Passage: The Bears returned from the bye week by hosting the 4-2 Minnesota Vikings. In their rivalry, the Vikings led the all-time series 55-51-2, the Vikings winning the last game 13-9, though the Vikings had not beaten the Bears at Soldier Field since 2007. Jeff Joniak wrote that the offense had to protect Jay Cutler; the Vikings defense sacked Matthew Stafford seven times in week seven, with a total of 17 in 2015. In eleven career games against Minnesota, Cutler excelled, throwing 23 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, with an 8-3 record. A player that Joniak believed Cutler could attack is cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who allowed four passing touchdowns and a league-worst ten penalties. Additionally, the running backs could target a defense that allowed six yards per carry, one of the worst in the NFL. On defense, the Bears had to watch for Adrian Peterson, who averaged 88 rushing yards per game, including two consecutive games with at least 120 yards in each. Another player was quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 25 passes to eleven players in week seven, while watching for the speed of the Minnesota receiving corps. Despite such successes, as a whole, the Vikings offense was averaging 325.5 yards per game, the third-least in the league. In the red zone, the Vikings scored touchdowns on 42.11 percent of their drives, among the worst in the NFL. Terrance Mitchell, Shea McClellin, Hroniss Grasu, Jermon Bushrod, Bruce Gaston, Ka'Deem Carey and Cameron Meredith were inactive. The Bears won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. The Bears special teams unit struggled, with returner Marc Mariani muffing the return on both of the Vikings' first two punts. Despite this, the Bears took the lead with Robbie Gould's 55-yard field goal. However, Minnesota scored on Marcus Sherels's 65-yard punt return touchdown, the third return touchdown allowed by the Bears in 2015. Despite this, Sherels muffed his return on the ensuing punt; Blair Walsh eventually kicked a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter to make the score 10-3. After the game's next three drives ended in punts (twice by the Bears), the first turnover of the game occurred when Kyle Fuller intercepted Bridgewater's pass for Stefon Diggs. The Bears capitalized on the takeaway with Cutler's 21-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery, who jumped over Rhodes to make the catch in the left corner of the endzone. In the third quarter, the Bears reclaimed the lead with Gould's 33-yard field goal, and after the Vikings punted, had the chance to increase the margin to six points on Gould's 51-yard attempt. However, Gould's kick went wide left, his first miss of the season and ending a 17-kick streak. Minnesota took advantage by tying the game via Walsh's 48-yard field goal. The game's next two possessions ended with touchdowns for both teams: the Bears scored with Cutler, whose targets (Jeffery and Mariani) were unavailable, running four yards and colliding with safety Harrison Smith at the goal line for the touchdown. Afterwards, the Vikings tied the score with Bridgewater throwing a pass to Diggs, who escaped Sherrick McManis to score on the 40-yard play. With 1:49 left in the game, the Bears' next drive ended with a punt to the Vikings' 22-yard line. However, aided by Bridgewater's 35-yard pass to Charles Johnson, Walsh kicked a 36-yard field goal as time expired to seal the win. On Cutler's touchdown pass to Jeffery, he tied Sid Luckman for the most touchdown passes in Bears history with 137. Defensively, Pernell McPhee recorded his fifth sack during the game, and he became the first Bears player since Brian Urlacher in 2000 to have at least five sacks and one interception in the first seven games. During the second half, Matt Forte suffered a knee injury, and along with Eddie Royal, were missed the following week's game. The loss of Forte had been crucial for the Bears, as he had been responsible for 32 percent of yards gained in 2015, the most among running backs.
Output: What helped the Bears to take the lead the first time?