Caleb Williams had just trotted off the field after being chased all over the backfield by Minnesota’s Jonathan Greenard during another failed third-down play for Chicago when he flopped onto the bench and rolled his head back in exhaustion.

After taking a hard, clean hit to the midsection of Jihad Ward early in the fourth quarter, just before releasing the ball on that incompletion, Williams leaned to his left as if looking for a place to seemingly lie down could mix of tiredness, pain and frustration.

The Vikings can have that effect on a young quarterback.

“We were really disciplined, but it just felt explosive, guys were flying out of bounds,” coach Kevin O’Connell said after Monday night’s 30-12 win over the Bears. “When that thing moves, it just feels like it’s relentless.”

Although the Vikings only registered two sacks, they had Williams on their heels all night. The first pick in the draft used his exceptional athleticism to escape some of the pressure, but he often started scrambling earlier than necessary and several of his throws went completely wrong. Williams had just three completions of more than 15 yards, all in the second half, while the Bears trailed by two or more points.

Williams finished 18 for 31 for 191 yards and a touchdown and posted a passer rating of 86.9, his worst in six weeks. His interception-free streak spanned eight straight games and 286 consecutive passes, an NFL rookie record, but the Vikings delivered the kind of dominant defensive performance that has helped them of late en route to their seventh straight win and a 12-12 mark. 2 record was needed to secure Detroit first place in the NFC North. Greenard’s sack in the first quarter forced a fumble to set up their first touchdown. Dallas Turner’s sack in the fourth quarter forced a punt.

Three weeks ago in Chicago, Williams threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 30-27 overtime win.

“We saw the film last time and he looked like a wizard out there, so today we were like, ‘Don’t make him look like that this time,'” fellow safety Cam Bynum said. “He still got away a few times and made it difficult for us at the back end, but they were still chasing him up front.”

Aaron Jones and Cam Akers scored and gave the Vikings two rushing touchdowns in a game for the first time in 2024, and according to Sportradar, the Vikings converted 27.6% of their rushing attempts into first downs, their third-highest rate of the season.

Sam Darnold was sacked just twice on a season-high 42 dropbacks, but he felt a lot of pressure in the pocket against the Bears. His average yards per pass attempt (5.78) was his second-lowest of the season.

Despite limited playing time behind standout edge rushers Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, Turner has become more of a starter. The rookie recorded his first sack since the season opener on Monday night with a speed move against Bears right tackle Darnell Wright.

“I think you saw a little bit of everything: the speed, the burst, the curve,” O’Connell said.

Left tackle Cam Robinson, who was otherwise an excellent emergency replacement for the injured Christian Darrisaw, had four penalties on Monday: three false starts and one illegal formation.

Right tackle Brian O’Neill played 63 of 77 snaps despite suffering a right knee injury in the first quarter that he later aggravated. With just one day less to recover, his status for Sunday in Seattle is in question, but no structural damage was noted, just soreness.

Cornerback Stephon Gilmore is on track to return against the Seahawks after sitting out the last two games with a hamstring strain. Two key reserves, cornerback Fabian Moreau (hip) and defensive lineman Jalen Redmond (concussion), will be evaluated later in the week.

28 – The Vikings are tied for second in the NFL with 20 interceptions and eight fumbles. With at least one forced turnover in all 14 games this season, the Vikings are the only team in the league to have the longest winning streak since 1992, when they forced at least one turnover in all 16 games.

The Vikings have lost five straight games at Lumen Field in Seattle since their only win at the 23-year-old stadium in 2006. After three straight games in the comfort of US Bank Stadium, the Vikings face one of the league’s most challenging environments for visiting teams under the cantilevered upper deck that amplify crowd noise. The Seahawks (8-6) had their four-game winning streak just stopped by Green Bay.

Then the Vikings host the Packers and play at the Lions in what could be a division title game. If they win, they’ll be the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a first-round bye. But just one more loss could leave them a No. 5 seed and potentially on the road for the entire postseason.