Personal best: long, well done

CHICAGO - Ryan Longwell had never made a 55-yard field goal before Sunday. Not at Bend (Oregon) High School. Not at the University of California. And not in any of his 11 NFL seasons.

"Maybe once in a pregame warmup," Longwell said. "That's it."

History, however, was not his only obstacle Sunday as he lined up for the game-winning kick in the Vikings' 34-31 victory. Also on his mind was a Chicago Bears special teams unit that had blocked four field goals and an extra point this season.

"Normally on a field goal like that, I would tend to drive it [low]," Longwell said. "But I knew I couldn't do that with their guys. They're so good at blocking kicks. So I just had to hit a normal field goal."

The ball went high in the air but slipped over the crossbar, setting off a wild celebration. Longwell's previous career high was a 54-yarder while kicking for Green Bay in 2001.

"I knew it was on line," Longwell said. "You never know from that distance. The referees kind of looked at each other for a second, so I was like, 'What's going on?' But I knew I hit it well."

Earlier this season, Longwell missed a 52-yarder that would gave given the Vikings a victory at Detroit. While that attempt came on the artificial turf of Ford Field, Sunday's kick came on Longwell's favorite surface: grass.

So even after running back Adrian Peterson lost 4 yards on the Vikings' final offensive play, moving the kick to the very limits of Longwell's range, coach Brad Childress said he never had any doubts about the end result.

"He kicked it very well off the grass all week long [in practice]," Childress said. "He likes it. He likes to kick off grass."

Longwell is an avid golfer, prompting Childress to quip: "While I thought it looked like a knockdown 7-iron, he told me it was a full driver."

KEVIN SEIFERT