Jalen Redmond didn’t sprint toward Dallas Turner when the Vikings linebacker finished off Chicago with a sack at the very end of Minnesota’s 9-3 win over the Bears. Plenty of his teammates did. Redmond had already spent the day doing his own damage, piling up four tackles, breaking up a pass and staying in the middle of everything, so he had earned the right to take a breath.
“I was so tired, man,” Redmond admitted after the game. “But yeah, I looked up, and I was like, ‘Thank you, God.’
I walked regularly up the field. [But] I was happy we won.
I was happy for him.”
The sack capped a brutal day for the Bears’ offense and a huge one for Turner, who kept wrecking plays until the game was over. He finished with five tackles, two sacks and four quarterback hits, and his final rush - with one second left - sent the Vikings sideline into a frenzy.
Minnesota had already leaned on its defense throughout the afternoon. Byron Murphy Jr. picked off Caleb Williams in the first quarter, and Isaiah Rodgers nearly turned in a game-sealing interception while also blocking a kick. But Turner was the one consistently forcing Chicago to deal with chaos.
“I feel like I’ve been preparing myself for these moments since I was in college,” said Turner. “It’s very important to just keep on showing up and executing.”
That’s exactly what he’s been doing. Turner followed up the strong finish he had last season and his Week 1 performance against the Green Bay Packers with another disruptive outing, and now he looks like the player Minnesota thought it was getting when it traded up to take him 17th overall in 2024.
The Vikings saw enough from him in camp, especially during joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens, to believe he could make an impact right away this season. Kevin O’Connell said after the game that Turner’s rise had been coming.
“Coming into the year, you guys could tell I was already excited about the type of player that we would have in Dallas, and how he would fit with how we’re gonna play defense,” Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “His ascension is expected, and with the work he put in and the growth he’s had, you love to see it.
You love seeing it happen right before your eyes. Just an awesome moment.”
The weather helped shape the game, too. The rain was relentless, Ben Johnson’s offense never found much rhythm, and Caleb Williams left with a hamstring injury halfway through the fourth quarter. Even so, Minnesota still had to squeeze Chicago out of the end zone, and Turner’s pressure was a major part of how Brian Flores’ defense did it.
Johnson has said he wants the Bears to have the highest-scoring offense ever, and he’s now 5-2 against Flores since Minnesota hired him. Turner’s ability to create pressure inside Flores’ system is a big reason the Vikings held Chicago to three points.
“There’s definitely a mentality you feel like you have to have, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” said Turner. “Just knowing when you go up against an offense like that, you kind of have to have that type of mindset.”
Harrison Smith, who has seen plenty of heavyweight matchups in his career, couldn’t remember a finish quite like Turner’s. At 37, he said he didn’t have the energy to go charging downfield after 60 minutes in the rain against a division opponent. He did, however, appreciate the moment.
“That’s for the young guys,” he quipped after the game.
Smith instead headed over to talk with Bears backup Case Keenum, the 38-year-old quarterback who led Minnesota’s miracle run in 2017. That team’s 13 wins and trip to the NFC Championship Game were fueled by a dominant defense.
It’s far too early to compare this group directly to that one. But the Vikings have opened the season by beating division rivals in back-to-back weeks, and with Carson Wentz and a defense that keeps showing up, they’ve given themselves something to build on.
Turner is a big part of that, and right now he looks like much more than a promising young pass rusher. He looks like a game-breaker.
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