Bears–Vikings rivalry

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The Bears–Vikings rivalry is an NFL rivalry between two NFC North teams, the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings.

The rivalry began when the Minnesota Vikings entered the league as an expansion team in 1961. The first time these two teams met, the Vikings stunned the Bears 37-13. The rivalry has generally seen the home team win and has recently been the sight of thriller games with huge swings. For example, the Vikings saw a 14 point lead erased in less than 2 minutes but then rallied for a last second field goal in 2007. Similarly, the Bears, huge underdogs in the 2009 matchup versus the Vikings, saw a 17 point and later 7 point lead erased, as the Vikings scored with 16 seconds left to tie. But the Bears would too survive, winning on a Devin Aromashodu touchdown in overtime. The rivalry has also been home to seemingly improbable plays, like two special team disasters for the Vikings, which costed them 14 points in a 2008 48-41 loss to the Bears. Another crazy sequence of plays was the 4th and goal defensive stand by the Vikings, followed by a 99-yard touchdown pass to the former Bear Bernard Berrian on the next play, enroute to a 34-14 Vikings win in 2008.

Notable moments

• Signature moment: The first meeting between the two teams in 1961. The upstart Minnesota Vikings upset the dominant Chicago Bears 37-13 in the Vikings first game as a franchise. Also memorable was the meeting between the two teams in 1998 when former Vikings linebacker Dwayne Rudd taunted a Chicago player en route to scoring a defensive touchdown.
• Signature Moment: In 1968, with :03 left in the game, the Vikings led the Bears 24-23 in Wrigley Field. Bears kicker Mac Percival booted a 47-yard game-winning field goal to give the Bears the 26-24 win.^[1]
• Signature Moment: On October 14, 2007 the Bears hosted the Vikings at Soldier Field. The game was scoreless until Devin Hester returned a punt for an 89-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter. But on the final play of the first quarter, Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson launched a 60-yard touchdown pass to Troy Williamson. The Bears threw for 373 yards and Brian Griese threw three touchdowns and two picks, while the Vikings behind rookie RB Adrian Peterson's 224 rushing yards and three scores attacked on the ground to the tune of 311 rushing yards. The Vikings stormed to a 31-17 lead with five minutes in regulation, but two Griese touchdowns tied the game with 1:38 to go. The Vikings clawed into range for a 55-yard Ryan Longwell field goal on the final play for a 34-31 Vikings win.
• Signature Moment: The highest scoring matchup in the two clubs' history came on October 19, 2008 at Soldier Field. The Bears triumphed 48-41 as Kyle Orton threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns while the Vikings' Gus Frerotte had 298 passing yards and two touchdowns but threw four interceptions, the last coming in the final two minutes. The Bears scored twice off botched Vikings punts; Garrett Wolfe ran in a 17-yard score off a blocked punt in the first quarter, while in the second the Vikings dropped a punt snap and Zackary Bowman fell on it in the endzone for a Bears touchdown.
• Signature Moment: En route to the 2008 division title, the Vikings on November 30, 2008 hosted the Bears, and broke out of a close contest with a 99-yard touchdown catch by Vikings ex-Bear Bernard Berrian in the second quarter. The Vikings went on to win 34-14 as Gus Frerotte threw for 201 yards and Adrian Peterson rushed for 131.
• Signature Moment: The 11-3 Vikings traveled to Soldier Field on December 28, 2009 for a Monday Night Football matchup with the 5-9 Bears. The Bears manhandled the Vikings in the game's first half, forcing a Brett Favre fumble and scoring on three Robbie Gould field goals and a seven-yard Jay Cutler touchdown to Greg Olsen. Adrian Peterson rushed in a six-yard touchdown in the third but the extra point was no good, and another Cutler touchdown (to Desmond Clark) put the score at 23-6 Bears entering the fourth. Favre had never won a game (in 42 previous tries) in which his team trailed by at least 17 points, but Favre connected with Visanthe Shiancoe in the third, then after a Ryan Longwell field goal Peterson ran in a second touchdown for a 23-all tie. The Bears clawed downfield and Cutler found Earl Bennett in the endzone, then Favre, on fourth and goal, hit Sidney Rice in the final thirty seconds to tie the game at 30. Gould missed a field goal in overtime, but Peterson caught a Favre pass and then fumbled to the Bears at Minnesota's 39-yard line; Cutler then finished the game with a deep bomb to Devin Aromashodu, ending a wild 36-30 Bears win.
• Signature Moment: The scheduled December 20, 2010 meeting at the Metrodome was moved to TCF Bank Stadium after a snowstorm punctured the inflatable roof and caused collapse. The Bears clinched the NFC North title by hammering the Vikings 40-14. Devin Hester broke a tie with Brian Mitchell for most return touchdowns by scoring on a 66-yard punt, the league-record 14th of his career, while Jay Cutler threw for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Amid speculation he was trying to duck a meeting with Roger Goodell over allegations of harassment of Jenn Sterger[15] Brett Favre, initially ruled out of the game, suited up and started, but after a touchdown in the first quarter he was sacked and thrown head-first to the ground; he left the game and did not return.

Game results

1960s (Bears 11-5-2)

1970s (Vikings 15-5)

1980s (Bears 10-9)

1990s (Vikings 13-8)

2000s (Bears/Vikings 10-10)

2010s (Bears 4-0)

References