Vikings keep on sliding
CHICAGO — Brett Favre issued a warning, Jared Allen wanted to curse and Adrian Peterson simply felt ill.
The Minnesota Vikings lost again Monday night, beaten by the Chicago Bears 36-30 when Jay Cutler tossed a 39-yard strike to Devin Aromashodu in overtime. It was the Vikings' third loss in four games and gave the New Orleans Saints homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
"Each man on this team needs to go home and look himself in the mirror and figure out what we want to be this year," Allen said afterward, "an 11-5 team or a 12-4 team that makes noise in the playoffs."
The Vikings looked like Super Bowl contenders just a few weeks ago, but now even Favre is expressing concern about the team as it heads into the playoffs.
"We have to play better than we did the last few weeks or we'll be home fairly quickly," Favre said. "I'm just being honest as I can be."
After Favre's stunning fourth-down pass to a leaping Sidney Rice in the end zone with 16 seconds left in regulation, Cutler threw the winner with just over 9 minutes left in overtime to prevent the Vikings (11-4) from locking up a first-round playoff bye.
Nick Roach recovered a fumble by Adrian Peterson following a catch, setting up Cutler's fourth touchdown pass of the game.
Chicago's Robbie Gould, who kicked three field goals in the first half, had a chance to win it on the first possession of the overtime but missed a 45-yard field goal wide right.
The Bears (6-9) pulled it out a few minutes later, though, after Hunter Hillenmeyer knocked the ball away from Peterson. Cutler found an open Aromashodu, who had beaten Antoine Winfield, and the Bears won for just the third time in 11 games.
"It's good for the team, it's good for the morale of going out there and putting up points and answering the bell, especially in the fourth quarter and overtime when you have to do it," Cutler said.
Minnesota can lock up a bye with a win next week and loss or tie by Philadelphia, or with a tie and an Eagles loss. But after running away with the NFC North, the Vikings didn't expect to be in this situation.
They started 10-1 behind a resurgent Favre, but have tailed off since. Favre had a good game after three mediocre performances, completing 26 of 40 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Peterson ran for 94 yards and two scores, but that fumble ruined his night.
"I felt like I had it secured, but as I was going down they punched it," Peterson said. "I thought I was down but obviously not. I mean, the ball came out. I'm feeling sick right now that that happened."
