Special Teams is 1/3 of Football

We knew the Vikings were bad before they came into Soldier Field, but I was still pretty impressed with the play and execution by DA BEARS. People tend to forget that special teams is one-third of a football game. Da Bears dominated the men in purple in special teams. Even with one poor 32 yard line-drive punt by longtime team MVP Brad Maynard, the defense picked up the slack and held the Vikes to, well, nothing due to a missed field goal. It was certainly a total team effort, but Mr. Hester set the table a few times with 147 of the 179 return yards in a game of field position that Da Bears could have easily lost had he and the return teams not showed up to play. Hester even cleaned his own plate when he got into space on a crossing-route and scored an important touchdown (aren’t they all?).


The defense was good as usual, especially against the run where they absolutely shut down Adrian Peterson. They held the arguably best back in the NFL to 51 measly rushing yards. It all starts in the trenches and the D-line was getting good penetration throughout the game. This in turn helped the secondary. Sure they had that embarrassing breakdown on the Harvin TD pass, but Favre was picked off three times. Okay, the receivers slipped twice, but the defensive backs were still in the right spots to make those INT’s. Favre was trying to avoid pressure much of the day and once fumbled on a great hustle play by DE Melton who caught him from behind and swatted the ball away as he was taking old man Favre down. Emphasis on old. Lovie preaches and bleeds turnovers. The result of the game is why.

And look who else showed up to play, why it was the third-down offense that made its first appearance of the season. Da Bears converted 11 of 19 third downs, HOLY CRAP! It was nothing miraculous like 16 of 19, but for Da Bears it was quite impressive. Cutler made one inexcusable red-zone mistake, but it shouldn’t overshadow the dozen good decisions he made. I know some fans had bad ’09 Cutler flashbacks, but it was only one bad play. Martz wasn’t as predictable as he was in Buffalo and actually kept the Minnesota defense honest with good play-calling. He mixed it up with an end-around, draws, bubble-screens, and delivered the final blow with a brilliant play-action pass to Kellen Davis on third and inches from the Minnesota 19 that went for a touchdown. It seemingly slammed the door shut on the Vikings’ season, Childress’ job, and hopefully Favre’s career.

PREACH