Cairo Santos drilled a 48-yard field goal as time expired, and the Chicago Bears escaped with a 19-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Teammates swarmed Santos after the kick, which marked his fourth successful field goal in five attempts for Chicago (7-3). Kyle Monangai scored the lone touchdown for the Bears.
JJ McCarthy completed 16 of 32 passes for 150 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Minnesota (4-6). Jordan Mason rushed for a score and Jordan Addison had a touchdown catch for the Vikings.
The Bears led comfortably for much of the game before the Vikings rallied in the fourth quarter.
Down 16-3, Minnesota started to chip away thanks in large part to a big play on special teams. Myles Price returned a punt 43 yards to the Chicago 24-yard line, and the Vikings offense capitalized on the short field two plays later with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Mason.
The play cut the Vikings’ deficit to 16-10 with 12:33 remaining.
The Bears had to settle for a field goal attempt on their next possession, but Santos missed a 45-yard kick wide left.
Minnesota remained behind by six until its final possession. McCarthy led the team on a 10-play, 85-yard drive that culminated with a 15-yard touchdown strike to Addison down the left side. That put the Vikings ahead 17-16 with 50 seconds remaining.
McCarthy struggled for much of the game but completed his final five passes for 54 yards, including a fourth-down conversion.
The Bears responded with their own big play on special teams to stun a home crowd that thought it had witnessed a fourth-quarter comeback.
Chicago’s Devin Duvernay caught the kickoff and found an opening as he weaved from left to right. He made it 56 yards before he finally was nudged out of bounds at the Minnesota 40-yard line.
The Bears managed only 9 yards of offense in the next few plays, but that was enough to get Santos in his range. He drilled the 48-yarder as the final second ticked off the clock to lift Chicago to its third straight win.
