The Chicago Bears are traveling up north searching for their first division win of the Ben Johnson era.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings are trying to get back on track in a season that seems to have them play up to their expectations, but also down to the competition.
Winning records have been rare for Chicago football fans, but this team keeps preaching a mentality of “a long way to go.”
It’s good to keep the focus on the next game. So let’s get to it.
Minnesota Vikings
SB Nation site: Daily Norseman
Record: 4-5, last in the NFC North
Game day, time, TV: Sunday, noon CT, FOX
Spread: MIN -3
Bears all-time record against: 58-69-2 including 1-0 postseason
Historical meetings: Week 11 of 2014. The 3-6 Bears hosted the 4-5 Vikings.
Minnesota took a 10-0 first-quarter lead on a Blair Walsh field goal and a Rhett Ellison catch from Teddy Bridgewater.
Jay Cutler went off though, hitting Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall for touchdowns in the second quarter. He threw another TD to Marshall in the third and the Bears won 21-13.
Cutler threw for 330 yards and those three touchdowns. Matt Forte ran for 117 yards and Alshon had 135 yards and Marshall finished with 90 yards.
Last meeting: Week 1, the Bears had a 17-6 lead in the third quarter after a Nashon Wright pick six of JJ McCarthy.
Then McCarthy went off, the Bears collapsed and the Vikings won 27-24.
Injury report: The Vikings had nine players limited and one not participating on their Wednesday report.
Limited participation
- G Will Fries (calf)
- OLB Jonathan Greenard (shoulder)
- RB Aaron Jones (shoulder/toe)
- C Ryan Kelly (concussion)
- J.J. McCarthy (right hand)
- S Josh Metellus (foot)
- TE Josh Oliver (foot)
- T Justin Skule (shoulder)
- S Harrison Smith (NIR – rest)
Did not participate
- OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (neck)
Offense: The Vikings come in ranked 21st in points and 24th in yards.
Their passing offense ranks 22nd and their rushing offense 24th.
J.J. McCarthy (53.7 cmp. pct./692 yds./5 TD/6 INT) has been up and down with flashes of good plays and a lot of not-so-great stuff.
Justin Jefferson (51 rec./686 yds./2 TD) is still the leader for Minnesota in the passing game. Jordan Addison (26/392/2) has come on strong since his suspension. Jalen Nailor (19/302/2) and T.J. Hockenson (31/241/2) are also seeing a lot of action.
Jordan Mason (102 att./444 yds./4 TD) has taken over from Aaron Jones Sr. (36/186/1) as the lead back. McCarthy is also a good runner himself (21/110/2).
Defense: The Vikings defense comes in ranked 18th in points allowed and 12th in yards allowed.
Their passing defense ranks ninth and their rushing defense ranks 22nd.
Led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Minnesota leads the league in blitz percentage and is second in pressure percentage.
The defensive line is led by EDGE rushers Jonathan Greenard (2 sk/1 FF/10 TFL/9 QB hits/3 PD) and Andrew Van Ginkel (2 sk/3 TFL/3 QB/4 PD).Van Ginkel has missed games so his numbers aren’t popping. In fact, the Vikings’ sack leader is Jalen Redmond (4.0 sk/6 TFL/5 QB hits/2 PD/1 FF). They have 12 players with at least one sack.
Eric Wilson (63 tkl/8 TFL/3 QB hits/3 FF/3.5 sk) is making plays all over the field.
The secondary features Isaiah Rodgers (1 INT/34 tkl/2 PD/2 FF) and S Josh Metellus (2 INT/4 PD/0.5 sk/1 TFL/2 QB hits). Plus, Byron Murphy (43 tkl/2 PD) and Harrison Smith (31 tkl/3 PD/1 FF) are in the secondary, too.
Key matchups: The Bears started so strong in week one and faded. The offense was worse back then and couldn’t find their footing or run the ball.
I expect the Bears to lean on D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai to stay in this game. Caleb has to beat the blitz, trust his guys and make the easy throws.
On defense, contain Justin Jefferson and the VIkings’ passing game. Pressure J.J. McCarthy and force him into mistakes.
Key stats
- The Bears have lost three in a row to the Vikings.
- Chicago is 2-8 against Minnesota in their last 10 meetings, going back to 2020
- J.J. McCarthy has a 12.20 sack rate in 2025.
- McCarthy is still inexperienced. He has just 108 pass attempts this season, which ranks 37th in the league and behind back up QBs like Marcus Mariota, Jake Browning and Russell Wilson
- The VIkings rank 30th in turnover margin with a -7.
- Minnesota ranks second-to-last in offensive third-down conversions
Can the Bears exact revenge for their week one loss? Or is the home cooking too good for the Bears.
