Game Story

MINNESOTA 27, CHICAGO 24 (OT)
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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Jeff George and Cris Carter gave Gary
Anderson a second chance.

George and Carter hooked up for three touchdown passes and a
crucial interference call, allowing Anderson to redeem himself
with a 37-yard field goal 5:58 into overtime that gave the
Minnesota Vikings a 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears.

George threw to Carter all game as the duo hooked up on TD
passes of 21, seven and one yards.  On his first pass of the
extra session, he went to Randy Moss and was picked off by
cornerback Walt Harris at the Vikings 27-yard line.

But Chris Boniol pushed a 41-yard field goal just wide right and
George went back to Carter.  On 3rd-and-10, he threw long over
the middle and Carter drew an interference penalty from
cornerback Terry Cousin that moved Minnesota to the Chicago 25.

"It seems as if when you win close games you're always lucky so
when you lose one it's a matter of how many mistakes you make,"
Carter said.

After two running plays and an incompletion, Anderson lifted a
low line drive just over the crossbar, giving the Vikings (6-4)
their fourth straight victory.

George completed 25-of-44 passes for 374 yards as he improved to
4-0 since replacing Randall Cunningham.  Carter caught nine
passes for 141 yards and has nine touchdowns this season.  Moss
caught 12 passes for a career-high 204 yards.

"We're trying to make it happen," Carter said of George.  "He's
fairly easy to understand.  He's very, very smart and he's one
of the few quarterbacks that I feel, in a short period of time,
that he thinks a lot like I do.  We're still learning."

"I don't care how we won.  We won," George said.  "Where we came
from at 2-4 to be 6-4 now really says a lot for the guys'
character and a lot of guts and courage.  I'm not out there to
prove anything.  I'm just having fun."

Last week, the Bears won 14-13 in Green Bay when they blocked a
last-second field goal by Ryan Longwell.  This week, Chicago
temporarily survived when the erratic Anderson missed a 20-yard
field goal as regulation expired.  Eight of Chicago's games have
been decided by four points or less.

"It's a very empty feeling," Bears coach Dick Jauron said.  "We
had opportunities but we just didn't take advantage of them and
that's what happens when you play good football teams."

The Bears (4-6) wasted a career game from unheralded quarterback
Jim Miller, who was 34-of-48 for 422 yards and three TDs in his
first start of the season. Miller's yardage was fourth-best in
team history and the highest total since Billy Wade threw for
466 yards in 1962.

"I don't care how we win, if I threw for 400 yards. ... All I
know is it still goes down as a loss in the column," Miller
said.  "At some point in everybody's career you've been told
you're not good enough.  You just persevere."

With Chicago trailing 24-17 and less than 3 1/2 minutes to play
in the fourth quarter, Miller directed an 87-yard drive, capped
by his 25-yard scoring toss to rookie Marty Booker with 49
seconds to go.  Booker collected his first seven NFL receptions
for 134 yards and two TDs.

"To play our hearts out like that and have it come down to that,
it's frustrating," Miller said.  "We were in it at the end.
Every game in the NFL comes down to the last second and we were
in it."

George went twice to Moss, who caught passes of 44 and 42 yards
to set up Anderson's miss. After not missing a field goal all of
last season, Anderson is 16-of-24 this year.

"It was just a big mess-up, unfortunately," Anderson said. "The
ball was half-lying on its side.  We spend a lot of time
practicing and it's very disappointing.  It was encouraging to
get another opportunity and kick that into the teeth of the
Soldier Field wind."

"We had an opportunity.  We missed our opportunity," Vikings
coach Dennis Green said.  "They had an opportunity, but they
missed their opportunity.  We had an opportunity and we made
it."

The Bears struck first as Miller, starting due to injuries to
Shane Matthews and Cade McNown, found Marcus Robinson with a
77-yard bomb 5:17 into the opening quarter.  Robinson caught
seven passes for 148 yards.

The Vikings answered with a five-play drive capped by George's
21-yard TD pass to Carter but the Bears scored again as Miller
hooked up with Booker on a 56-yard scoring play, giving Chicago
a 14-7 lead with 4:04 left in the first period.

Minnesota used a turnover to tie it in the second quarter.
Miller was hit by Duane Clemons and fumbled, with Chris Doleman
recovering at the Bears 7.  On the next play, George and Carter
hooked up again with 5:58 before halftime.

Boniol kicked a 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter
and Anderson connected from 38 yards deep into the third period
before George and Carter struck again.  Pinned by a punt at his
4, George mixed runs and passes before finding Carter in the
right of the end zone to give Minnesota a 24-17 lead with 6:06
to go.

Robert Smith returned after missing three games due to hernia
surgery and had 83 yards on 20 carries as the Vikings amassed
459 total yards.  Curtis Enis had 54 yards on 19 carries for the
Bears, who totaled 456 yards.