Bears coach Lovie Smith on today’s win:
“It seems like every game since week one around here we talk about the crowd and that was definitely the case today, they were outstanding. From the start [they were] on their feet, and it was left up to us to give them something to cheer about. Offensively, I feel like we had control of the game most of the time. We had a few turnovers that knocked us back a bit but for the most part we did what we set out to do. Our running game got going well, of course Chester (Taylor) and Matt (Forte). The offensive line did an outstanding job pass blocking and of course with the run. And our passing game, Jay (Cutler) did a great job of distributing the ball to all the receivers and they made plays. It seemed time after time someone else would come up with a big play. I thought (Devin) Hester was outstanding on his returns and of course the touchdown run of getting the ball in the end zone. The defensive side of the ball it is about taking the ball away and the guys really did a super job of that. Even Corey Graham trying to get it out of there on that last kickoff for them. Defensively too, we had control of the game up front, had good pressure and whenever you can hold a great player like (Adrian) Peterson down like that you have to be pleased with that. And the third phase, we talk a lot about special teams, again coverage and the return game contributed. For us, we are in first place in our division and that’s our goal. This was a big game, in order for us to hopefully be the champs of our division you have to beat the champs, so it was a big win for us today. Injury-wise we came out of the game in pretty good shape. We should hopefully get Zack Bowman back next week because we have a quick turn around.”
Devin Hester on his big day and whether he thinks touchdown every time:
“I give all of the credit to my teammates. Those other ten guys did a great job out there. Everything just seemed so easy today. Guys just went out and busted their tails and got on their guys and gave me an opportunity to find holes. … Every time. That’s my mentality. I felt there were one or two things that we hoped not to happen, but they did. But, other than that, we had some great big runs out there, and they really helped out the offense a lot.”
Brian Urlacher on the Bears’ offensive effort and on Hester:
“It’s always nice to sit there and watch them. We’re not complaining about that. It was nice. We ran the ball pretty well. Jay (Cutler) through it when he had to. The line protected him. That’s the way we want to play – offense and defense and special teams. … Unbelievable. The guy is awesome, the best ever. He’s one return away from breaking the all-time record, so I hope he gets it soon. He deserves it. He’s a bad man.”
Vikings coach Brad Childress gives the Bears credit:
“Hats off to the Bears. They made more plays when they had to, more than we were able to make. At the simplest level, you have to be able to stay on the field offensively, and you have to be able to get off the field on the defensive side of the football. That was a struggle for us. People ask about third downs and I think there were nine; seven of them were double-digit third downs, which lends itself to first and second down issues, loss yardage plays, or certain yardage plays or incompletions. The kicking game, we knew that was going to be a huge factor, with the winds blowing. Thought we had some good field position early, but obviously we weren’t able to tie those guys down to their side of the field, but it’s really important for us to make these corrections and cast our gaze forward to another division opponent, Green Bay.”