Minneapolis, MN (My Sportsbook) - Gus Frerotte connected with former Bear Bernard Berrian on a franchise-record 99-yard score, and the Vikings posted a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes of the first half to beat Chicago, 34-14, and take over first place in the NFC North.
Frerotte completed 16-of-25 passes for 210 yards and also ran for a score for the Vikings (7-5), who won for the fourth time in five games. Adrian Peterson rushed 28 times for 131 yards and a touchdown, and Berrian had four catches for 122 yards.
"It's definitely important that we got this win tonight," said Berrian. "It was huge. It was pretty much a playoff game. We're in control now."
Kyle Orton connected on 11-of-29 throws for 153 yards and two scores but was picked off three times for the Bears (6-6), who fell out of a first place tie with the Vikings. Orton threw a 65-yard TD pass to Devin Hester. Chicago, which lost for the third time in four contests, is also a game ahead of Green Bay in the division. Matt Forte ran 22 times for 96 yards and caught a touchdown pass in defeat.
The Bears were threatening to expand their lead to 14-3 late in the second quarter, but the Vikings came up with a huge goal-line stand. Forte's 26-yard run put the ball at the one, but the Vikings denied the Bears on four straight plays from that distance, including stopping Forte on a try up the middle on fourth down with barely under five minutes left.
"Against a defense like this you're really not going to have too many opportunities down there," said Orton. "We felt like we needed seven (points) to shift the momentum of the game. It just didn't work out."
On the next play, Berrian, who played his first four seasons (2004-07) for the Bears, got behind cornerback Charles Tillman to catch the bomb on the left side of the field and coasted to the end zone for the longest offensive play in Vikings history.
"Right when I was throwing it I saw the corner just breaking inside. I didn't know where he was going," said Frerotte. "You let it go, put some air on it and it ended up being perfect."
The play tied the longest from scrimmage in NFL history, with this being the 11th time it's been accomplished.
"We came out trying to take control of the division and we let it slip away," said Bears safety Kevin Payne. "I don't think that was the turning point, but that was the momentum for them. It just boiled down to them making more plays than we did."
Minnesota then expanded its lead to 17-7 with 48 seconds left in the half on Frerotte's one-yard push across the goal line. Frerotte hit tight end Jim Kleinsasser on a 21-yard pass that was originally ruled a TD but later reversed. Frerotte scored on the following play.
Chicago got within 17-14 on Orton's two-yard TD pass to Forte with 8:53 left in the third quarter. The Bears needed to move just four yards thanks to Payne's 36-yard interception return.
Orton then fell into trouble and was picked off three times in a seven-pass span. Darren Sharper came up with the first one, rumbling 12 yards to the Chicago 35. That set up Chester Taylor's 21-yard TD run with 4:27 remaining in the third.
Linebacker Ben Leber picked off Orton and fumbled the ball out of bounds at the Chicago 22 three minutes into the fourth quarter. Bears tackle John Tait tried to knock the ball back in play, and Chicago was originally ruled with the recovery, but Minnesota challenged, and replays showed when Tait swiped to hit the ball back in bounds, it hit the sideline.
The Vikings won the challenge, and Peterson scored on a one-yard run with 8:25 left for a 31-14 difference.
Benny Sapp then picked off Orton, leading to a Ryan Longwell 27-yard field goal.
Hester caught a short pass over the middle and raced 65 yards to the end zone nearly seven minutes into the game, but Longwell hit a 23-yard field goal with 12:45 left in the half. On the previous play, Frerotte was hit late from behind from defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, but no penalty was called.
"That was really late," said Frerotte. "It threw me for a little bit of a loop because you're not expecting it in that situation. Sometimes those cheap shots tick you off pretty good and you got out and you want to play well. You want to show them, 'hey whatever you do to me, our team, we're going to be resilient, we're going to play through it and we're going to play tough.' It's just kind of typical of our team."
Game Notes
The Bears host Jacksonville on Sunday, while Minnesota plays at winless Detroit...Minnesota has won three of the last four meetings, but the Bears won, 48-41, at home on Oct. 19 this season...Minnesota's previous longest play in NFL history was 89 yards from Fran Tarkenton to Charley Ferguson on Nov. 11, 1962...Home teams went 2-10 on Sunday in the NFL...Bears starting defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek suffered an arm injury and could be lost for an extended period of time.
