Santos walks-off Vikings to put Bears in first place

Jeffrey Becker - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 4 hours ago

MINNESOTA - Don't look now, but your Chicago Bears (7-3) are now in first place in the NFC North as they have won seven of their last eight. Although they are only in first place until the Detroit Lions play later tonight, first place is first place, and the Bears have put in a ton of work to get to where they are.

Looking to avoid a sweep from the Minnesota Vikings (4-6), who came into this game undefeated in the division, the Bears traveled to US Bank Stadium, where the Vikings have struggled to win games this season. Despite dominating the Vikings through three quarters, holding a 16-3 lead, it was JJ McCarthy and the Vikings delivering a carbon copy of their week one performance, as two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 15-yard pass to Jordan Addison, put the Vikings on top 17-16 with less than a minute to go.

Unlike in week one, when the Bears couldn't rally late, it was a long 56-yard kickoff return from Devin Duvernay that helped set up the Chicago offense, giving them a chance to win with four seconds to go. Lining up for a 48-yard try, Cairo Santos rebounded from an earlier miss in the fourth quarter to bang home his fourth field goal of the night as time expired as the Chicago Bears walked off the Minnesota Vikings 19-17.

When you look at how things unfolded in this one, the Bears got off to about as sluggish a start as you can have with Will Reicard banging home a 31-yard field goal in the first to provide the only points for most of the first half. It was in the second quarter that the Bears' offense got rolling, as they used a 15-play, 74-yard drive to gash the Vikings' defense, taking nearly nine minutes off the clock.

Most of that drive came from short yardage plays to move the chains as Kyle Monangai finished things off from one yard out to put the Bears on top 7-3. Those were the first of what was 16 unanswered points by the Bears as Chicago forced a McCarthy interception on the Vikings' next possession as Kevin Byard came down with his fifth pick of the year.

That set up the first of four Santos field goals with Santos knocking home a 38-yarder to make this a 10-3 lead. Minnesota had a chance to tack on some late-half points as Justin Jefferson and his team's high 61 yards started to get rolling, only to have Nashon Wright come down with his second interception against his former team this season, with this one coming in the endzone to kill a potential scoring drive.

As the second half got underway, it was the Chicago offense looking to build on where they left things in the first half as Caleb Williams found Rome Odunze for 17 yards to push the ball into Minnesota territory. Williams was far from perfect, completing roughly 50% of his passes for 193 yards. As was the case most of the game, the Vikings defense bent, but didn't break as Santos knocked home a 54-yard field goal to extend the Bears' lead to 13-7.

Following another strong drive from the Bears with Williams picking up 45 yards through the air and another 16 on the ground, the offense stalled once again in Vikings territory with Santos delivering from 33 yards out to make this a 16-3 game. Still holding that lead in the fourth, it was only a matter of time until the Vikings started to gain momentum, but who would've thought a massive sack from Andrew Van Ginkel on third down would be the play that did it.

His sack was followed by a massive 42-yard punt return from Myles Price, and just like that, the Vikings had the Ball inside the Bears' 30 for their best field possession of the night. Two plays later, it was Jordan Mason picking up his fifth touchdown of the season as his 16-yard burst up the middle pulled the Vikings within 16-10. Immediately following that touchdown, it was the Bears who went to the ground as D'Andre Swift did his best to put the game away.

Throughout the duration of the Bears' seven-play drive, Swift carried the rock six times for 38 yards as part of another strong 90-yard day. That set up Santos for what could have been a game-winning field goal, but he saw his 45-yard attempt sail wide, giving the Vikings new life. As bad as the Vikings looked most of the day, the Bears have seen this movie with McCarthy before, and with the ball in their hands and less than five minutes to go, McCarthy picked the worst time to put together a strong drive.

It all started with a 21-yard completion to TJ Hockenson, who had one of his better games of the season. Facing a fourth and four later in the drive, it was Jordan Addison coming down with his first catch of the day to move the chains, keeping the Vikings' hopes alive. As has been the case all season, McCarthy struggled with his accuracy throughout the game. Still, when the Vikings needed him the most, he delivered, completing six of eight passes on the drive, including a massive connection with Jaylon Nailor to move the ball inside the 20.

One play later, it was that man again as McCarthy found Addison for the 15-yard strike to put the Vikings on top 17-16 and less than a minute to go. Needing to orchestrate another late-game drive, the Bears' offense was helped out by Duvernay, who took the ensuing kick for 56 yards down the Vikings' 40, setting things up for the Bears to win the game.

Credit the Vikings defense for holding tough and making the Bears work, as they managed just nine yards of offense, putting the game on the right leg of Santos. Already with three makes but one miss on his last attempt, it was Santos coming through for his biggest kick of the season as his 48-yarder as time expired gave the Bears a 19-17 walk-off win.

With the win, Chicago not only moves into first place in the North but also posts its highest win total since 2021. It also gave Ben Johnson his first of what is hopefully plenty of divisional wins as the Bears continue to deliver.