Bears' maligned offense comes to life in 33-27 victory over Vikings

On a Monday night at Soldier Field last month, when the Vikings won their third straight division game while holding the Bears without an offensive touchdown, the notion they could rebuild their defense on the fly, through lost preseason games and injured Pro Bowlers, might never have seemed more real.

The Vikings limited the Bears' moribund offense to 149 yards that night, knocking playoff nemesis Nick Foles out of the game and sending a head coach they hadn't beaten (Matt Nagy) in search of answers.

Mike Zimmer, the defensive architect who'd smirked at preseason expectations of a drop-off in 2020 and declared in August, "I've never had a bad defense - ever," had his team surging back toward a postseason bid with a group of young defenders that appeared on the way to proving him right.

https://www.startribune.com/vikings-lose-to-bears-33-27/600003117/