Pressure drop
The Bears entered Sunday's game with the Vikings ranked near the bottom of the league at allowing sacks. So why is it the only time Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was technically sacked was when he got his foot stepped on by his own lineman, falling to the ground?
In other words, why were the Vikings unable to get to the quarterback?
A big reason, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said, is that the Vikings rarely put the Bears in the position of having to get the ball deep downfield. "They had a lot of five, six-yard passes and trying to run after the catch," Frazier said. "So we didn't get them into the kind of game we needed to be, where we were able to take advantage of what we thought was an opportunity for our defensive line."
The Bears started the game by chipping on the Vikings defensive ends with the tight end, and never really had to deviate from that plan. Things were different for the Bears against San Fransicso the week before. In that game Chicago got behind early and had to get more aggressive in the passing game.
Sunday the Bears came out with a conservative game plan -- helping the line with tight ends and backs -- and the Vikings never forced Chicago to change.
"Their passing game was different than what they had used the week before or the week before that," Frazier said. "They really shortened some things down, which was smart. They did the right things to do."
And the Vikings offense never put the Bears in a position to have to change things up.
