CHICAGO - Three hundred and sixty-five days before the Vikings took the field in Chicago on Monday night, Kirk Cousins boosted his bona fides with one of the most dramatic comebacks in Vikings history, electrifying a capacity crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium with a 20-point second half rally in a game where the Broncos’ first half had all but eliminated the run game as an option.
There would be no crowd of Bears fans at Soldier Field for the quarterback to silence Monday night, but the Vikings’ annual trip to their own personal theater of the absurd would come with its own frights: a Chicago defense that could contain NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook, a continuing series of special teams gaffes and new installments in the series of miscues that only seem to happen here.