CHICAGO -- For most players on the Minnesota Vikings' youthful roster, last year's 23-20 win in Chicago -- a comeback victory over a Bears team in transition -- carried little of the significance it had for older players such as defensive end Brian Robison.
"Honestly, for me, not really -- and probably for most of the guys, not really," safety Harrison Smith said. "Just because we expect to win no matter where we play. I didn't really even think about it until now."
Add in the perspective of history -- or, if you rather, the annual rituals of aggravation -- though, and it becomes evident why older Vikings players could regard the win at Soldier Field as a kind of epochal victory.