MIN at CHI: Venturing Into Soldier Field in Search of Another Win
MIN at CHI: Week 12
For the third straight week, the Vikings will look to pickup a road win. No small feat.
Standing in their way is the Chicago Bears, a team that has recently fallen on hard times. Initially, the Bears looked like a team that could push for the postseason. The recent losing streak has cooled those expectations, dropping the Bears down to a 4-6 record. Nevertheless, the game is a divisional bout and will be hosted inside Soldier Field, which can sometimes be a house of horrors for the Vikings. Will Kevin O’Connell’s team make it out of Week 12 as the proud owner of a 9-2 record?
MIN at CHI: Overcoming an NFC North Foe on the Road
Maybe Caleb Williams would have benefited from a Sam Darnold situation. Put differently, the chance to sit behind a veteran for a time as he acclimates to life in the NFL.
No one can questions Williams’ talent. What’s a bit more questionable at this stage is his effectiveness on an NFL field. The rookie passer is completing 61.8% of his passes while piling up 2,016 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. His passer rating is a pedestrian 82.3 and his PFF grade is similarly modest: 65.0, 31st among the 38 qualifying QBs.
Brian Flores is going to be doing his utmost to confuse the young quarterback. Flustering a rookie happens to be something Flores is very good at, so the expectation should be that Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and the rest of Flores’ Fiends make plays behind the line of scrimmage.
After all, Chicago’s offense is sitting at 22nd in the NFL by averaging just 19.4 points per game.
There are weapons in place — D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze — but Minnesota seems likely to overwhelm Chicago’s offensive line. If Williams is getting suplexed with regularity, the Bears are going to struggle to score points.
Now, it should be remembered that Chicago’s defense is no joke. Far from it. That side of the ball is 7th in the NFL since they’re allowing just 18.7 points against per game.
Across ten games, the worst the Bears have done has been to allow 29 points (Week 9 loss to the Cardinals). There has been a game where they allowed 21 points and a game where they allowed 20 points. Otherwise, the scores have been kept in the teens or less. Impressive.
Minnesota’s offensive line is going to contend with a talented front that boasts difference makers in Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, and DeMarcus Walker.
Helping their cause is Jaylon Johnson, a corner who is going to do a nice job on either of Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison. Johnson is a legit CB1 and likely the best corner in the division. The defensive back’s ability to take away a receiving weapon has the potential to slow down Sam Darnold’s decision making, thereby allowing the pass rush to have an extra moment to get home for a sack. Something to monitor, to be sure.
The offseason prediction involved rolling with the Bears. There’s some temptation to reverse things and roll with the Vikings, but I’ve seen enough Minnesota football to know that a letdown is coming at some point. I’ll say it occurs in Week 12 in an ugly game that involves O’Connell’s side losing.
Official Prediction: Bears 18 – Vikings 14
Prediction Record: 8-2
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.