Bears win behind four field goals, four picks
MINNEAPOLIS — Cairo Santos made a 30-yard field goal for Chicago with 10 seconds left, his fourth of the game, and the Bears had four interceptions of Joshua Dobbs in a defense-dominated 12-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
Justin Fields lost two fumbles in the fourth quarter, but with excellent protection on third-and-10 near midfield he hit D.J. Moore for 36 yards to the 13 with 55 seconds left to set up the winning kick. The Bears (48) stopped a 12-game NFC North losing streak, including six in a row against the Vikings (6-6).
“He came back like a true leader does — somebody on the rise as a young quarterback. They just block that out and make that throw,” said Moore, who had 11 catches for 114 yards.
The Vikings, who cautiously chose to hold star wide receiver Justin Jefferson out for another game with his hamstring injury, were helpless on offense with only a field goal by Greg Joseph at the end of the first half to show for the first 54-plus minutes. Dobbs threw the go-ahead score to T.J. Hockenson with 5:54 left, but the Vikings stalled out again after that.
The Bears, who blew a 12-point lead with about three minutes left last week in defeat at Detroit, forced four turnovers for the second straight game. Jaylon Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon had the interceptions, three off deflected balls.
“Turnovers really control the game, so it starts with me and taking care of the football with my decision-making,” Dobbs said.
Gordon’s diving grab with 12:32 to go and a 9-3 lead gave the Bears the ball at the Minnesota 38. But five plays later, Danielle Hunter — whose takedown of Fields in Chicago on Oct. 15 dislocated the quarterback’s thumb and sidelined him for the next five games — dislodged the ball during a sack that Sheldon Day recovered at the Minnesota 23.
The Vikings went the other way in eight plays for their only their second drive of more than 30 yards all game, and the Bears were in danger of another late collapse.