Kirk Cousins' late charge helps Vikings avoid upset over Bears

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Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings established a remarkable rhythm early. Their resiliency surfaced again late.

The reward is being alone in first place in the NFC North.

Cousins scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 2:26 remaining on Minnesota's fifth third-down conversion of its go-ahead drive, and the Vikings snapped out of another mid-game slump just in time to beat the Chicago Bears 29-22 on Sunday.

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Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings is hit by Trevis Gipson #99 of the Chicago Bears during the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

"I'm not where I was at the end of last season in that old system," Cousins said, "but we're developing it and we're getting there and I'm excited about that continued growth."

Cameron Dantzler sealed the victory for the Vikings (4-1) by ripping the ball away from former teammate Ihmir Smith-Marsette near the one-minute mark after a pass from Justin Fields to the Minnesota 39.

"It’s a start. That’s all it is, though," said Cousins, who went 32 for 41 for 296 yards.

The Vikings have trailed with less than 5 minutes remaining in three straight games and won each time. They took the lead against Detroit for good with 45 seconds to go in Week 3 and pulled ahead at New Orleans in Week 4 with 24 seconds left.

"Don’t necessarily think we found that four quarters of consistent ball that we’re looking for, but as we’ve learned it’s not easy to do in the NFL," said first-year coach Kevin O’Connell, whose team has beaten all three division foes at home.

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