Proud mantra sustains defense

A blade of grass. That's a phrase used often by members of the Vikings defense.

"Our guys really believe if you give them a blade of grass, they feel like they can defend it," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "That's their mantra. That's how they think."

They backed up those words with a game-changing goal-line stand in the second quarter of a 34-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.

The Bears had the ball first-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line, and all that stood between the Vikings and a 14-3 deficit were a few blades of (artificial) grass.

The mindset in the huddle?

"Let's go, we've done it before," defensive tackle Kevin Williams said. "We were just up for it."

In a stand that might ultimately take on even more significance if the Vikings win the NFC North Division title, the Vikings dug in their heels and held the Bears on downs, stuffing three consecutive runs after a first-down incompletion.

"I don't know if I've ever seen a stand like that, especially how close they were," safety Darren Sharper said. "It's a big difference from the 4-yard line and 3-yard line compared to the one-inch line. You can just fall over as a quarterback a lot of times and get into the end zone and score. But our defensive front was just big to stop them at that point in the game."

Their stand set up a 99-yard touchdown pass from Gus Frerotte to Bernard Berrian on the first play of the Vikings' ensuing possession. The touchdown pass tied a record for the longest in NFL history and gave the Vikings the lead for good, but the offensive players were quick to tip their caps to the defense.

"For a defense to stop an NFL team on the 1-yard line four times in a row," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said, "that's unbelievable."

Though certainly not ideal, the Vikings said they enjoy the challenge of being in that position, backs against the wall, their margin for error minuscule.

"That's what we pride ourselves on, those situations when we know they're going to run the ball and it's mano-a-mano," linebacker Ben Leber said.

The Bears began the sequence with an incomplete pass to tight end Greg Olsen off a play-action fake by quarterback Kyle Orton. Linebacker Chad Greenway called that situation the "hardest play to defend" for linebackers because they are selling out against the run, but they must also be mindful of a play-action pass to a tight end releasing off the line.

"It's hard to serve two masters," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "They play-faked on first down, which is a good down to play-fake down there. Then they tried to take our will and run it three times in a row."

Matt Forte rushed for no gain on second down. The Bears gave the ball to fullback Jason Davis, who was promoted from the practice squad, up the middle for no gain on third down.

Bears coach Lovie Smith opted not to kick the field goal on fourth down. Forte ran over the right side but was stopped for no gain by Pat Williams, Jared Allen and Leber.

The Vikings said they were not surprised the Bears passed up three easy points.

"If they get [a touchdown] that's a huge momentum boost for them," Leber said. "I think it was the right call on their part. We just made the play."