Bears beat Vikings 33-27 to stay in stride in playoff race
Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson (39) celebrates at the end of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020, in Minneapolis. Cairo Santos, who converted all four of his kicks, stretched his streak to 22 straight field goals made. The Bears then intercepted a last-snap heave by Cousins into the end zone to drop the Vikings to 3-5 at home this year. When the Vikings beat them 19-13 five weeks ago in Chicago, the Bears managed two first-half field goals and needed a kickoff return touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson to stay competitive. Vikings: play at New Orleans on Friday.
Brady throws for 2 TDs, Buccaneers wear down Vikings 26-14
The Bucs (8-5) bolstered their chances of their first postseason berth in 13 years with Sunday's 26-14 victory over Minnesota. Bailey nearly cost the Vikings the previous week, too, missing two extra points and a potential winning kick before nailing a field goal in overtime to beat Jacksonville. This time, Brady shrugged off a scoreless opening quarter with help from Bailey and a trio of costly of penalties on the Vikings' defense. Brady launched two of Tampa Bay’s three first-half scoring drives after missed field goal attempts. A pass interference call on linebacker Todd Davis gave Tampa a chance to tack on the field goal that made it 17-6 at the break.
Vikings outlast error-prone Jags 27-24 on Bailey's OT kick
Minnesota Vikings place kicker Dan Bailey (5) celebrates with teammates after kicking a 23-yard field goal during overtime in an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Minneapolis. The Cowboys, Panthers and Jaguars (1-11), who lost their 11th straight game, are a combined 8-27. Chase McLaughlin even had a chance to win it with a 62-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter that fell short. FOUR FIGURESJefferson joined Pro Football Hall of Fame member Randy Moss (1998) as the only rookies in Vikings history to reach 1,000 receiving yards. Vikings: CB Jeff Gladney (calf) and TE Brandon Dillon (ankle) each left the game.
Cousins, Vikings overcome Patterson return, beat Bears 19-13
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Monday, Nov. 16, 2020, in Chicago. Cousins threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and the Minnesota Vikings overcame a 104-yard kickoff return by Chicago’s Cordarrelle Patterson to beat the Bears 19-13. “We’ll try to keep building on it now, and it’ll be so important to keep stringing these together if we can. It was the longest kickoff return in franchise history, surpassing Gale Sayers’ 103-yarder against Pittsburgh on Sept. 17, 1967. Cousins completed 25 of 36 passes with two touchdowns to Thielen, who has nine on the season.