Blasted by Berrian

A former player came back to haunt the Bears at Minnesota Sunday night in a 31-14 loss. The Vikings take over the Northern Division lead at 7-5, the Bears are 6-6 and the Packers 5-7.

Minnesota and Chicago have split the season series with four games left. Chicago completes a four-game road trip and plays at home Sunday against Jacksonville.

Bernard Berrian followed a goal-line stand by a soon to be disbanded Vikings defensive wall with a 99-yard TD catch and run past a confused Turkey Tillman. It was the turning point of the game as it turned a potential large lead via a Bears score into a 10-7 deficit in the matter of two plays.

The Bears, abbetted by a crucial personal foul call/punches to the face on sure-to-be-fined cornerback Bennie Sapp, setting up a first-and-10 at the Minnesota 27, instead of a third-and-four at the 40. Matt Forte ripped a 26-yard run to the goal-line.

Minnesota stiffened, led by their “Williams Wall” of defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams. They have admitted to using a banned diuretic and may miss the rest of the season when the NFL rules this week. But they were on line and playing fine against the Bears.

Kyle Orton tossed first down out of the end zone and then abandoned the pass.  Three straight line plunges -- two by Forte -- gained nothing but a Vikings celebration. Coach Lovie Smith looked distressed on the sideline at the effort.

Berrian streamed past Tillman for the game-turner.

"That's the first time I've ever seen a 99-yard play, and I've been playing football since I was 8 years old," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said. "That right there, that's just a dagger in your chest. Defensively, if that happened to us, I'd be like, 'Holy smokes.'"

Tillman gave the Vikings their next scoring opportunity as well. A horse-collar tackle set the Vikings up at the 21. Gus Frerotte hit Jim.Kleinsasser for 20 yards, then stepped into the end zone to complete the 17-0 second-quarter rout. It was Kleinsasser’s only catch of the halkf.

Frerotte was 10-of-16 for 160 yards. Berrrian had two other catches for a total of 118 yards. Adrian Peterson already had 100 yards rushing and the Bear defense looked shredded. Adding to it was the loss in the first quarter of defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek. Defensive back Nathan Vasher has already been lost for the season.

Kyle Orton hit just 5-of-16 passing in the half. Forte had 63 rushing yards on 14 carries.

"With any quarterback, you put pressure on 'em and they rush their throws a little bit," defensive end Ray Edwards said. "He didn't have time back there to make the plays that needed to be made." 

On the second Bears possession, Hester broke off a 66-yard TD run for the lone score of the opening quarter. There was 8:53 left in the first quarter and the Bears did not score again

Minnesota started with a Ryan Longwell 23-yard field goal in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

In the third quarter, each side scored. The Bears were set up when Kevin Payne grabbed an interception and ran it back 36 yards to the Viking 4. Two plays later, Forte ran in from the 2.

Orton, after a team-record 205 passes without an interception threw his first of this game to Sharper, who was tackled at the Bear 35. It is his first intercept of the season. The Vikings used five plays to score, the last a 21-yard run by Chester Taylor. It was 24-14.

Orton threw another pick in the fourth quarter, by Ben Leber at midfield and returned to the Bear 22, where he fumbled it out of bounds. Peterson eventually ran it in from the 1.

Orton made it an incredible three straight interceptions in seven attempts when Sapp grabbed one and ended the return with his team at the Chicago 35. That drive ended in a 27-yard Longwell field goal. It was 34-14 with 4:18 left and the Bears had never responded to the 17-point outburst by Minnesota in the second quarter. The Bears went three-and-out. The Vikings ran the clock down to a minute.

Forte ended with 96 yards, surpassing 1,000 as the fourth Bear ever to do that in a rookie season. Peterson ended with 131 yards against the Bear defense.

Jared Allen had eight tackles for Minnesota. Corey Graham had nine and Lance Briggs eight for Chicago.