Bears at Vikings Preview: Rest ‘Em or Get ‘Em Ready?

The Vikings take on the Chicago Bears at home in the 2019 regular season finale. There is nothing on the line for either team since the Vikings are locked into the sixth playoff seeding in the NFC and the Bears are locked out. So, what are we to make of this game, since fans can expect plenty of starters enjoying some time on the pine in this one? Is it worth tuning into or simply a late-season exhibition? How about a Vikings win over a team that has beguiled the Purple in recent contests? That would be nice.

The truth be known, we have seen this show before, in one form or another. This will be the fifth time in the past six seasons (the entirety of head coach Mike Zimmer’s career in Minnesota) that the Vikings and Bears will meet in the regular season finale—in Minnesota. We are not sure what to make of the significance of this scheduling quirk other than that a short while back the league made an emphasis of scheduling division games in the final weeks of the season to create some excitement, and that leaves only three possibilities to choose from (the one non-Bears game in the bunch was versus the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau in 2015).

Regardless, the Vikings and Bears round out another NFL regular season on Sunday. So, we can take a look at how the Vikings did in those curtain closers to let past performance predict future results. Perhaps. Here we go:

2014—Vikings beat the Bears 13-9 at the Bank. Both teams were out of the playoffs when they met—the teams finished 7-9 and 5-11 respectively. Teddy Bridgewater had taken the controls of the offense by this point.

2016—The 8-8 Vikings beat the 3-13 Bears 38-10 at the Vault (U.S. Bank Stadium) in this one (not exactly the late-season excitement that schedule makers were looking for, methinks). Sam Bradford is your Vikings signal caller, but his days in Purple behind center are numbered.

2017—A new season, a new Vikings QB (Case Keenum) and another win for the Purple. The 13-3 Vikings beat the 5-11 Bears and Mitchell Trubisky 23-10. The Bears showed an inkling of what is to come for them, while the Vikings were cranking up a near “miraculous” postseason that ended a game too soon.

2018—The tides finally turned in this one, as the playoff-bound Bears (12-4) easily handled the 8-7-1 Vikings, who were playing for their playoff lives and instead laid an enormous egg on the home turf. New quarterback Kirk Cousins and his charges tucked their tails and slunk into the offseason with a 24-10 loss.

That is a 3-1 record for the Vikings in recent season finales versus the Marauders of the Midway. For our purposes here, it is worth mentioning the last battle between these two teams earlier this season in Chicago—a dispiriting 16-6 loss that saw the Vikings beaten in all phases despite the fact that Trubisky was injured in the first series of the game and didn’t return. The loss was the second for the Vikings in the first four weeks of the season and it took an 8-2 run to get them back into postseason relevance.

Then there is that game from last Monday night that we haven’t mentioned—a decent defensive performance matched with a poor offensive showing that resulted in no chance at the NFC North Division and no drama in this Sunday’s game. But the way the Vikings played in that game portends more for how they might play this week than any of the aforementioned tilts with the Bears. While those past seasons’ games are with different teams, to be sure, the Bears, with their tough defense, do appear to have the Vikings’ number of late. If you look at the past three games between the two, the Bears are 3-0, and that reason alone should have the Vikings firing up for to play in this one.

The biggest factor for Sunday is who will be playing when the game starts? The Bears will want to put some of their best on the field, since many of the players will be playing for jobs in 2020. Still, recently or marginally injured players will sit, so citing how well the team ranks on offense, defense, etc., is a dubious endeavor at best.

As for the Vikings, they will certainly rest a good number of players. They will have to tee it up the following week in a Wild Car game, so Zimmer will likely treat this game as a bye week for some of his players. When asked earlier in the week about it, he responded while not offering much enlightenment, as expected:

“I haven’t really decided yet. I don’t know the answer to that yet.”

One person certainly destined to sit this game out is middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, who left the Packers game with a quad injury. He had an MRI on it, but the results haven’t yet been reported. The Vikings will take every precaution with one of the most important cogs of its defense and rest him on Sunday to get ready for playoffs. Anthony Barr also left the game, but that was later reported as cramping, so his health isn’t a concern—but the Vikings won’t play him much either, in my estimation.

On offense, running backs Dalvin Cook (shoulder) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) will likely sit out Sunday to make sure they are up for the Wild Card game. One player we would like to see in the lineup is receiver Adam Thielen, who missed nearly half the season with a hamstring injury. Thielen has only recently come back to the field and could use the opportunity to regain his timing with Cousins (who after last week’s sub-par performance could use some action on Sunday also). If that does happen, it won’t be for the entire game and will have a pitch count similar to a preseason game.

Regardless, Thielen is a gamer and will be lobbying for as much time as possible, and Cousins will likely get limited action with Chicago’s tough defensive front going against an offensive line that did him no favors last Monday night.

In summation, past games won’t be a factor. Typical starters won’t be a factor. Playoff hopes won’t be a factor. So, what will be a factor? Pride. The Bears will want another win to help forget a bad season that went off the rails early. For the Vikings, a good feeling heading into the postseason will be sought. If they can get up early, the Bears will resign themselves to a better draft position and start mailing it in—and both benches will empty.

But who knows what will happen in this one (I surely don’t). That’s why we must tune in.

Minnesota—23, Chicago—17

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