[OC] Vikings at Bears Strat-O-Matic Simulation
Welcome back to another round of Strat-O-Matic football, where I'll be simulating tomorrow's Sunday Night battle between the Vikings and the Bears! So far the Vikings have gone 0-3 in these simulations, so let's hope for a win!
Before we get to the summary of the game, I'll give a quick summary of the first few drives that were scripted. I gave a special opportunity to Funkytown to coordinate the first three drives of this game! Let's see how it goes!
Q1 Drive 1
(opening drive at the 25 yard line)
1:10 - Deep pass to Thielen incomplete
2:10 - Cousins sacked by OLB Mack.
3:17 - Pass to Thielen incomplete.
Q1 Drive 2
(at the 8 yard line)
1:10 - Murray run of 0 yards.
2:10 - Pass to Thielen caught for 6 yards.
3:4 - Pass to Rudolph caught for 7 yards.
1:10 - Cousins sacked by OLB Mack.
2:17 - Pass to Diggs incomplete.
3:17 - Deep pass to Diggs caught for 30 yards (CHI DE Hicks injured on the play).
1:10 - Pass to Diggs incomplete.
2:10 - Pass to Rudolph caught for 10 yards.
1:10 - Cook tackled for loss of 1 yard.
2:11 - Pass to Thielen incomplete (dropped).
3:11 - Pass to Rudolph incomplete.
4:11 - Punt (ball was at the Bears 47, no FG opportunity)
Q1 Drive 3
(at the 43 yard line)
1:10 - Ham run of 18 yards.
1:10 - Pass to Ham caught for 7 yards.
2:3 - Cook run of 0 yards.
3:3 - Cook run of 2 yards.
4:1 - Cook run of 6 yards.
1:10 - Deep pass to Treadwell caught for 24 yard TD!!
(Vikings lead 7-0).
Well, so the first two drives didn't go as well as hoped, but Funky's playcalling got more creative on the 3rd drive with 25 yards from Ham and a deep pass to Treadwell?! Are you kidding me?
Alright, let's see how the rest of the game went:
GAME SUMMARY
Q1
14:08 MIN punt.
12:56 CHI punt.
8:39 MIN punt.
6:38 CHI punt.
3:52 MIN 24 yard TD pass Cousins to Treadwell (MIN 7-0).
0:03 CHI QB Trubisky strip-sacked by FS Smith.
Q2
14:40 MIN punt.
10:05 CHI 48 yard FG is good (7-3).
5:11 MIN 12 yard TD pass Cousins to TE Rudolph (14-3).
5:02 CHI KR Cunningham fumbles, recovered by MIN.
2:39 MIN 2 yard TD pass Cousins to Thielen (21-3).
0:53 CHI 11 yard TD pass Trubisky to Burton (21-10).
Q3
9:12 CHI 5 yard TD HB Howard, ex. 2 is no good (21-16).
7:42 MIN punt.
6:08 CHI punt.
3:40 MIN 3 yard TD pass Cousins to Thielen, ex. point is no good (27-16).
1:29 CHI punt.
Q4
15:00 MIN punt, returned by HB Cohen for a TD, ex. 2 is good on pass to Burton (MIN 27-24).
9:02 MIN 29 yard FG is good (30-24).
8:54 CHI HB Howard fumbles, recovered by MIN.
7:13 MIN 34 yard FG is good (33-24).
3:55 CHI 45 yard FG is good (33-27).
2:09 MIN punt.
0:18 CHI 3 yard TD pass Trubisky to Cohen (CHI 34-33).
0:03 Cousins intercepted by CHI CB Fuller.
BOX SCORE
-Other notes-
Penalties: Vikings 2 (2 declined), Bears 6.
* My thoughts *
Oh come on, are you kidding me?! The Vikings hold the lead for the entire game until the final 18 seconds? Boy, I just can't get the Vikings to win. Even with the flukey punt return TD that Tarik Cohen scored to start the 4th quarter, the Vikings regained a 2 possession lead, but they blew it away. Trubisky hit Allen Robinson on a 70 yard pass and ended up with the FG to bring it to a one possession game, and I couldn't quite get the Vikings to close out the game. On a crucial 3rd and 4 with 2:15 to go in the 4th quarter, I called a pass play to Rudolph that fell incomplete (I couldn't trust the run game, Cook and Murray had no room to run today). The Bears saved a timeout and were able to hit Allen Robinson on a 45 yard pass and eventually put the game away. And, of course, Cody Parkey hit all his kicks even though I downgraded him due to last week's game.
Performance-wise, the passing game did its job, though they had a hard time scoring in the second half. After Khalil Mack's 2 sacks on the first 2 drives, I called some quick passing plays to avoid sacks. His interception wasn't his fault as he simply heaved a deep pass in desperation time. Kyle Rudolph is unstoppable in Strat-O-Matic football, as he had a catch-and-run 70 yard play that wouldn't have happened in real life.
Despite winning the turnover battle and sacking Trubisky 5 times, the Vikings just couldn't beat the Bears offense. Too many big plays and first downs to Cohen, Miller, and Robinson left the pass defense helpless. The run defense shut down Howard and Cohen and even prevented Trubisky from going on any long runs.
The good news, Vikings fans, is that in all 3 of the previous Strat-O-Matic games, the Vikings lost, but in real life they won, so here's hoping they pick up a 4th win tomorrow! I'll be back in December for another Strat-O-Matic simulation, and we sure as heck better win that one!
Feel free to post your thoughts. If you'd like to call an offense drive for the next edition, just ask, as I've had fun seeing how the "rehearsed plays" have gone.
[Check out the Chi-Town version of this article here!]
Before we get to the summary of the game, I'll give a quick summary of the first few drives that were scripted. I gave a special opportunity to Funkytown to coordinate the first three drives of this game! Let's see how it goes!
Q1 Drive 1
(opening drive at the 25 yard line)
1:10 - Deep pass to Thielen incomplete
2:10 - Cousins sacked by OLB Mack.
3:17 - Pass to Thielen incomplete.
Q1 Drive 2
(at the 8 yard line)
1:10 - Murray run of 0 yards.
2:10 - Pass to Thielen caught for 6 yards.
3:4 - Pass to Rudolph caught for 7 yards.
1:10 - Cousins sacked by OLB Mack.
2:17 - Pass to Diggs incomplete.
3:17 - Deep pass to Diggs caught for 30 yards (CHI DE Hicks injured on the play).
1:10 - Pass to Diggs incomplete.
2:10 - Pass to Rudolph caught for 10 yards.
1:10 - Cook tackled for loss of 1 yard.
2:11 - Pass to Thielen incomplete (dropped).
3:11 - Pass to Rudolph incomplete.
4:11 - Punt (ball was at the Bears 47, no FG opportunity)
Q1 Drive 3
(at the 43 yard line)
1:10 - Ham run of 18 yards.
1:10 - Pass to Ham caught for 7 yards.
2:3 - Cook run of 0 yards.
3:3 - Cook run of 2 yards.
4:1 - Cook run of 6 yards.
1:10 - Deep pass to Treadwell caught for 24 yard TD!!
(Vikings lead 7-0).
Well, so the first two drives didn't go as well as hoped, but Funky's playcalling got more creative on the 3rd drive with 25 yards from Ham and a deep pass to Treadwell?! Are you kidding me?
Alright, let's see how the rest of the game went:
GAME SUMMARY
Q1
14:08 MIN punt.
12:56 CHI punt.
8:39 MIN punt.
6:38 CHI punt.
3:52 MIN 24 yard TD pass Cousins to Treadwell (MIN 7-0).
0:03 CHI QB Trubisky strip-sacked by FS Smith.
Q2
14:40 MIN punt.
10:05 CHI 48 yard FG is good (7-3).
5:11 MIN 12 yard TD pass Cousins to TE Rudolph (14-3).
5:02 CHI KR Cunningham fumbles, recovered by MIN.
2:39 MIN 2 yard TD pass Cousins to Thielen (21-3).
0:53 CHI 11 yard TD pass Trubisky to Burton (21-10).
Q3
9:12 CHI 5 yard TD HB Howard, ex. 2 is no good (21-16).
7:42 MIN punt.
6:08 CHI punt.
3:40 MIN 3 yard TD pass Cousins to Thielen, ex. point is no good (27-16).
1:29 CHI punt.
Q4
15:00 MIN punt, returned by HB Cohen for a TD, ex. 2 is good on pass to Burton (MIN 27-24).
9:02 MIN 29 yard FG is good (30-24).
8:54 CHI HB Howard fumbles, recovered by MIN.
7:13 MIN 34 yard FG is good (33-24).
3:55 CHI 45 yard FG is good (33-27).
2:09 MIN punt.
0:18 CHI 3 yard TD pass Trubisky to Cohen (CHI 34-33).
0:03 Cousins intercepted by CHI CB Fuller.
BOX SCORE
-Other notes-
Penalties: Vikings 2 (2 declined), Bears 6.
* My thoughts *
Oh come on, are you kidding me?! The Vikings hold the lead for the entire game until the final 18 seconds? Boy, I just can't get the Vikings to win. Even with the flukey punt return TD that Tarik Cohen scored to start the 4th quarter, the Vikings regained a 2 possession lead, but they blew it away. Trubisky hit Allen Robinson on a 70 yard pass and ended up with the FG to bring it to a one possession game, and I couldn't quite get the Vikings to close out the game. On a crucial 3rd and 4 with 2:15 to go in the 4th quarter, I called a pass play to Rudolph that fell incomplete (I couldn't trust the run game, Cook and Murray had no room to run today). The Bears saved a timeout and were able to hit Allen Robinson on a 45 yard pass and eventually put the game away. And, of course, Cody Parkey hit all his kicks even though I downgraded him due to last week's game.
Performance-wise, the passing game did its job, though they had a hard time scoring in the second half. After Khalil Mack's 2 sacks on the first 2 drives, I called some quick passing plays to avoid sacks. His interception wasn't his fault as he simply heaved a deep pass in desperation time. Kyle Rudolph is unstoppable in Strat-O-Matic football, as he had a catch-and-run 70 yard play that wouldn't have happened in real life.
Despite winning the turnover battle and sacking Trubisky 5 times, the Vikings just couldn't beat the Bears offense. Too many big plays and first downs to Cohen, Miller, and Robinson left the pass defense helpless. The run defense shut down Howard and Cohen and even prevented Trubisky from going on any long runs.
The good news, Vikings fans, is that in all 3 of the previous Strat-O-Matic games, the Vikings lost, but in real life they won, so here's hoping they pick up a 4th win tomorrow! I'll be back in December for another Strat-O-Matic simulation, and we sure as heck better win that one!
Feel free to post your thoughts. If you'd like to call an offense drive for the next edition, just ask, as I've had fun seeing how the "rehearsed plays" have gone.
[Check out the Chi-Town version of this article here!]
