MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell wanted to give receiver Justin Jefferson chances Monday night against the Chicago Bears, and why wouldn’t he?

Widely considered the NFL’s best pass catcher, Jefferson can single-handedly take over a game with his highlight-reel catches and big-play ability.

However, the last time the Vikings and Bears were on the same field, Jefferson only managed two catches for 27 yards. On Monday night, in the national spotlight, the Vikings made sure something like that wouldn’t happen again.

Quarterback Sam Darnold targeted Jefferson 13 times as the former Offensive Player of the Year finished with seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, helping Minnesota to a convincing 30-12 victory.

Although it was far from Jefferson’s best game, he managed to bounce back from a tough game at Soldier Field and lead the Vikings to their seventh straight win. Since that game in Chicago, Jefferson has caught 21 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

“Just seeing us stack the plays, stack the good plays together, it’s really nice to see,” Jefferson said. “Our potential is so great. We expect the offense to be the best on the field in every game.”

Minnesota is still controlling its own destiny in the NFC North and now has the best record in the conference with just three games remaining in the regular season.

Here are three takeaways from Monday night’s bust at US Bank Stadium:

Jonathan Greenard sprinted around the edge midway through the first quarter and smashed Bears quarterback Caleb Williams from the blind side. The ball fell to the turf and was quickly picked up by linebacker Blake Cashman, who was then thrown to the ground at the Chicago 39-yard line.

The fumble eventually turned into points — a 7-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson — and marked the 14th straight game in which the Vikings’ defense had forced a turnover. According to team officials, it is the first time Minnesota has started a season with at least one turnover in 14 straight games since 1992, when the defense had 16 straight games with a turnover.

The Vikings, the only team in the league to record at least one takeaway in every game this season, have forced 28 turnovers this season, tied for second in the NFL with Houston.

The defense also stopped Chicago twice on fourth down, and while they didn’t go down as turnovers, they still gave the Minnesota offense the ball without giving up any points. The defense has been a catalyst at times, regularly giving the offense extra possessions during this seven-game winning streak.

The Vikings defense not only managed forced turnovers against the Bears on Monday night, it also repeatedly stopped attacks on third and fourth downs. The Bears went an abysmal 1-for-12 on third-down conversions and 1-of-3 on fourth-downs.

“Getting stops there is a lot of turnovers, especially when they’re secured in your own end zone,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Being aggressive, trying to win a football game and getting short fields is crucial. That doesn’t appear as turnover in the statistics, but I definitely see it that way.”

The first fourth-down stop came on the first possession of the game, and although it only resulted in three points, it set the tone on defense early, forcing a third-down turnover on the following possession.

It took some time, but the Vikings were finally able to get their running game going and that helped hold on to the win in the second half on Monday night.

Running backs Aaron Jones and Cam Akers each reached the end zone after halftime after carrying the ball just 10 times in the first 30 minutes. Jones went first with a 1-yard plunge late in the third quarter to extend Minnesota’s lead to 20-3, and Akers scored on the next possession – also from 1 yard – to make it 27-6. The duo combined for 110 rushing yards despite only totaling 43 yards in the first half.

“Where we’re going as a football team, you want to be able to run the football, it’s just going to set up the things that we want to do,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I thought there was some real physicality there. I liked Cam’s finish on the last play, and I liked Aaron supporting a pretty well-planned play by the guys to just get the momentum and get forward into the end zone.”

Rally behind Randy Moss: Vikings receivers Cris Carter and Jake Reed joined the team at Monday’s coin toss, holding up a Randy Moss jersey to show their support for the Hall of Fame receiver who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Justin Jefferson then found a camera after his 7-yard touchdown catch and delivered the message, “We love you, Randy,” while forming a heart with his hands.

O’Neill injured: Right tackle Brian O’Neill suffered a knee injury Monday night that kept him out of part of the game. The Pro Bowl tackle finally came back into the game in the third quarter.

Flags, flags everywhere: The Vikings and Bears combined for 19 penalties, 10 of which were by the home team – the most penalties for Minnesota in a game since Week 6.