Numbers Check: David Montgomery Does a Dalvin Cook Impression
Josh Frey
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Both the Bears and Vikings desperately needed this game to stay in the playoff picture. Both teams also played that way for a majority of the game. The matchup was very physical, and everyone brought their A-games to the field. David Montgomery and Dalvin Cook battled; both earning over 130 yards and scores.That said, Chicago made a few plays down the stretch, specifically on defense, that gave them the edge at the end of the day.
20
The Bears offense seems to have gotten back on track recently, as hesitant as I am to compliment Mitch Trubisky. Chicago scored 20 first half points on Sunday on their way to the victory. It is now the third straight week that they have accomplished that, and they have won two of them.
The only difference between this success and early season success is that they are managing to come out firing early. On their 5-1 stretch to open the year, they scored 20 or more in a half twice, but these both came in the second half instead of the first. I’m sure Bears fans prefer this recent manner of winning over the alternative.
40
I thought the Vikings would come out with a few deep passes on the offensive side of the ball, and while they did that on the first quarter touchdown drive, it wasn’t a huge component of the offense until the fourth quarter. In fact, Kirk Cousins was held under 100 passing yards through nearly 40 minutes of this game despite having two passes go for over 20 yards en route to the touchdown.
On the three drives where Cousins connected with someone for a 20+ yard pass, the Vikings ended said drive as follows: touchdown, field goal, and touchdown. During the rest of the game (outside of the hail mary), Minnesota didn’t even attempt to throw down the field. Here’s how those drives ended: punt, punt, turnover on downs, field goal (Dalvin Cook had a 20-yard run), turnover on downs.
6
While it was reassuring to see Dan Bailey get back on track with two field goals, it’s also disheartening. Both drives easily could have ended in touchdowns, and had that happened, this game might have a different result. Sound familiar Vikings fans?
Both field goals were very promising “1st and Goal” drives. Minnesota drove the ball down the field both times, but seemingly forgot who really runs their offense on both drives: Dalvin Cook. The Bears came into this game as the fourth best red zone defense, at least in terms of touchdown percentage. While Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak surely know more about football than I do, you’d think when going against a team that good, you’d focus on getting the ball to your best player. Instead, on six “goal to go” plays, Dalvin Cook touched the ball once. His one touch was a two yard run from the Chicago six. The other five plays ended as incomplete passes.