One of the National Football League's oldest and most storied rivalries will be renewed this Sunday when the 6-3 Chicago Bears head to Minneapolis to face the 4-5 Minnesota Vikings. The Bears will be looking for their seventh win in their last eight games as they aim to get revenge for that disappointing Week One loss to the Vikes. Meanwhile, Minnesota is hoping to get back in the win column and return to .500.
Though the Vikings have a losing record, they're currently undefeated against NFC North opponents. But with how well the Bears have played lately, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell knows that his guys will have to be near-perfect if they want to sweep the season series against Chicago.
“[We have an] NFC North game at home. We're 2-0 in the division,” he told reporters on Monday. “[The] Bears are playing really well. Ben's (Johnson) doing a great job. DA's (Dennis Allen) doing a great job, with that defense forcing a lot of turnovers. That's been a problem for us. So, we need to make sure we put together a plan that limits their ability to do that.”
Last Sunday, the Vikings suffered a tough loss to the Baltimore Ravens, 27-19. One positive takeaway is that playing a team like the Ravens, who have a mobile quarterback in Lamar Jackson, can help Minnesota prepare for Chicago.
“The one similarity would be how slippery Caleb (Williams) is,” Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman said on Monday while comparing Williams to Jackson. “He's given us problems in the past, so we're gonna have to do a really good job at getting the ball out fast, containing him in the pocket, and getting [a] middle push.”
Self-inflicted wounds played a huge factor in the Vikes' loss last weekend. They were penalized 13 times for 102 yards and finished the game with three turnovers. It also doesn't help that Minnesota had three third-down conversions on 14 attempts.
“We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. I take full responsibility for the pre-snap, procedural penalties,” said quarterback J.J. McCarthy during the Week Ten postgame press conference. “We got three turnovers and [did] too many things that don't set us up for success when the clock hits zero. So, we’ve just got to go back to work, watch this film, and really clean up all the little things, because that's what hurt us today.”
The Vikes can help their chances by getting All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson more involved in the game after he was held to just four catches for 37 yards against the Ravens. Though Kevin O'Connell acknowledged that Jefferson might have been feeling "some frustration," he has come to expect that from his star wideout.
“I think there was some frustration, maybe with not having a couple calls go his way from a referee standpoint, but that's all part of the game,” O’Connell explained. “He's so competitive… We've got competitors, and sometimes that can present itself differently when you're talking about this guy to the next guy, but I have no concerns with Justin.”
On the other side, the Chicago Bears are rolling behind new head coach Ben Johnson and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. On Sunday, Williams scored a go-ahead rushing touchdown with 1:47 left in the game to eventually give the Bears a 24-20 win over the New York Giants.
“He looks like Houdini back there in the backfield,” Johnson said after the Week Ten victory. “That's a really good pass-rushing front. They've given a lot of teams fits… There are times where he's trying to escape and making some things happen. He had a couple throws down the field, but over 50 yards rushing for the second week in a row. And, I thought in the fourth quarter, we really needed that as a shot in the arm to end up winning that ball game, so credit to him.”
Despite Minnesota's record, Ben Johnson is not underestimating his opponent. He knows that the Vikings employ some of the best coaches in the NFL.
“You look at this team that we're about to play, and [we have] a lot of respect for their coaching staff,” Johnson said on Wednesday. “O’Connell, he was the coach of the year last year for a reason. He just always has his guys playing. They're in all these one-score games, and they usually find a way to come out on top of them. Got a lot of respect for (Brian) Flores. He's done it at a high level now since he entered the division [and] gives you all kinds of problems… We're 0-2 in the division. They're 2-0 in the division right now. We're going up to their place, which is a very hostile environment. It'll be loud, and we’ve got to be able to handle those elements.”
Obviously, the complexion and playstyle of both these squads have changed a lot since they faced off in the opening week of the regular season. Ben Johnson thinks we'll see a different performance than the one we saw in Week One.
“We found out a lot about ourselves over the course of the season so far. We’re a different team than we were Week One, and so is Minnesota. So this will be a completely different matchup as far as I'm concerned,” Johnson explained. “The trust level has grown for a number of players within our coaching staff. I think we really can hang our hat on a number of guys now at this point and feel really good about what we're going to get on gameday.”
Prediction for Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings (-3)
As good as Caleb Williams has been lately, the real catalyst behind the Bears' recent success has been the ground attack. Chicago is averaging the second-most rushing yards per game this season (147.3). That presents a tough challenge for a Minnesota Vikings squad that ranks 22nd in run defense (125.6 rushing yards allowed per game). Plus, the Bears are the best team in the NFL when it comes to forcing turnovers (20), while the Vikes are tied with the Seattle Seahawks for the second-most giveaways this season (16). In a close game, the Chicago Bears squeak out a win and get revenge for that Week One embarrassment.
Prediction: Bears 23 - 21 Vikings
How to watch Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings (-3)
Bears @ Vikings starts at 1:00 p.m. EDT at U.S. Bank Stadium. You can watch it on Fox or stream it via the Fox Sports app or YouTube TV.
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