Raw group of defenders picks the Vikings clean

CHICAGO - Gus Frerotte expected the Vikings offense to move the ball through the air against a Bears defense that ranked 27th in the NFL against the pass and was without its starting two cornerbacks and its nickel back.

Frerotte passed for a season-high 298 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Vikings, Frerotte also threw four interceptions, which left him visibly frustrated after a 48-41 loss to Chicago at Soldier Field.

The Vikings rolled up 439 total yards, scored 41 points, had 28 first downs and held a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. But those interceptions stuck out like a sore thumb.

"For me personally, it was tough," Frerotte said. "Four interceptions, it's hard when you do that. When we watch the film, there are a lot of good things that will come out of it. But for me, this loss is tough."

It wasn't a career high in interceptions for Frerotte. He threw five against Baltimore as the Rams quarterback last season. But his turnovers, three of which came in the second half, undermined an otherwise strong performance by the offense.

"I don't want to say I let my team down because I gave it everything I had out there," Frerotte said. "It's hard to come up on the losing end in a game like that."

Frerotte's first three interceptions were all intended for Bernard Berrian, who caught six passes for 81 yards in his return to Chicago. The first interception was thrown too far inside. The second one was overthrown down the sideline. The third one came on a deflection by linebacker Lance Briggs into the arms of safety Kevin Payne. That led to a Bears touchdown.

Frerotte's final interception came with 40 seconds left and the Vikings in desperation mode. Moving out of the pocket, he underthrew Aundrae Allison and Zackary Bowman made the game-ending pickoff.

The play that seemed to bother Frerotte more than any, though, was his incomplete pass to Berrian on fourth-and-1 from the Bears 36 in the third quarter.

With his team trailing 34-31, Frerotte faked a handoff to Adrian Peterson and rolled right. His first read was to Peterson in the flat, but he was covered. Frerotte looked as if he had room to run, but he tried to squeeze a low pass to Berrian and it fell incomplete.

Chicago scored on its next possession to take a 10-point lead.

"I probably could have run it and probably should have done that," Frerotte said. "Sometimes in my thinking that's not always first. But in those situations that's got to be in my thinking. I was trying to fit it in to Bernard. I know I didn't want to get hit in the backfield or hang on to the ball. But I'm probably going to watch that play and be pretty sick."