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The Minnesota Vikings picked up their seventh straight NFL win with a 30-12 win over the Chicago Bears in Minneapolis.
Minnesota, which had already secured its spot in the playoffs following the Seattle Seahawks’ loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, is now 12-2 and tied with the Detroit Lions atop the NFC North.
Quarterback Sam Darnold completed 24 of 40 passes for 231 yards, a touchdown to Justin Jefferson and an interception, increasing the Vikings’ chances of securing first place in the NFC.
Aaron Jones and Cam Akers had touchdown runs in the second half as the Bears suffered their eighth straight loss.
A strong defensive performance by the Vikings led to the Bears going without a touchdown until the end of the fourth quarter, when quarterback Caleb Williams hit Keenan Allen with a 16-yard scoring pass.
“Tonight was about the performance of our defense,” said Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, whose team led 13-0 at halftime.
“It just felt like these guys nailed it when we needed a play.”
Elsewhere, Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Kirk Cousins ended his four-game touchdown pass drought as the Falcons defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 15-9.
The win for the Falcons was their first in four games and improved them to 7-7, behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are 8-6 in the NFC South.
Cousins hadn’t managed to throw a touchdown pass since November 3, but against the Raiders he passed for 112 yards with an interception and gave Drake London a touchdown in the first quarter.
“It’s not where I want it,” Cousins said. “There is a lot of room for improvement.”
The Raiders were still dangerous late, but quarterback Desmond Ridder failed to connect on two passes into the end zone in the final 10 seconds.
