Vikings not worried about Peterson’s left ankle

Tailback Jerick McKinnon led the way with four receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns out of the backfield.

-PASS DEFENSE: B. Jay Cutler ended up with a 93.4 passer rating, but he had only 231 yards on 26 completions. Young now has 5.5 sacks in his last five games and is proving he can still play no matter what his position is on this defense. Smith’s status for next week’s game against the New York Giants is unknown. Favre, coincidentally, was the last Vikings player to pass for four touchdowns in a game, on January 17, 2010, in the playoffs. His fumble during a sack in field-goal range with 5 seconds remaining was the only glaring mistake, but the play was slow-developing with receivers running left to right and no safe options with that amount of time.

The only scenario in which they would miss out is a three-way tie with Atlanta and Seattle at 9-7 for the two wild-card spots.

Getting overpowered is one thing, but when Grasu is getting beat by bigger DTs due to bad footwork and a lack of quickness, it makes me wonder about his long term potential regardless of how much time his spends in the weight room.

“We’re going to keep marching forward and find guys we think can be part of our core moving forward”, Fox said.

Bridgewater hit Stefon Diggs on a 33-yard catch-and-run for a score on the ensuing drive, giving Minnesota a 24-7 lead, and the Vikings never looked back. Led by Rashad Jennings, who carried the ball 16 times for 107 yards and a touchdown, the Giants rushed for 161 yards as a team, their highest total since Week 3 of last season when they ran for 193 against Houston.

The Vikings came off of a game where they had three fumbles from Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, Jarius Wright that all resulted in a loss.

Alshon Jeffery caught one of Cutler’s two touchdown tosses, but that was his only reception.

Matt Forte’s touchdown reception pulled the Bears back within 14 points but Bridgewater hit Line for a four-yard touchdown with 1:50 left for the final margin.

-In his third start in the place of injured Martellus Bennett, Zach Miller recorded six catches and 57 yards as he continues to progress as the top option over the middle. Once the Bears fell far behind in the third quarter, the Vikings no longer had to worry about the run. He ran for another score and threw no interceptions for a second straight week. The Vikings also were caught off-guard on the second-half kickoff when the Bears executed a successful onside kick. He had a weak 36-yarder and a touchback.

Thoughts on the Bears’ loss to Minnesota on Sunday.

This was second down, midway through the first quarter of a then-scoreless game, so Bridgewater could’ve played it safe.

Speaking of outstanding performances, the Vikings defensive line continued to play at an extremely high level against Chicago despite nose tackle Linval Joseph being inactive once again due to injury. Offensively, Turner’s play-calling and balance was exceptional from the first drive. The special teams were uncharacteristically lacking, but overall, the Vikings were exceptionally well-coached.