In losing four of their first five games, the Minnesota Vikings kept the games close.

After getting blown out by the Bears, changes may be upcoming for the Vikings.

Devin Hester set the tone with a 48-yard touchdown catch and scored on a career-best 98-yard kickoff return before leaving with a chest injury, and the Chicago Bears routed the Vikings 39-10 on Sunday night.

The Bears (3-3) held Vikings star Adrian Peterson to 39 yards rushing and forced Minnesota to throw the ball on nearly every down after jumping to a big early lead.

“They did a good job of having eight men in the box,” Peterson said. “It was clear that they were going to focus on stopping the run and make us one-dimensional. They were able to do that tonight.”

Donovan McNabb completed 19 of 24 passes for 177 yards, but was sacked five times and was replaced by rookie Christian Ponder late in the game.

“We’re all upset but the thing you can’t do is harp on the situation,” McNabb said. “You just watch the film and make sure you’re back on the same page and possibly fixing things the next week.”

Ponder, Minnesota’s first-round pick, threw for 99 yards in his NFL debut and showed mobility against the Bears’ pass rush, but was unable to lead the offense to any points.

After the game, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier was asked if it might be time for a change at quarterback.

“We’re going to sit down on Monday and talk about a lot of things,” Frazier said. “Decide on what direction we’re going to go.”

When asked if he expected to start next Sunday against the Packers, McNabb simply said, “Absolutely.”

Ponder is planning to stick to his normal routine.

“It’s the first time I’ve played, but I don’t know what’s going happen next week,” Ponder said. “I’m just going to take it as a regular week and keep preparing as if I’m going to play.”

Hester’s 48-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler on Chicago’s first possession got the Bears started quickly as they grabbed a 26-3 halftime lead.

Hester’s kickoff return early in the third quarter erased any chance the Vikings (1-5) had at a comeback.

“You feel you’re getting ready to come back, and that kickoff return really changed the momentum,” Frazier said.

Minnesota trimmed the lead to 26-10 after recovering Cutler’s fumble, only to see Hester dash up the right side of the field on the ensuing kickoff.

“We felt like we kind of turned things our way,” McNabb said. “The energy felt like it was over on our sideline. When you watch Devin Hester run it back, it takes a lot out of you.”

It’s no secret that teams invite trouble by kicking to Hester, and Minnesota paid a big price right after Peterson scored on a 4-yard run.

Hester took the kickoff, turned to his right and was touched maybe once on the way to the end zone, making it 33-10. It was his first kickoff return for a touchdown since Nov. 25, 2007, against Denver.

“The shocking part to us is that people still kick to him because he is such a threat,” Cutler said.

Cutler, meanwhile, had all the time he needed and — for one game, anyway — avoided taking major punishment.

Never mind that Jared Allen was lining up for the Vikings, the Bears’ maligned blockers held their ground.

That allowed Cutler to complete 21 of 31 passes while being sacked just once.

“They did a lot of chipping on Jared (Allen) early on,” Frazier said. “We didn’t win the one-on-ones at other positions that I was able to see. If they’re going to bring a tight end or somebody else over to chip him, that leaves someone else one on one. We just weren’t able to win those one on ones tonight.”

The Bears looked particularly good in the early going, piling on 151 yards to the Vikings’ 43 while building a 16-3 lead in the first quarter.

Two plays after Adam Podlesh pinned the Vikings on their 5 with a punt, rookie Stephen Paea broke through the line for his first sack and the Bears’ first safety since Danieal Manning got one on Aaron Rodgers at Green Bay on September 2009.

Chicago drove 56 yards with Marion Barber running it in from the 3 to make it 16-0 with 3:39 left in the opening quarter.

There were no missteps by the Bears early on.

A defense that came in ranked 29th overall and 28th against the run was all over the Vikings.

The offensive line did its job, too. And the Bears were playing like a team that wasn’t ready to fall into a last-place tie with Minnesota.

“We really didn’t play well in any phase tonight,” Frazier said. “Just a disappointing night for our football team.”

BOURBONNAIS — Johnny Knox, the Bears’ leading wide receiver from last year, was listed as the fourth wideout on the team’s first depth chart last week, and then was rumored to be asking for a trade.

He squashed those rumors the next day, but admitted that he’s got to keep battling for a job, and knows he’s got to continue to improve to win back his spot.

Fighting for what he believes is his is nothing new to Knox, however.

“Oh yeah, my whole career, from Division II to right now, a lot of people didn’t expect me to do what I’m doing now,” Knox said before practice Tuesday night. “My whole life I’ve been turning doubters into believers, my whole life. So I just have to keep making them believe.”

After fighting to make the team his junior season at Channelview High School in Houston, he turned into a first-team all-state selection as a senior. He then spent two seasons playing junior college football because of his grades, but didn’t waste much time proving his worth at Abilene-Christian while becoming a D-II star. Knox hauled in 118 receptions for 2,227 yards and 30 TDs in his two full seasons at ACU.

Knox was named to the Pro Bowl after averaging 29.0 yards per kickoff return, second in the NFL, his rookie year. Then last year he had a career-high 960 yards on 51 catches with five touchdowns, and his 18.8 yards per catch average was fifth in the league.

Still, Bear coaches have talked openly about their frustrations over his route running, and Knox was quickly forced into a position where he would have to earn his playing time again. He knows there is plenty of room for him to improve, and he intends on doing just that.

“I need to improve everything, from receiver to returner,” he said. “Just knowing where I’m supposed to be in this offense. If I can do that, everything else will take care of itself. And I believe I can do that.”

After the recent departure of Danieal Manning, there’s one spot Knox won’t have to battle for much. His 70-yard kickoff return in Saturday’s preseason opener helped to show why.

“Certainly not. That’s why we don’t have Danieal anymore,” Bears special teams coach Dave Toub said. “Johnny can certainly fill that role. He’s a very good kick returner, as you saw.”

Reach staff reporter Jay Taft at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.

Read More: Jay Cutler (QB – CHI), Pittsburgh Steelers

Here we are, folks! Less than a month away from regular season football, and less than month until the Falcons kick off the 2011 season in Chicago. While they didn’t exactly impress anyone with their performance in the NFC Championship game against Green Bay, the Bears certainly won’t be a walk in the park either. The Falcons will need to show up big in week one to affirm to the rest of the league that this team will, in fact, live up to its preseason hype.

THE SKINNY:
Record: Went 11-5 in 2010, lost NFC Championship game
Performance: 30th ranked offense, 9th ranked defense (2nd against the run)
Additions: WR Roy Williams, RB Marion Barber, DT Amobi Okoye, LB Vernon Gholston, OT Gabe Carimi
Losses: C Olin Kreutz, TE Greg Olsen, S Danieal Manning

While the Bears struggled to find offensive consistency, they had somewhat of a renaissance of the old defense that took them to the Superbowl in 2006. Urlacher, Briggs, and Peppers headlines a stout Bears D that kept them in almost every game. While Jay Cutler didn’t exactly thrive in Mike Martz’s offense behind a less-than-sturdy offensive line, he also wasn’t as bad as in 2009. Hey, at least they got the better QB when they traded Orton (…right?).

Fast forward to 2011, and we find the Falcons opening up their season on the road against a tough, defensive-minded opponent. In many ways, I expect this game to be similar to last year’s Steelers game: a touch, hard-fought, agonizingly low-scoring game. Field goals will play a big part in this one.

However, I feel like this year’s Falcons offense will be one that teams just can’t shut down for four quarters. With Roddy, Julio, Douglas, and a hopefully healthy Kerry Meier, teams will have their hands full deciding who to cover. Oh ya, that Gonzalez guy is still pretty good too. The defense can hem in Turner, true, but our revamped receiving corps outclasses a so-so Chicago secondary.

To conclude, while the Bears defense can keep this game close, I predict that a combination of some explosive wideout play and Brent Grimes’ knack for picking off the mistake-prone Bears’ QB will lead to a decisive Falcons’ win to start off 2011 on the right foot. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see Mr. Cutler in all his pouting glory on a hi-def TV screen soon enough Falcons fans.

BOURBONNAIS — Last year, the Bears defense played a large role in getting the team to the brink of the Super Bowl.

Whether the offense steps it up this year or not, the players on the defensive side of the ball in Chicago believe they can do it again.

“It’s still the same for us: Our goal every week is to shut teams out, no matter what our offense does,” fourth-year defensive tackle Matt Toeaina said. “That’s how we can prove to ourselves that we are the defense we think we are; that we are as good or better than we were last year. We believe we can do it every week.”

Nine times last year they held their opponents to 17 points or less, lifting the Bears to an 11-5 regular-season mark, and an NFC North division title. And though they lost defensive back Danieal Manning, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and lineman Tommie Harris, they return with the most important pieces like linebacker leaders Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, end Julius Peppers and corner Charles Tillman.

Little known linebacker Nick Roach will step into a bigger role, replacing Tinoisamoa, and Briggs thinks that will help keep this linebacking corps under the radar. For a little while at least.

“We’re very excited. Nick’s familiar with us, and it’s OK that we’re not getting a lot of attention right now,” said Briggs, who had 89 tackles and two sacks last year. “We’re going to get a lot of attention when we get out there on that field.”

In the 2010 regular season, the Bears were fourth in points allowed (17.9 per game) and ninth in total defense (314.3 yards per game allowed). Conversely, the Jay Cutler-run offense in Chicago was 21st in scoring (20.9 points per game) and 30th out of 32 teams with an average of 289.4 yards per game.

“Our defense carried us a lot,” Cutler recently admitted. “We hope they don’t have to do that again.”

The D allowed a total of 44 points in two playoff games, giving their team a shot at getting all the way to the Super Bowl. A 21-14 loss to Green Bay in the NFC championship game put a halt to their season, However, the players on the defensive side of the ball in Chicago feel they did their part then, and they can do it again.

“We’ve had a lot of guys who have been in this system, and we know this system works,” D-lineman Anthony Adams said.

“This being our third year into it with Coach (Rod) Marinelli, we can’t do anything but get better. And we finished off pretty good.”

The Bears have steadied their reputation of having a stingy defense by finishing in the top 10 in total defense in three of the past five seasons.

That reputation has helped bring in a couple of players, like former first-rounders Vhernon Gholston and Amobi Okoye, who are hoping to fit in and help them dominate.

“When I was let go by the Texans, I looked around the league, and I definitely wanted to come here; definitely,” Okoye said.

“This is a defense I want to play for. This defense has a rep, and I think we’ll continue it this year.”

They will get their first chance at live action Saturday when the Bears host the Bills at 7 p.m. in both teams’ preseason opener.

They will then return to Bourbonnais for one more week of training camp before getting into the routine back at their home complex in Lake Forest.

Reach staff reporter Jay Taft at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.