WATCH: Minnesota Vikings defender ejected for vicious hit on Justin Fields

The Minnesota Vikings had a defender ejected on Monday night after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. As Fields gave himself up and began a slide to the ground, linebacker Eric Kendricks followed him to the ground and made contact with Fields’ head.

#Vikings LB Eric Kendricks has been ejected for delivering this helmet-to-helmet shot on Justin Fields pic.twitter.com/uhiQpu7lE5

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 21, 2021

Vikings player ejected for illegal hit on Fields

The play occurred in the fourth quarter as the Bears were driving down the field and trailing 17-3. Fields rolled out to the left side of the field where he was met by an edge defender. After cutting inside and gaining five yards, he began his slide and was fully to the ground when Kendricks hit him.

While Fields certainly pulled up for his slide late in the run, Kendricks’ decision to go low for the hit is likely the reason for his ejection. The play is ruled down at the spot a quarterback begins his slide, to prevent the kinds of hits that Fields took from happening.

Kendricks was ejected from the game, and Fields continued to play. Chicago would go on to lose the game 17-9 and slip to a 4-10 record for the season.

Fields had a decent day with his accuracy, but never found the end zone until time was expiring. Fields ended his day with 285 yards on 26-of-39 passing attempts. The Bears reached the red zone five times in the game, failing to score a touchdown until the very last play of the game while down by 14.

The Bears defense held Minnesota well for most of the game, but their offense was never able to match the scoring. Chicago forced the Vikings to five separate possessions that ended with a three-and-out punt, as well as a turnover-on-downs.

Chicago managed to nearly double the Vikings’s yardage and first downs, but committed three turnovers in the contest. Combined with four failed red zone trips, Chicago nearly ended with as many points as they had fumble turnovers before Fields’ touchdown pass as time expired. Fields had two fumbles on the day, but recovered one of them himself.