The Bad

[Mothman]

Ugh you know its a bad day when Jim doesnt have many positives.

LOL! The best thing about this game was the halftime entertainment. A youth football team played a little scrimmage game against a team made up of sports mascots, most of them from local teams (Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox, minor league baseball teams, etc.). It looked like the kids were having a blast.

How long is this rebulding project ging to be? I sure hope its a year or 2 and not a decade. Look what harbaugh (who i cant stand) did in San Fran. It starts from the top, and goes down. Things like receivers now aernt the answer.

Keep in mind, Harbaugh took over a team that had already accumulated a lot of talent and needed someone to pull it together. Frazier has some star players but he's not working with the kind of roster Harbaugh had in SF last year.

I agree that success starts from the top but unfortunately, rebuilding IS going to take time (at least another season) and adding better receivers could help quite a bit. With Harvin out, there just aren't enough weapons in the Vikes passing game to beat a team like the Bears unless the Vikes compensate with great performances in other areas. They didn't get those compensating performances today. Instead, they gave a clinic on how to lose an important road game:

Turn the ball over multiple times
Drop passes
Commit a needless penalty or two
Miss tackles
Shank a punt and give the opposition great field position
Fail to capitalize on red zone opportunities

I could go on but I'm getting depressed...

[CalVike]

The 49ers rock, they are hammering NO on the road. I think our early season 49er win, combined with their dismantling of the Bears on MNF last week, inflated the Vikings confidence.

[PurpleMustReign]

So disappointing to come out flat & mistake prone

I don't know why you would expect any different from the Vikings. They WILL lose ext week in Green Bay as well, probably by a similar score.

[Texas Vike]

LOL! The best thing about this game was the halftime entertainment. A youth football team played a little scrimmage game against a team made up of sports mascots, most of them from local teams (Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox, minor league baseball teams, etc.). It looked like the kids were having a blast.
Keep in mind, Harbaugh took over a team that had already accumulated a lot of talent and needed someone to pull it together. Frazier has some star players but he's not working with the kind of roster Harbaugh had in SF last year.

I agree that success starts from the top but unfortunately, rebuilding IS going to take time (at least another season) and adding better receivers could help quite a bit. With Harvin out, there just aren't enough weapons in the Vikes passing game to beat a team like the Bears unless the Vikes compensate with great performances in other areas. They didn't get those compensating performances today. Instead, they gave a clinic on how to lose an important road game:

Turn the ball over multiple times
Drop passes
Commit a needless penalty or two
Miss tackles
Shank a punt and give the opposition great field position
Fail to capitalize on red zone opportunities

I could go on but I'm getting depressed...

Since you are usually really good at focusing on the silver lining (w/ takes that substantiated and not just forced optimism), I'll put one positive spin on today's game in your honor: we are seeing which WRs are worthwhile moving forward. I think we can cut Burton and Aroma. Jenkins too, eventually. Jarius Wright is showing something and that he has a future w/ this team. We need to draft 2 to 3 WRs this year in the top 5-6 rounds. Watching Brandon Marshal today was making me envious.

[Demi]

Need a guard big time as well. Maybe two. But definitely one.

[dkoby]

Need a guard big time as well. Maybe two. But definitely one.

And Linebackers.... and a defensive tackle......and a corner back......... sigh....I guess it will take at least 2 more drafts

[beardedterror]

When ponder threw his superman pass late in the second qtr I turned the tv off. And im seriously thinking about not watching another game until that scarecrow we have playing QB is replaced, not even kidding

I'm not going to rag on ponder too much today. With the O-line play he got plus the drops by the WRs, I'm giving him a pass this week. He threw a few bad passes, but it was more a team fail than the play by Ponder alone.

[CalVike]

I don't know why you would expect any different from the Vikings. They WILL lose ext week in Green Bay as well, probably by a similar score.

They are good enough to win any given Sunday. And inconsistent enough to lose same. I am cautiously optimistic they can win next week in Green Bay.

[soflavike]

When ponder threw his superman pass late in the second qtr I turned the tv off. And im seriously thinking about not watching another game until that scarecrow we have playing QB is replaced, not even kidding

The "scarecrow"... that's perfect... "All I need is a brain."

[Demi]

The "scarecrow"... that's perfect... "All I need is a brain."

What would he do with a brain if he had one?

[Mothman]

Since you are usually really good at focusing on the silver lining (w/ takes that substantiated and not just forced optimism), I'll put one positive spin on today's game in your honor: we are seeing which WRs are worthwhile moving forward. I think we can cut Burton and Aroma. Jenkins too, eventually. Jarius Wright is showing something and that he has a future w/ this team. We need to draft 2 to 3 WRs this year in the top 5-6 rounds. Watching Brandon Marshal today was making me envious.

I felt the same way. Marshall's performance just emphasized how much difference a really good receiver can make.

I see no reason to bring Burton, Aromashodu, or Jenkins back. Simpson is hurt so maybe he'd be worth giving a new contract but he needs to do something to earn it before the season ends. I agree that wright has a future with the team.

[PurpleMustReign]

I see no reason to bring Burton, Aromashodu, or Jenkins back. Simpson is hurt so maybe he'd be worth giving a new contract but he needs to do something to earn it before the season ends. I agree that wright has a future with the team.

I would bring Aromashodu back as a 5th or 6th, but I agree that Jenkins and Burton shuldn't even be on the team for the rest of the season.

This team has some very good players... and some very bad ones. There really aren't too many "blue collar" players on this team, other than maybe Felton.

[Mercy Percy]

Need a guard big time as well. Maybe two. But definitely one.

Guard or WR in the draft BPA of those two.

The time of possession killed us they seemed to be on offense for an hour...

[mansquatch]

Ponder made some bad plays, that is for sure, the pick was an awful throw. However, I do not think he was the worst performer on offense. The guards or WR were the worst on the field. The WR issue has been beaten to death, but IMO, the guards are not getting enough attention. Today the Bears were stunting in such a way as to bascially concede that they were not going to get by Kalil, but instead had his man pull him away so they could overload the guard. They won that match up all day. Teams have been running overload blitzes at our guards with success for several weeks, now the Bears ran line stunts to the same effect. Why hasn't this obvious protection issue been addressed?

On Defense, it was ridiculous. Anyone with a modicum of football knowledge knew the bears were reliant on Brandon Marshall in the passing game, plus their RB. Sure a few guys caught passes, but we got torched by Marshall. Why no adjustments? Why not double him up on every play? And what about the unbalanced formation? How many times do you get beat before saying "gee, I recognize this, maybe I should adjust accordingly?"

This gets to my main offender for today: The coaching staff. The Bears looked better prepared for the Vikings on a short week than we looked for them coming off a bye. There isn't any need to come up with more colorful adjectives, that says it all. Alan Williams got outfoxed by Mike Tice and the worst OL in football. What? Musgrave... I think the poster above's reference to commentary on ESPN says it all. If not enough, than the 4th quarter red zone visit and the playcalling sequence from 3rd and 2 should do the trick.

Ugh...

[Eli]

The Bears were better prepared? They really didn't have to do much.

On offense, they relied on Cutler to Marshall, who were absolutely unstoppable. With a non-existent Vikings pass rush, the two of them played throw and catch.

On defense, the Vikings offense was the Bears' best weapon. Fumbles, dropped and tipped passes, overthrows, a slow starting run game. All made it easy for the Bears D. They just had to put 11 guys on the field and watch the Vikings cluelessly run around.

This one was an no-brainer for the Bears.