Bear Defense Doesn’t Budge

Buddy Ryan and his “46” defense are long gone, but the Chicago Bears are back to their old ways: not budging when they don’t have the ball.

Chicago’s defense held the Minnesota Viking offense without a touchdown Sunday night in a 13-6 victory.

“The Bears’ tradition is the most storied in NFC history,” said quarterback Jim Miller. “Guys are trying to bring that back.”

It was the first time in 98 regular-season games the Vikings did not get into the end zone. The last time the Vikings went without a touchdown was last January--a 41-0 defeat to the New York Giants in the NFC championship game.

Daunte Culpepper, held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season, completed 26 of 46 passes for 209 yards and an interception.

“Their defense is not a pushover,” Culpepper said. “They have some great players. But we just weren’t clicking.”

The NFC Central-leading Bears improved to 8-2 for the first time since 1991 as the Vikings (4-6) fell four games back.

Chicago last swept Minnesota in 1995, the only year the Vikings haven’t made the playoffs in Coach Dennis Green’s 10 seasons.

Minnesota’s futility came six days after playing one of its most complete offensive games in a 28-16 Monday night victory over the Giants.

With rookie Anthony Thomas inactive because of a sore hamstring, James Allen rushed 27 times for 107 yards, 80 in the first half. He helped the Bears grind down the clock after the Vikings pulled within 13-6 on Gary Anderson’s 21-yard field goal with 3:17 left.

Reserve Leon Johnson’s 34-yard burst through a big hole in the middle to the Viking four set up his one-yard scoring plunge in the second quarter that gave Chicago a 7-0 lead.

The worst part for Minnesota was wasting a fine performance by its defense.

“We don’t worry about what the offense is doing,” said Viking linebacker Jim Nelson. “It’s not our responsibility.”

But the Bear defense was stingy, reminding the Vikings of those Ryan-led units on the dominant Bears teams of the 1980s.

“Anytime you’re playing in the division, there’s a lot of familiarity,” Green said. “They stopped us on a few series, and we stopped them on a few series. But they took advantage on a few series, and we did not.”