Good 'til the last drop

Tony Richardson gathered his stunned teammates Sunday afternoon, hoping to add a veteran's perspective to an otherwise unnerved group. "All this means," Richardson said, "is that we're not going to go undefeated this year."

No, the Vikings won't finish 16-0 after losing a fourth-quarter lead and falling 19-16 to the Chicago Bears. The Vikings concluded their demanding September schedule with victories in two of their first three games, but on Sunday it was fascinating to observe their response to the first loss of the Brad Childress era.

If teams are best judged by their reaction to adversity, the Vikings have some work to do before they can ascend to the NFL's elite.

On the one hand, Richardson provided a necessary emotional pickup. Center Matt Birk stood tall as well, taking the blame for a fumbled exchange between quarterback Brad Johnson and running back Chester Taylor in the fourth quarter.

The play put the Bears in position to score the winning touchdown, a 24-yard pass from Rex Grossman to Rashied Davis with 1 minute, 53 seconds remaining.

On the other hand, several players inexplicably took time from their postgame routine to complain about a full-page photo of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher in Sunday morning's Star Tribune. Although the accompanying story chronicled the Vikings' progress on defense -- and, most important, had nothing to do with the outcome of the game -- some Vikings took offense that Urlacher was the visual emphasis.

Even Childress fell victim to the pettiness, spending only 2 minutes and 11 seconds in his postgame news conference. Scheduling confusion left many reporters unaware that he had entered the Vikings' interview room; Childress answered only three questions and ended the session as reporters were still arriving -- leaving many of the game's key issues unaddressed by the purported singular voice of the franchise.

"We've dealt with a little prosperity here the last couple of weeks," was one of the few things that Childress did say. "Now, we need to see how to deal with some adversity, and we'll do that. We all realize this is 1/16th of the season."

That "1/16th" theme was prevalent throughout the locker room, in between the artistic analysis and evasive maneuvers. Another relevant fraction: In two-thirds of their games this season, the Vikings prevailed in late-game pressure situations.

Sunday, however, they folded even after Grossman seemed intent on hand-delivering them the game.

The Vikings intercepted him twice, the latter returned 7 yards for a touchdown by cornerback Antoine Winfield to give the Vikings a 13-9 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. But the Vikings dropped three other interceptions, including one by safety Darren Sharper in the second quarter that almost certainly would have resulted in a touchdown, and they watched as the Bears adjusted to blitz packages in the fourth quarter that previously had panicked Grossman into at least a half-dozen poor throws.

Indeed, Grossman appeared revived with 3:25 remaining -- when Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris beat Birk into the Vikings backfield, contributing to the poor exchange between Johnson and Taylor. Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye recovered at the Vikings 37-yard line.

Thanks to an adjustment in protection schemes by the Bears coaching staff, Grossman needed only five plays to erase the Vikings' 16-12 lead. His 11-yard completion to receiver Muhsin Muhammad, which converted a third-and-8, came only after Chicago's line picked up blitzing linebackers Napoleon Harris and E.J. Henderson.

Chicago also picked up a blitz on the touchdown to Davis, who got open when he ran past cornerback Ronyell Whitaker. Grossman found Davis before safety Dwight Smith arrived to help.

It was the kind of ending, guard Artis Hicks said, that causes sleepless nights.

"We just feel like we gave one up today," Hicks said. "One or two bad plays, and you give it up. That's why when you win in this league, you have to enjoy it and appreciate all the hard work that goes into it. They are hard to come by. ... You hate to lose like that. ... There is no way you should have lost that game."

Hicks knows that even the best teams do not win every close game. Yet it can be said that the difference between good and average teams are that they handle failure the same way they handle success.

Suffice it to say, the Vikings are a work in progress in that department.

"We're going to keep grinding and put ourselves in position to win ballgames," Richardson said, offering the most optimistic ray of hope. "We know we were one or two plays away. We also know that that's when good football teams get it done.

"We're still trying to get up to that caliber."