The Chicago Bears hung on to beat the Vikings in Minnesota 33-27. David Montgomery rushed for a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears who are still in the hunt for the playoffs at 7-7. The Vikings fell to 6-8 and saw their postseason chances all but vanish.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, The Green Bay Packers defeated the Panthers at Lambeau Field 24-16 and The Detroit Lions lost on the road to the Titans 46-25 in Tennessee.
Tonight on Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.
In College Football
The University of Illinois announced Saturday they’ve hired Bret Bielema as their head coach, replacing Lovie Smith. Bielema has 24 years of college coaching experience, including seven seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach. The Badgers won three straight Big Ten titles under his direction sporting a 68-24 record while playing in six bowl games.
The Illini lost their final game of the season Saturday to Penn State 56-21 at Beaver Stadium.
Clemson dominated Notre Dame 34-10 to win its sixth straight ACC Title.
Ohio State rallied for a 22-10 victory over Northwestern for its fourth straight Big Ten title.
Top-ranked Alabama won the scoring battle against Florida 52-46 in the SEC championship game.
Now the College Football Playoff is set. Top-ranked Alabama will play No. 4 Notre Dame at AT&T Stadium in Texas, on New Year’s Day in a semifinal that was supposed to be played at the Rose Bowl but the game was moved because of the pandemic. No. 2 Clemson will play third ranked Ohio State on the same day at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The national championship game is set for January 11th in Miami.
In College Basketball, Northern Illinois grabbed their first win of the season over Chicago State 64-54. The Huskies are now 1-5.
Notre Dame lost on the road to the Purdue Boilermakers 88-78. The Fighting Irish are 2-4 on the season.
No. 13 Illinois lost on the road to 19th ranked Rutgers 91-88. The Illini are 5-3.
Northwestern upset fourth-ranked Michigan State 79-65 at the Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was the first win for the Wildcats over a top-five team in the AP poll since 1979.
The NHL announced yesterday it has come to a tentative agreement to begin the season on January 13th, then end on May 8th, followed by a 16-team Stanley Cup Playoff. The NHL will also plan to go with a division realignment that will include an all-Canadian Division with the seven-teams located outside the United States. The Blackhawks will be in the NHL Central with Carolina, Columbus, Detroit, Florida, Dallas, Nashville and Tampa Bay.