Cousins, Vikings beat Bears 19-13
CHICAGO — Kirk Cousins will take a victory any day of the week. That he finally got one on a Monday night didn’t seem to matter.
Cousins threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns, and the Minnesota Vikings overcame a 104-yard kickoff return by Chicago’s Cordarrelle Patterson to beat the Bears 19-13.
Cousins won for the first time in 10 career Monday night starts. He hit Adam Thielen with a 6-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put Minnesota ahead by the final margin, and the Vikings (4-5) held on for their third straight win. They also snapped a four-game losing streak against Chicago (5-5).
“Great to get a win,” Cousins said. “We’ll try to keep building on it now, and it’ll be so important to keep stringing these together if we can. That’s really what the rest of the season will be all about.”
Bears quarterback Nick Foles got taken from the field on a cart in the game’s final minute. Coach Matt Nagy said Foles’ leg and hip were being evaluated after he got slammed on his right side by Minnesota’s Ifeadi Odenigbo as he threw the ball away.
Patterson joined Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington as the only players with eight kick returns for touchdowns when he ran back the opening kickoff of the second half to give Chicago a 13-7 lead. It was the longest kickoff return in franchise history, surpassing Gale Sayers’ 103-yarder against Pittsburgh on Sept. 17, 1967.
Patterson had all the room he needed as he sprinted up the sideline and raised two fingers as he closed in on the end zone.
“I don’t know what I did, man. I was blacked out at the time,” Patterson said.
The record return was the lone bright spot for the Bears as they lost their fourth in a row and matched their longest skid since Nagy was hired in 2018.
Cousins completed 25 of 36 passes with two touchdowns to Thielen, who has nine on the season. His one-handed TD grab in the first quarter was particularly impressive.
Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook ran for 96 yards on 30 attempts. Justin Jefferson caught eight passes for 135 yards.
The defense did not allow an offensive touchdown for the first time in 20 games, including the playoffs, and the Vikings won for just the fourth time in 18 games at Soldier Field since it reopened in 2003 following renovations.
“It’s a goofy year for everybody,” said Harrison Smith, who had an interception. “We’re starting to have a little bit of a feeling of how to make our own energy and our own confidence. I think we’re starting to figure it out a little bit.”
FROM THE MIL TO THE NFL
Statistics for Lahainaluna graduate Hercules Mata’afa of the Minnesota Vikings:
HERCULES MATA’AFA
MONDAY: 2 tackles, including 1 for a loss of 2 yards; 2 quarterback hits.
SEASON: 6 tackles, 0.5 sacks.
Minnesota 7 0 6 6–19
Chicago 3 3 7 0–13
First Quarter
Min–Thielen 17 pass from Cousins (Bailey kick), 6:29.
Chi–FG Santos 23, :32.
Second Quarter
Chi–FG Santos 42, :49.
Third Quarter
Chi–Patterson 104 kickoff return (Santos kick), 14:46.
Min–FG Bailey 37, 10:50.
Min–FG Bailey 43, 1:52.
Fourth Quarter
Min–Thielen 6 pass from Cousins (pass failed), 10:06.
A–0.
Min Chi
First downs 19 10
Total Net Yards 385 149
Rushes-yards 33-99 17-41
Passing 286 108
Punt Returns 1-0 3-44
Kickoff Returns 0-0 3-142
Interceptions Ret. 1-8 1-33
Comp-Att-Int 25-36-1 16-31-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-6 2-16
Punts 5-41.6 5-44.2
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 4-35 1-5
Time of Possession 35:50 24:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Minnesota, Cook 30-96, Mattison 2-4, Cousins 1-(minus 1). Chicago, Patterson 12-30, Pierce 3-9, Foles 1-2, Nall 1-0.
PASSING–Minnesota, Cousins 25-36-1-292. Chicago, Foles 15-26-1-106, Bray 1-5-0-18.
RECEIVING–Minnesota, Jefferson 8-135, Rudolph 4-63, Thielen 4-43, Cook 4-16, Beebe 2-16, Conklin 2-11, Ham 1-8. Chicago, Robinson 6-43, A.Miller 2-28, Patterson 2-19, L.Miller 2-6, Mooney 2-3, Nall 1-18, Kmet 1-7.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
NFL Standings
AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
East
W L T Pct PF PA
Buffalo 7 3 0 .700 272 265
Miami 6 3 0 .667 251 182
New England 4 5 0 .444 189 211
N.Y. Jets 0 9 0 .000 121 268
South
W L T Pct PF PA
Indianapolis 6 3 0 .667 242 177
Tennessee 6 3 0 .667 249 235
Houston 2 7 0 .222 200 252
Jacksonville 1 8 0 .111 199 271
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Pittsburgh 9 0 0 1.000 271 171
Baltimore 6 3 0 .667 244 165
Cleveland 6 3 0 .667 216 244
Cincinnati 2 6 1 .278 204 250
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Kansas City 8 1 0 .889 286 183
Las Vegas 6 3 0 .667 255 241
Denver 3 6 0 .333 186 254
L.A. Chargers 2 7 0 .222 226 245
NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
East
W L T Pct PF PA
Philadelphia 3 5 1 .389 203 232
N.Y. Giants 3 7 0 .300 195 236
Dallas 2 7 0 .222 204 290
Washington 2 7 0 .222 180 218
South
W L T Pct PF PA
New Orleans 7 2 0 .778 271 213
Tampa Bay 7 3 0 .700 296 226
Atlanta 3 6 0 .333 243 251
Carolina 3 7 0 .300 233 272
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Green Bay 7 2 0 .778 277 224
Chicago 5 5 0 .500 191 209
Detroit 4 5 0 .444 227 267
Minnesota 4 5 0 .444 236 247
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Arizona 6 3 0 .667 266 210
L.A. Rams 6 3 0 .667 216 168
Seattle 6 3 0 .667 290 266
San Francisco 4 6 0 .400 238 234
All times HST
Thursday’s Result
Indianapolis 34, Tennessee 17
Sunday’s Results
Cleveland 10, Houston 7
Detroit 30, Washington 27
Green Bay 24, Jacksonville 20
N.Y. Giants 27, Philadelphia 17
Tampa Bay 46, Carolina 23
Arizona 32, Buffalo 30
Las Vegas 37, Denver 12
Miami 29, L.A. Chargers 21
L.A. Rams 23, Seattle 16
New Orleans 27, San Francisco 13
Pittsburgh 36, Cincinnati 10
New England 23, Baltimore 17
Monday’s Result
Minnesota 19, Chicago 13
Byes–Kansas City, N.Y. Jets, Atlanta, Dallas
Thursday, Nov. 19
Arizona at Seattle, 3:20 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Nov. 22
Atlanta at New Orleans, 8 a.m. (FOX)
Cincinnati at Washington, 8 a.m.
Detroit at Carolina, 8 a.m.
New England at Houston, 8 a.m.
Philadelphia at Cleveland, 8 a.m.
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 8 a.m.
Tennessee at Baltimore, 8 a.m.
Miami at Denver, 11:05 a.m. (CBS)
N.Y. Jets at L.A. Chargers, 11:05 a.m.
Dallas at Minnesota, 11:25 a.m.
Green Bay at Indianapolis, 11:25 a.m. (FOX)
Kansas City at Las Vegas, 3:20 p.m. (NBC)
Monday, Nov. 23
L.A. Rams at Tampa Bay, 3:15 p.m.
Byes–Buffalo, Chicago, N.Y. Giants, San Francisco
Note: TV games subject to change