The Minnesota Vikings joined the Detroit Lions in a tie for first place in the NFC North as they beat the Chicago Bears, while the Atlanta Falcons snapped their losing run with victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night.
Aaron Jones and Cam Akers had touchdown runs in the second half to complement a smothering performance by the Minnesota defense as the Vikings overcame the Bears 30-12 for their seventh consecutive victory.
Justin Jefferson had seven catches for 73 yards, among them a touchdown from Sam Darnold in the first quarter that was set up by Jonathan Greenard's sack and forced fumble on Caleb Williams.
Williams managed to keep alive his NFL rookie record streak of 286 straight passes without an interception for the eighth straight game, but the Bears (4-10) have lost all of those.
The first overall pick in the 2024 Draft went 18 for 31 for 191 yards and threw a late touchdown pass to Keenan Allen after a blocked punt gave the Bears the ball at the Minnesota 27. The Bears went one for 12 on third down and one for three on fourth down.
Darnold went 24 for 40 for 231 yards and threw his first interception in five games for the Vikings (12-2), who clinched a spot in the playoffs with the Seattle Seahawks' loss to the Green Bay Packers the night before.
They now have the division title on their radar after Detroit's 11-game winning streak was stopped by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
D'Andre Swift rushed 19 times for 79 yards for the Bears, who have been outscored 53-0 in the first half over the last three games.
"Just seeing us stacking the plays, stacking the good games together is really good to see," said Jefferson. "Our potential is so high. Every game we're expecting the offense to be the best on that field."
Kirk Cousins threw his first touchdown pass in five weeks as the Atlanta Falcons did just enough to beat the struggling Las Vegas Raiders 15-9 and keep pace in the NFC South race.
The Falcons (7-7) ended a four-game losing streak to remain a game behind the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Atlanta owning the head-to-head tiebreaker, while Las Vegas (2-12) suffered their 10th straight defeat.
Cousins entered with no touchdown passes and eight interceptions over his previous four starts and did little to relax concerns about his play, passing for just 112 yards with an interception.
His 30-yard pass to a wide-open Drake London with 14 seconds left in the first quarter to put Atlanta ahead 7-0 was his first touchdown toss since firing three of them on November 3 in a 27-21 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Falcons got the rest of their points on two field goals from Younghoe Koo and a safety by defensive lineman Zach Harrison.
Bijan Robinson rushed for 125 yards and London caught three passes for 53 yards to give him 219 career receptions. London passed Calvin Ridley's 217 catches for most in Falcons history over a player's first three seasons.
Atlanta prevented Desmond Ridder from putting a dent in their playoff plans. Ridder, who started 13 games for the Falcons last season before he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals, was stifled most of the night in his first start this season.
In replacing Aidan O'Connell, inactive because of a bruised left knee, Ridder passed for 208 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
