The Minnesota Vikings fell 19-17 to the Chicago Bears in Week 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 16. Moreover, this game was crucial for both teams, as the Bears were fighting for the NFC North division, while the Vikings were looking to keep their playoff aspirations alive.
It was a contest in which neither quarterback was spectacular, and the winner would be determined by who made the crucial plays when called upon.
Caleb Williams went 16 of 32 on his pass attempts while recording 193 passing yards. Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy had a similar stat line, completing 16 of 32 passes for 150 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
McCarthy’s lone touchdown nearly sealed the win for Minnesota. However, after that touchdown, a kick return put the Bears in good field position, and Williams led the Chicago offense to kick the game-winning field goal.
After the win, the USC product shared his thoughts on the game and noted the one instinct they have that maybe Minnesota didn’t have in the final minutes of the contest.
“You have to have a killer instinct to be in these games and finish them the way we have,” Williams told reporters (h/t Marquee Sports Network). “It’s a fight all the way through, and to come out victorious, you need that sense of killer instinct. On the idea of killer instinct, when there’s blood in the water, we have to strike.
“When the defense forces a turnover and we get the ball back, we have to put up seven points. When we need to get three-and-outs, we have to put up seven points. That’s a mindset and belief we have to grow into and get better at.”
The Vikings’ offense faced another challenging game, failing to reach 20 points in three of their past four games. After the loss, with the offense once again falling short in supporting the defense, tight end T.J. Hockenson offered a straightforward comment on their struggles.
“I think you just go one play at a time,” Hockenson told reporters after the loss. “You can’t press because if you do in this league, that’s when bad things happen. That’s when you do things that our quarterback doesn’t know what you’re doing, and that’s when things become bad.
“I think we just have to take one play at a time, all 11 doing our jobs, and move forward from this. I mean, again, you lose the turnover at two to zero, it’s a tough game to win, and with a thin margin of error, that’s what it came down to, a thin margin of error.”
While Hockenson emphasizes focusing on each play to get the Vikings’ offense back on track, Justin Jefferson said he feels responsible for stepping up as a leader to support the team,
particularly McCarthy, during this challenging stretch.
“Everybody feels like it’s difficult, it’s not something we’re keeping under the rug or anything,” Jefferson told reporters after the loss. “Yes, it’s difficult. But as a team, as a captain, as a leader of this team, I have to be the first one out there.
“I have to be the one leading us in the direction of winning and being where we need to be. So if that means taking J.J. out and getting more time with him and building that connection, then that’s what I have to do. I have to figure out what I need to do to get us over that hump.”
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Quarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns fans boomed with approval as quarterback Shedeur Sanders entered an NFL game for the first time in the second half of the team’s Week 11 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, but the rookie didn’t give them much to cheer about after that.
Sanders finished the day 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards and an interception. He also rushed for 16 yards, took two sacks and fumbled once, though Cleveland recovered. Reporters asked Sanders during the postgame about his performance and the fan’s reaction to both him finally getting in a game and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel leaving due to a mandatory entrance into the league’s concussion protocol.
“When Dillon out there playing and all that, I appreciate the fans, I appreciate everybody. But I’m a good person overall, so I don’t really like him not feeling comfortable, confident when he get out there. So it puts everything in a tough spot, and it’s not helping the team,” Sanders said of fans’ previous booing of Gabriel during his struggles.
“So, that could be taken as, ‘OK, I’m being a distraction,’ even though I ain’t doing that, even though I’m not doing nothing,” Sanders continued. “But I’m thankful for the supporters, thankful for the fans, thankful for everybody out there that believes. And yeah, when I got out there, I definitely felt them, and I’m truly thankful for it. … Thankful seeing all them 12 jerseys out there, and it was a great feeling for that. But the feeling of losing, that ain’t nothing we going to get comfortable with on my watch, for sure.”
GettyQuarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
Gabriel remains in concussion protocol and while it’s possible doctors could clear him ahead of the team’s Week 12 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders next weekend, it is likely that Sanders will get the first start of his career in the desert.
The Browns must practice this week as though Sanders is going to be the starter, as Gabriel’s status is uncertain. Because of that, the coaching staff is likely to tailor the game plan to Sanders’ strengths and finally afford him the first-team practice reps he’s been lacking since joining the franchise in the fifth round of April’s draft.
“Sanders is expected to start Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders in Las Vegas, and fourth-year pro Bailey Zappe will be the backup,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported Monday. “Sanders, who had his house broken into during Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Ravens, will be the 42nd quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999, barring some unexpected occurrence.”
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
However, head coach Kevin Stefanski was clear that Gabriel will get his starting job back from Sanders once he returns healthy.
The only way Sanders can avoid that fate is to play exceedingly well against the Raiders, who will be coming off a short week following their “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Dallas Cowboys and who went into the Dallas matchup with a 2-7 record.
Cleveland, now 2-8, was likely to insert Sanders into the starting lineup at some point late in the season to assess his abilities and the QB room as a whole before a 2026 draft, in which the team has two first-round picks. It is unclear if one and a half games will be enough information for the Browns where Sanders is concerned, should Gabriel return healthy following this weekend.
Suffice it to say, Cleveland’s upcoming game in Las Vegas is the most important of Sanders’ football career.