Vikings rookie wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson began Sunday’s Minnesota-Chicago game with a 105-yard kickoff return against the Bears’ well-regarded special-teams coverage unit.
One of the Vikings’ three 2013 first-round picks, Patterson got excellent blocking from his teammates, and once he got past Bears kicker Robbie Gould around Minnesota’s 30-yard line, he was gone.
The Bears, however, would quickly counter. On the Vikings’ first kickoff, Bears return specialist Devin Hester got a kick he could bring back, and he capitalized, breaking free for 76 yards. Given excellent field position, the Bears, led by the rushing of Matt Forte, put together a five-play, 32-yard drive ending in a one-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler to Martellus Bennett.
The Bears and Vikings are tied 7-7 in the first quarter.