Read More: Josh McCown (QB – CHI), Michael Strahan (DE – NYG), Jared Allen (DE – MIN), Charles Tillman (CB – CHI), Chad Greenway (LB – MIN), Jim Kleinsasser (TE – MIN), Ryan Longwell (K – MIN), Kevin Williams (DT – MIN), Lorenzo Booker (RB – MIN), Brian Robison (DE – MIN), Earl Bennett (WR – CHI), Erin Henderson (LB – MIN), Percy Harvin (WR – MIN), D.J. Moore (CB – CHI), Joe Webb (QB – MIN), Toby Gerhart (RB – MIN), Christian Ponder (QB – MIN), Jordan Todman (RB – MIN), Caleb King (RB – MIN), Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings, Jan 1, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Fans of the Minnesota Vikings had something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome, but in the end it was more of the same as the home team fell to the Chicago Bears by a score of 17-13.

The Vikings got off to a quick 10-0 lead, thanks to a couple of Chicago turnovers, getting a Ryan Longwell field goal after a fumble by Chicago’s Earl Bennett and a 5-yard Percy Harvin touchdown run after a fumble by running back Khalil Bell. However, that turned around quickly thanks to a 22-yard touchdown pass from Josh McCown to Roy Williams and an interception that Chicago’s Charles Tillman took into the end zone after it bounced off the hands of Toby Gerhart, quickly turning a 10-0 Minnesota lead into a 14-10 deficit.

Early in the second quarter, quarterback Christian Ponder got sacked by Chicago’s Isreal Idonije and needed help to get off of the field, re-aggravating the hip injury he suffered earlier on in the season and bringing Joe Webb in at quarterback. Webb provided a bit of a spark, completing 17-of-32 passes for 200 yards, but could only lead the Vikings to three points in his two-plus quarters of work along with two interceptions, including one to D.J. Moore to ice the game for Chicago.

The Vikings also lost running back Toby Gerhart to a knee injury during the game, and it was revealed afterwards that he suffered a partially torn MCL. That left Lorenzo Booker as the Vikings’ only healthy running back, as the team had both Caleb King and Jordan Todman inactive for this afternoon’s game.

It was the final game for Vikings’ tight end Jim Kleinsasser, who played for the Vikings for the entirety of his 13-year career. After Leslie Frazier stated earlier in the week that the team wanted to get Kleinsasser the ball and work him into the game plan, the burly tight end managed to get neither a carry nor a catch in his final game in purple and gold.

The big story for the Vikings in this one, however, was defensive end Jared Allen. He entered the game with 18.5 sacks, and got on the board early by splitting a sack with Erin Henderson to give him 19. He got McCown again in the second quarter to increase his total to 20, and the excitement at the Metrodome grew every time McNown dropped back to pass.

On the first play of the third quarter, Allen dropped McCown again for his 21st sack of the season, which tied him with Chris Doleman for the single-season record in Vikings’ team history. Allen took the record all for himself late in the third quarter, taking down McCown for another sack to give him 22 for the year, and putting him just one sack away from Michael Strahan’s single-season record of 22.5* set in 2001.

However, in typical Vikings’ fashion, it was not to be. The Bears put a ridiculous number of blockers on Allen for the rest of the afternoon, and he didn’t get another sack of McCown on the afternoon. As a team, the Vikings registered seven sacks on the afternoon, with Chad Greenway, Brian Robison, and Kevin Williams getting in on the act as well.

The loss by the Vikings, along with losses by the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams, cements the Vikings into the third overall selection in the 2012 NFL Draft, the highest the team has selected since taking Chris Doleman with the fourth overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft.

That’s your season, ladies and gentlemen. The Vikings finish the season 3-13, tied for the worst record in Vikings’ franchise history, with a 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. We would like to thank you for making SB Nation Minnesota your home for Minnesota Vikings’ coverage this year, and hope that you will stay around during the off-season as we analyze the Vikings going forward.

Read More: Jarrad Page (SS – MIN), Benny Sapp (DB – MIN), Cedric Griffin (CB – MIN), Anthony Herrera (G – MIN), Steve Hutchinson (G – MIN), Kevin Williams (DT – MIN), Joe Berger (C – MIN), Erin Henderson (LB – MIN), Asher Allen (CB – MIN), Marcus Sherels (CB – MIN), Brandon Burton (DB – MIN), Brandon Fusco (C – MIN), Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins

The Minnesota Vikings injury report for Week 16 is important mostly because they could potentially end up with the top pick in next year’s draft with a loss this weekend against the Washington Redskins. The team has said before they’d rather play for pride than tank for a better pick, but the injury report obviously plays a part.

The Vikings aren’t exactly banged up this weekend, but concussions have some players reeling due to injury. 1500 ESPN has more on the major players.

The Vikings ruled out left guard Steve Hutchinson and cornerback Asher Allen for Saturday’s game at Washington because of concussions they suffered in last weekend’s loss to New Orleans. Both returned briefly against the Saints before departing for good and didn’t practice all week.

Joe Berger is expected to start in Hutchinson’s place, with rookie Brandon Fusco perhaps rotating in for a series or two. The Vikings plan to use a rotation at cornerback including Benny Sapp, Marcus Sherels, Brandon Burton and Cedric Griffin, who hasn’t played on defense since getting benched on Dec. 11 at Detroit.

The only other Vikings players listed on the injury report are Jarrad Page, Kevin Williams, Anthony Herrera and Erin Henderson — all of which are probable.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—For years the Minnesota Vikings defense has
prided itself on one basic and unyielding tenet—smash the run game.

You don’t run on us, they said. And opponents didn’t.

What has been one of the best run defenses in league history is showing more
and more cracks at the worst possible times, with the latest coming in a 33-27
loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Needing a stop to get the ball back to
their offense in the final 2:30, the Vikings gave up 55 yards rushing to James
Starks(notes) to allow the Packers to run out the clock.

Any loss, especially a home defeat to their NFC North rivals, is a tough one
to swallow. But to watch the Packers’ mediocre running game gouge the proud
Vikings front seven at the most critical point of the game only magnified the
sting.

“It’s hard to see that happen when you know how well we played run defense
here for a number of years,” coach Leslie Frazier said. “It’s something that
we really have to address.

“Everything we talk about from a defensive standpoint starts with stopping
the run. That was a chance for us to really come up big. They did a great job of
blocking and moving the football.”

Running the ball against the purple, especially when playing in the
Metrodome, simply hasn’t been an option for opposing offenses for most of the
last decade. In fact, it was common to see opponents completely abandon the
running game rather than slam their heads into the vaunted Williams Wall in the
middle of the defensive front.

But one half of that tackle tandem—Pat Williams(notes)—was not brought back
this season and the unit that led the league in fewest yards rushing allowed
from 2006 to 2008 and finished second in 2009 hasn’t played up to its lofty
standards.

Reputation, perhaps more than reality, led Frazier to make the key decision
at the end of the game with his team down six points. The Vikings had a
fourth-and-10 from their own 36.

With all three of their timeouts and the two-minute warning, Frazier decided
to punt the ball, hoping his defense could stop the pedestrian Packers running
game and get the ball back to Christian Ponder(notes) and the offense for one last
shot.

But Starks ripped runs of 15, 20 and 14 yards among his six carries to run
out the clock and seal a victory for the Packers.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” middle linebacker E.J. Henderson(notes) said.
“That’s our motto and that’s our mantra—smash the run. To come out at the end
of the game with (2:30) left and be able to close the deal, that is tough for
us.”

Injuries have certainly contributed to the slide.

Former All-Pro Kevin Williams(notes), the other half of the “Williams Wall,” is
playing with a painful case of plantar fasciitis in his left foot and hasn’t
been the same force that he was for his first seven years in the league.

Henderson is dealing with pain in his swollen left knee that has zapped some
of his aggressiveness in tracking down runners from sideline to sideline, safety
Jamarca Sanford(notes) was out with a concussion and safeties Husain Abdullah(notes) and
Tyrell Johnson(notes) have yet to show they are capable of being factors in the running
game.

“One of the things we talked about prior to the game was, every guy just
doing his job on every single play as a team,” Frazier said. “Just doing your
responsibility. Well in that last drive we had a couple guys who tried to make
some plays that weren’t necessarily their plays to make.”

Kevin Williams took some of the blame for not adhering to his assignment on
two of the plays and defensive end Brian Robison(notes) said the breakdowns were a
microcosm of this 1-6 season.

“It’s just one of those things that you look at and you know what we should
have done and we didn’t do it,” Robison said. “That’s kind of the story of our
season so far is looking at things and seeing what we should’ve done and not
doing them. We’ve got to make sure that no matter what, we make those
corrections and make sure they don’t happen again. Unfortunately they are.
They’re happening over and over.”

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin returned to practice on Friday and is listed as probable for the game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Harvin missed practice on Thursday because of an illness. But Harvin and the Vikings said it was not related to migraine headaches that have caused him to miss time in the past.

“Man, it was a stomach ache,” Harvin said after practice on Friday, quickly brushing aside any concerns about a migraine resurfacing. “I’m fine, fine, fine.”

Harvin has played in just over 50 per cent of the snaps through the first two weeks, and offensive co-ordinator Bill Musgrave said they’d like to get him more action against the Lions (2-0) on Sunday. Coach Leslie Frazier said Harvin looked ready in his return to practice on Friday and doesn’t expect there to be any limitations during the game.

“I thought he looked pretty good,” Frazier said. “He went through everything in practice, moved around pretty good and should be fine for Sunday.”

Cornerback Chris Cook is listed as questionable with a groin injury. He practised all week long and Frazier said they will need the six-foot-two Cook to play against Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.

“When we looked at our division, that was one of the things that we looked at, trying to match up at times,” Frazier said of drafting Cook in the second round last year. “Having two big corners with Cedric (Griffin) and Chris, we thought that would help us. This is one of those games where we want it to pay off.”

Linebacker E.J. Henderson (knee) was the only other player limited in practice on Friday, but Frazier expects him to be on the field against the Lions, who are favoured in a visit to Minnesota (0-2) for the first time since 1981.

The Vikings also are getting defensive tackle Kevin Williams back from a two-game suspension. Williams is also dealing with a painful case of plantar fasciitis in his left foot that he said he expects to be an issue all season long. But Frazier said Williams looked good in practice this week and the coach is more concerned with his conditioning than the pain in his foot.

“That’s something we’ll have to help him with from a rep standpoint and monitoring his reps,” Frazier said. “As far as moving around, he’s moving around pretty good. The conditioning will probably be a thing that we will have to look out for.”

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin(notes) returned
to practice on Friday and is listed as probable for the game against the Detroit
Lions on Sunday.

Harvin missed practice on Thursday because of an illness. But Harvin and the
Vikings said it was not related to migraine headaches that have caused him to
miss time in the past.

“Man, it was a stomach ache,” Harvin said after practice on Friday,
quickly brushing aside any concerns about a migraine resurfacing. “I’m fine,
fine, fine.”

Harvin has played in just over 50 percent of the snaps through the first two
weeks, and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said they’d like to get him more
action against the Lions (2-0) on Sunday. Coach Leslie Frazier said Harvin
looked ready in his return to practice on Friday and doesn’t expect there to be
any limitations during the game.

“I thought he looked pretty good,” Frazier said. “He went through
everything in practice, moved around pretty good and should be fine for
Sunday.”

Cornerback Chris Cook(notes) is listed as questionable with a groin injury. He
practiced all week long and Frazier said they will need the 6-foot-2 Cook to
play against Lions receiver Calvin Johnson(notes).

“When we looked at our division, that was one of the things that we looked
at, trying to match up at times,” Frazier said of drafting Cook in the second
round last year. “Having two big corners with Cedric (Griffin) and Chris, we
thought that would help us. This is one of those games where we want it to pay
off.”

Linebacker E.J. Henderson(notes) (knee) was the only other player limited in
practice on Friday, but Frazier expects him to be on the field against the
Lions, who are favored in a visit to Minnesota (0-2) for the first time since
1981.

The Vikings also are getting defensive tackle Kevin Williams(notes) back from a
two-game suspension. Williams is also dealing with a painful case of plantar
fasciitis in his left foot that he said he expects to be an issue all season
long. But Frazier said Williams looked good in practice this week and the coach
is more concerned with his conditioning than the pain in his foot.

“That’s something we’ll have to help him with from a rep standpoint and
monitoring his reps,” Frazier said. “As far as moving around, he’s moving
around pretty good. The conditioning will probably be a thing that we will have
to look out for.”

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski