Counting Snaps: Vikings 13, Bears 9

Thoughts while counting snaps from Sunday's 13-9 win over the Bears at TCF Bank Stadium …

OFFENSIVE SNAPS: 62.

QUARTERBACKS: Teddy Bridgewater 62, Christian Ponder DNP.

Thoughts: It looked like an easy throw when the Bears blew a coverage and simply didn't cover Adam Thielen down the right sideline with the Vikings leading by three points early in the third quarter. But those were the kind of deep throws that Bridgewater was missing earlier this season. He was over-thinking and/or trying to steer the ball, rather than "feeling" the play, as receiver Greg Jennings has taught him. Bridgewater saw the busted coverage and let it fly, letting Thielen run under the ball and score from 44 yards out. Bridgewater made a similar spot-on throw in tight coverage to Jennings in the end zone that initially was ruled a touchdown but was overturned because Jennings didn't quite secure the ball before landing. Bridgewater said his next 12 games will be better than his first 12 games, which carried a 6-6 record. There's plenty of evidence to support belief in that statement.

RECEIVERS, TIGHT ENDS: WR Charles Johnson 57, WR Greg Jennings 48, TE Kyle Rudolph 42, TE Rhett Ellison 41, WR Adam Thielen 20, WR Jarius Wright 8, WR Cordarrelle Patterson 6.

Thoughts: It's ridiculous that Patterson is at the bottom of this snap-count heap. He's easily the most gifted physically of the receivers on this list, and only Rudolph, when healthy, compares to him when it comes to the physical potential of being an All-Pro at his position. But this is where the Vikings are with Patterson. It's the most important offseason of any player on the roster by a wide margin. This game should shame Patterson into putting in the work to improve himself as a player. He wasn't starting because Johnson, an overachieving former seventh-round pick had taken his job weeks ago. He only entered the game at receiver because Wright, an overachieving former fourth-round pick, was injured. He then bobbled a pass that bounced into the hands of a Bears DB and was benched in favor of Thielen, his best friend on the team and an overachieving former undrafted rookie, who quickly caught two passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. If this game doesn't wake Patterson up and force him to improve his study habits and realize that a greater work ethic is required for this level, then, well, nothing will do it. Let's not write the guy off just yet, but because of his poor season, the Vikings need to make a big, fast receiver with polished route running skills a priority this offseason.

OFFENSIVE LINE: LT Matt Kalil 62, LG Charlie Johnson 62, C John Sullivan 62, RG Joe Berger 62, RT Mike Harris 62, Austin Wentworth 2, T Carter Bykowski INA, G David Yankey INA.

RUNNING BACKS: Matt Asiata 40, Joe Banyard 22, FB Jerome Felton 17, Henry Josey INA.

Thoughts: Felton talked after the game about his decision to opt out of the final year of his contract after this season. He'll do so because he's sharp enough to know the team had already decided it wasn't going to keep Felton at $2.5 million when it was carrying Zach Line on its 53-man roster for the sole purpose of making him the starting fullback for $585,000 next season. Line was active for only one game — Sunday against the Bears — but the team liked him enough to keep him on the 53-man roster when two teams tried to sign him off their practice squad earlier this season. Asiata and Banyard give the Vikings two solid running backs heading into next season. Asiata is especially valuable as a backup-caliber player who will come in with straight-ahead power, solid pass protection and good receiving hands and after-the-catch running ability. But if the team parts ways with Peterson, a starting-caliber running back is a priority.

DEFENSIVE SNAPS: 61.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: SS Andrew Sendejo 61, FS Harrison Smith 61, CB Captain Munnerlyn 61, CB Xavier Rhodes 60, CB Josh Robinson 39, S Robert Blanton 2, CB Shaun Prater INA, S Ahmad Dixon INA.

Thoughts: We have no idea how the draft will unfold, and gosh knows we'll be fed 6.723 million inaccurate mock drafts over the next five months, but don't be surprised if the Vikings jump on a safety if one is at or near the top of their board. The team's handling of Blanton and Sendejo in recent weeks shows they place basically the same value on them. And the educated guess here is that value is backup-caliber on both of them. That doesn't make them bad players or players without value. They're just targets for an offseason upgrade. Blanton had played every snap of the first 13 games. He injured his leg late in the 14th game and was inactive for a week. At Miami, he was healthy enough to start, but Sendejo started. That's not a good sign for Blanton's long-term status as a starter. Fully healthy now, Blanton played only two snaps in a three-safety look late in the game. Sendejo is a special teams leader, not a starting safety. When Blanton won the job coming out of training camp, coach Mike Zimmer basically admitted that no one really won the job but someone had to start there.

Thoughts: Cole plays with a reckless abandon that's fun to watch and actually caused some of us to double check on the team record for tackles in a game. When Cole made five tackles in Chicago's first seven snaps, we were reminded that the team record is 24 by Scott Studwell against the Lions in 1985. Cole finished with a game-high 14 tackles, 11 of them solo, and did an outstanding job of limiting Matt Forte to only 23 yards on eight receptions. This isn't the first time Cole has jumped out of his cleats at an opportunity. In his first NFL start a year ago, he opened the game at Lambeau Field with a wild rush up the middle for a sack of Aaron Rodgers. Playing middle linebacker in that game, Cole finished with 18 tackles. Cole was playing out of position on the weak side because Greenway was injured. But Cole has the skill set, the size and the speed to get by at any of the three positions, as well as the sub packages. As for Greenway, it feels like he can still bring enough value to this team in terms of play and veteran direction. He's willing to work with the team financially to make it happen, too. Talented young players like Cole and Hodges make it a difficult decision for the Vikings to make. If they were to add another young outside linebacker, Greenway probably will have to finish his career elsewhere because he still has at least one more year in him.

DEFENSIVE LINE: DE Everson Griffen 54, DE Brian Robison 52, DT Sharrif Floyd 45, DT Tom Johnson 32, NT Linval Joseph 26, NT Shamar Stephen 17, DE Corey Wootton 16, Justin Trattou 1.

Thoughts: Other than Bridgewater's development, fans should be most pleased with pretty much everything when it comes to how the Zimmer/GM Rick Spielman regime overhauled the defensive line. It was a problem area that had grown old. It wasn't easy dispatching the likes of Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. But the Vikings made the D-line its No. 1 priority. It took a gamble on giving Griffen a big contract. It targeted Joseph as the top free agent. And it plugged in quality backups with key roles, like Johnson. The one potential miss is spending a third-round pick on Scott Crichton and getting so little out of him. He was inactive in eight games and played mostly special teams in the other eight. He could develop into a good player, but it's not encouraging that he contributed so little while Stephen, a rookie seventh-rounder, was a consistent part of the defensive line rotation.

SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS: Most snaps: Marcus Sherels 15.