at halftime following three Pineiro field goals and a safety for linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski.
David Montgomery had 23 carries for 113 yards – the second 100-yard game of his rookie season. He scored the Bears’ only touchdown, on a 14-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter.
Here’s how the Week 17 game at U.S. Bank Stadium unfolded:
Inactives announced
Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara is active for the final game against the Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, but right tackle Bobby Massie will not play.
Amukamara has been battling a hamstring injury for the last month but played in the Bears’ last two games against the Packers and the Chiefs. He saw fewer snaps than usual — 47% and 59% on defense — as second-year cornerback Kevin Toliver filled in.
Toliver potentially could again see increased time as the Bears take a look at their younger players in a meaningless game.
This will be the fifth straight game Massie has missed with an ankle injury. Cornelius Lucas has been filling in for him.
The Bears already ruled out wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (concussion), nose tackle Eddie Goldman (concussion), defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (elbow) and right guard Rashaad Coward (knee) out for the game.
Cornerback Michael Joseph and tight end Bradley Sowell are healthy scratches.
For the Vikings, running backs Alexander Mattison and Dalvin Cook, linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr, offensive linemen Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill and defensive tackle Shamar Stephen are inactive.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is active, but ESPN reported he will be held out. Backup quarterback Sean Mannion would make his second career start if Cousins does not play.
Bears take 3-0 lead
Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro made a 26-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead against the Vikings with 7 minutes, 41 seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Vikings had the ball to start, and reserve running back Mike Boone broke for a 59-yard run on the first play of the game. Bears safety Eddie Jackson ran him down to prevent a touchdown. Boone then fumbled quarterback Sean Mannion’s pitch, and Bears defensive lineman Bilal Nichols recovered it.
The Bears then drove 69 yards to set up the field goal, fueled by an 11-yard run by Cordarrelle Patterson and a 19-yard run by Tarik Cohen on back-to-back plays.
Eddy Pineiro makes it 6-0
Bears kicker Eddy Piniero made a 33-yard field goal for a 6-0 Bears lead against the Vikings late in the first quarter.
The Bears got their second takeaway of the first quarter when reserve running back Mike Boone bobbled a pass from quarterback Sean Mannion.
Inside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis jumped in to grab the football out of the air for an interception.
That gave the Bears the ball at the Vikings’ 39-yard line. The Bears got to the 9-yard line thanks to a pair of third-down passes to Allen Robinson for 15 and 8 yards. But Mitch Trubisky was sacked on third-and-goal, and the Bears settled for Pineiro’s second field goal.
The Bears announced they were evaluating wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson for a concussion.
Vikings get a field goal back
Vikings kicker Dan Bailey made a 37-yard field goal to cut the Bears’ lead to 6-3 with 9:17 to play in the second quarter.
The Vikings got inside the 20-yard line, but the Bears held them out of the end zone.
They stopped C.J. Ham for a 1-yard gain and then forced quarterback Sean Mannion to throw back-to-back incompletions. Brent Urban got his hand on the first to break it up, and Leonard Floyd and Khalil Mack pressured Mannion on the second.
Anthony Miller leaves the game while Cordarrelle Patterson is ruled out
Bears wide receiver Anthony Miller left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.
Miller was returning a kickoff in place of Cordarrelle Patterson, who was being evaluated for a concussion, and he took a hard hit.
He went to the medical tent and didn’t play in the following series. The Bears announced him as questionable to return. Patterson is out for the game.
Nick Kwiatkoski forces a safety for 8-3 lead
Bears linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski took down Vikings running back Mike Boone in the end zone for a safety and an 8-3 Bears lead midway through the second quarter.
Pat O’Donnell punted 57 yards, and Deon Bush downed it at the Vikings’ 1-yard line.
Kwiatkoski made the play on the first play of the series.
Bears take 11-6 lead into halftime
The Bears and Vikings traded field goals in the final two minutes of the first half, and the Bears went into halftime with an 11-6 lead.
Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro made a 34-yard field goal with 1:56 to play in the first half to boost the Bears to an 11-3 lead.
The Bears drive included Mitch Trubisky’s 17-yard pass to Javon Wims and a 12-yard pass to Riley Ridley. But Trubisky’s low pass to Allen Robinson while under pressure on third down fell incomplete, and Pineiro made his third field goal of the half.
Vikings kicker Dan Bailey then made a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut the Bears’ lead to 11-6. Mike Boone’s 41-yard run got the Vikings into field-goal range.
David Montgomery powers into the end zone for 18-6 lead
David Montgomery did most of the work on a 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half to give the Bears an 18-6 lead with 9:49 to play in the third quarter.
Montgomery had five straight carries for 43 yards to open the drive. He scored on a 14-yard run, in which he kept charging forward as J.P. Holtz, Ted Larsen, James Daniels and Cornelius Lucas pushed a scrum of players from behind into the end zone.
Mike Boone rushes for a Vikings TD
Vikings running back Mike Boone scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Bears’ lead to 18-13 with 14:13 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings started the drive on the Bears’ 43-yard line after the Bears offense turned it over on downs.
The Bears had 1 yard to go on second down at the 42, but David Montgomery and Mitch Trubisky failed to gain it on back-to-back carries.
Vikings quarterback Sean Mannion then completed 3 of 4 passes to get the drive going.
Dan Bailey’s field goal makes it 18-16
Vikings kicker Dan Bailey made a 39-yard field goal to cut the Bears’ lead to 18-16 with 8:54 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings’ scoring drive was helped by an unnecessary roughness penalty on safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix after the Bears had caused Sean Mannion’s third-down pass to Alexander Hollins to fall incomplete.
Mannion then hit Hollins for a 35-yard gain on the next play to get the Vikings to the 13-yard line.
But the Vikings suffered a setback when offensive lineman Olisaemeka Udoh was called for unnecessary roughness on a Mike Boone carry to the Bears’ 6-yard line. That gave the Vikings third-and-18 at the 21, and Mannion’s pass fell incomplete.
Vikings take 19-18 lead after Mitch Trubisky’s fumble
The Vikings took a 19-18 lead against the Bears on Dan Bailey’s 34-yard field goal with 4:53 to play in the game.
The Vikings started the drive following a Bears turnover.
Vikings defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo swiped at Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s arm to knock the football loose. He then recovered the fumble and returned it into the end zone. But a review of the play determined Odenigbo’s knee was down at the Bears’ 23-yard line.
The Bears defense stopped the Vikings short of a first down to force a field goal.