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Longwell's game-winner lifts Vikings over Bears

Oct 14, 2007 - 10:10 PM By Dennis Sheehan and Bill Marquard PA SportsTicker Contributing Writers

CHICAGO (Ticker) - In a battle of the long play, Adrian Peterson lit up the highlight reel, but placekicker Ryan Longwell's 55-yard field goal as time expired propelled the Minnesota Vikings to an exciting 34-31 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.

Peterson recorded touchdown jaunts of 73, 67, and 35 yards, setting the Vikings' single-game record with 224 rushing yards on 20 carries and tying the franchise mark for most touchdowns in a game.

"It was just missed tackles plain and simple," Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said about Peterson. "We couldn't tackle him. He's a great back."

after the Bears had tied the game with 1:38 left, it was Peterson's 53-yard kickoff return that set up Longwell's winning field goal, the longest of his career and the second-longest in Vikings history.

"You have to give Peterson a lot of credit," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "He's a special running back and we weren't able to stop him."

It was Longwell's 12th career game-winning field goal.

"My greatest concern was getting height on the ball, since the Bears have blocked five kicks this year," Longwell said.

The Bears and Vikings traded blows on long scoring plays the entire day, with the Vikings never reaching the red zone and the Bears executing only two plays inside the Vikings' 20 yard line.

Chicago's Devin Hester opened the scoring with an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown at the 1:56 mark of the first quarter. Hester's TD marked his second punt return for a TD this season and tied him with Gale Sayers on the Bears' all-time kick return TD list with eight in his one-plus year career.

It took Sayers seven years to amass that same mark.

Both secondaries then gave up big passing touchdowns. The Vikings countered with a four-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 60-yard TD strike from Tarvaris Jackson to Troy Williamson.

The Bears responded with a six-play, 67-yard drive. Quarterback Brian Griese hit wideout Bernard Berrian on a 39-yard touchdown pass that was set up by a 5-yard illegal contact penalty on the Vikings.

Peterson's 67-yard run tied the game at 14-14 heading into halftime, and his 73-yard TD run gave the Vikings a 21-14 lead in the third quarter.

"My key was adjusting to the speed of the game," Peterson said. "It was the little things that led to success today, like not going too fast and waiting for holes to open."

The Bears broke a 33-minute scoring drought on Robbie Gould's 32-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to 24-17 with 8:37 left in the game.

The Bears fought back from a 31-17 deficit with less than three minutes left in the game on a pair of touchdown strikes by Griese - a 33-yarder to Muhsin Muhammad and an 81-yard strike to Hester.

"We were moving the ball the whole game," said Bears rookie tight end Greg Olsen, who started his first game. "Both teams relied on the big play. Sometimes games go like that."

Griese finished 26-of-45 for 381 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

The victory by the Vikings (2-3) snapped a six-game losing streak on the road against the Bears (2-4).