In what I would call a must-win game, the Minnesota Vikings travel to Soldier Field in Chicago to take on the Bears on the national stage that is Monday Night Football.
The Bears will be bringing out their new shiny toy in QB Mitchell Trubisky, the 2nd overall pick in April's draft out of North Carolina. He will be making the first start of his professional career. There is still uncertainty as to who will start at Quarterback for the Vikings as Sam Bradford is listed as questionable. There is some belief that he will play for the first time since winning Player of the Week honors in Week 1. If Bradford can't go, they will turn to Case Keenum for the fourth time.
This sets the stage for a great game between the 2-2 Vikings and the 1-3 Bears. It may look looks like a mismatch on paper, but for whatever reason, the Vikings struggle at Soldier Field. In fact, they have only won one of their last eight trips to Soldier Field. so It will be an interesting and tough test for the Vikings.
Vikings on Offense
The Vikings rank seventh in the NFL in total offense while the Bears rank sixth in total defense. This should be a good matchup as Bears head coach John Fox has a reputation as a great defensive head coach. They will be challenged by Vikings WR's Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen along with the returning Michael Floyd. With the loss of running back Dalvin Cook, the weight will go on Latavius Murray and Jerrick Mckinnon. If Bradford makes his return tonight look for the Vikings to attack the Bears with the pass. However, if it is Keenum look for them to be a bit conservative. This is only the second road game and the last time the offensive line really struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers. To be successful the Vikings need the offensive line to be effective to remain balanced. Especially if it's Bradford they need the line to pass protect as he won't be moving great so he needs to be protected.
Vikings on Defense
The Vikings last week held a good Detroit offense to 251 yards which really shows that the Vikings are coming into form as a defense. The Vikings are ninth in yards per game and are getting better and better. Last week Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, and Xavier Rhodes will be big parts of the defense tonight. The Bears are starting a rookie so some fans will say this will be an easy game and maybe it will. However, it is important for the Vikings to make the plays defensively. The key to the Bears is running backs Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen who they say are Lightning and Thunder. The Bears are going to try to run the ball so it is important for Linval Joseph and Eric Kendricks need to make sure tackles in order to keep the run in check. In the passing game, I look for a lot of check downs with Trubisky making his first start. The Bears are going to want to take less pressure off of him to look for wide receiver screens and stuff like that.
Prediction
You can't discount the Vikings losing seven of their last eight to the Bears at Soldier Field. Therefore it is going to be more challenging than we want it to be. I think the score is close for three quarters and Vikings make one drive to put it out away.
Vikings 24 Bears 13
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