Winners and losers: 5 takeaways for the Vikings in Week 15 win over Bears

With the Detroit Lions taking a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings entered their Monday Night Football matchup with the Chicago Bears in full control of their own destiny in the NFC North.

The math is simple. If the Vikings win out, which would have to include a win over the Lions in Week 18, they win the division for the second time in three years. And with a dominant 30-12 victory over the Monsters of the Midway, Kevin O'Connell's crew moved one step closer to doing just that.

Now 12-2 on the year and winners of seven straight, Minnesota was in complete control on both sides of the football, striking a solid balance on offense between the pass and run game and making life miserable for Caleb Williams on the defensive end of things.

With no real losers to speak of in this contest, although Cam Robinson could clean up his penalty issues a touch, here's a look at the big winners from the Vikings' Week 15 win over the Bears.

While we won't break it down below, it has to be said that one big winner from Monday night was that uniform combo for the Vikings with those all-new white helmets. Let's hope we see them again at some point soon, as those are absolute fire. Now, let's get to the actual game.

Winner: Sam Darnold

While Monday night was nowhere near Sam Darnold's prettiest performance of the season, it was still a solid enough outing as he completed 24 of 40 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown.

His stat sheet should've included a second touchdown pass, but Justin Jefferson got a little ahead of himself and was looking toward the goal line before securing the ball.

Darnold did toss his first interception since Week 10 on an attempt he should've just thrown away, but it appears to be a one-off, as he otherwise took good care of the football.

Winners: Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison

The 1-2 punch of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison continues to impress, and they're rapidly climbing the leaderboard of the best wideout duos in the NFL.

As mentioned, Jefferson had an ugly and uncharacteristic drop on what should've been a touchdown early in the second quarter. But outside of that, the three-time Pro Bowler had a solid outing, catching seven passes for 73 yards. And he did find the end zone in the first quarter, so it's as if his night was without a score.

Addison had another fine performance as well, catching seven passes for 63 yards. If he can average just over 76 yards per game over the next three weeks, the sophomore star will hit 1,000 yards for the first time in his young career.

Winner: Aaron Jones

As the Bears seemed to be putting much of their defensive attention on stopping Darnold and the Vikings' vaunted passing attack, Aaron Jones took advantage.

With 86 yards on the ground on 18 carries and another 20 yards on a pair of receptions, the former Packer accounted for nearly a third of Minnesota's 329 total yards of offense and scored a touchdown for the second consecutive week.

Perhaps just as importantly, Jones was fumble-free for the second straight game and seems to have that problem under control.

Winner: Jonathan Greenard

The Vikings' defense as a whole made its presence felt early, and Jonathan Greenard was an absolute menace in the opening quarter.

When the Bears opted to go for it on 4th & 1 from their own territory on the opening possession, Greenard was there to help make the stop on D'Andre Swift, which ultimately led to the Will Reichard field goal that gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead.

On Chicago's next offensive possession, he recorded a strip sack on Caleb Williams, forcing the fumble that ultimately led to the Darnold-Jefferson touchdown. Greenard ended his night with six total tackles, good for the third-most on the team, and is one of just two players in the NFL with at least 11.0 sacks and four forced fumbles on the year.

Winner: Josh Metellus

The Vikings' leader in total tackles on Monday night was Josh Metellus, who racked up 10 to up his team-leading total to 88.

Beyond just his tackling, though, the fifth-year safety had Caleb Williams second-guessing himself all night long, dropping back in pass coverage at times, which earned him a solid 76.6 PFF coverage grade, while also attacking him on the blitz.

Overall, Metellus earned an 82.8 overall rating for his efforts, marking his highest of the season.