Bears at Vikings

[CharVike]

The Bears are a team that has completely fell apart from top to bottom. There is nothing about this team that should create tremendous issues for us. Their OL is horrible and is on pace to set a record for sacks allowed. They also have a hard time running the ball. Like always we need to play clean football. If we turn it over a few times it will create a much closer game than it should be. We also need to take control of the point or there will be sacks and not much on the ground. I expect a win to clinch a playoff spot if needed and keep the division title alive 27-13.

[TheCoolerOne]

The Bears are a team that has completely fell apart from top to bottom. There is nothing about this team that should create tremendous issues for us. Their OL is horrible and is on pace to set a record for sacks allowed. They also have a hard time running the ball. Like always we need to play clean football. If we turn it over a few times it will create a much closer game than it should be. We also need to take control of the point or there will be sacks and not much on the ground. I expect a win to clinch a playoff spot if needed and keep the division title alive 27-13.

It is undoubtedly just a team-centric bias, but it really seems like whatever issue a team is having up to the point of playing the Vikings, they seemingly suddenly have instant success with whatever it is.

Last week it was Atlanta can't get after the quarterback, so Atlanta gets four sacks.

Vikings no.1 rush D, Falcons get themselves 150ish with no issue.

So, this week, if the Bears offensive line is having a hard time, I'll expect them to keep Williams clean, and if they can't run the ball, I imagine they'll find success.

Vikings should definitely win, and double digits would be great, but I guess I'll just be a skeptic til I'm not.

[VikingLord]

Are the Bears struggling as a team right now? Yes. Will that matter in the upcoming game against them? Probably not.

The Vikings have been winning, but in my view the way they've been winning is what matters when trying to evaluate this upcoming game, and I'm worried on multiple levels.

First, there is the defense. Look at these yardage totals they've surrendered starting with their most recent win against the Bears:

11/24/2025 @ Chicago Bears
Total yards - 398 (Bears are ranked dead last in total offensive yardage at 290.0 per game)
Rushing - 78 (Bears are ranked 23rd overall in rushing yardage at 105.8 per game)
Passing - 320 (Bears are ranked 30th overall in passing yardage at 182.7 per game)

12/1/2025 - Arizona Cardinals
Total yards - 406 (Cardinals are ranked 12th overall in total offensive yardage at 348.0 per game)
Rushing - 154 (Cardinals are ranked 6th overall in rushing yardage at 139.8 per game)
Passing - 252 (Cardinals are ranked 22nd overall in passing yardage at 208.2 per game)

12-8-2025 - Atlanta Falcons
Total yards - 496 (Falcons are ranked 7th overall in total offensive yardage at 371.0 per game)
Rushing - 158 (Falcons are ranked 12th overall in rushing yardage at 120.8 per game)
Passing - 338 (Falcons are ranked 2nd overall in passing yardage at 250.2 per game)

In short, those are not performances to write home about. In all of those games the Vikings lost TOP. In most of them the defense not only gave up large amounts of yardage, but also failed to get off the field. What has largely saved the defense in each of those games was a combination of keeping the opposing offense out of the endzone at the end of long drives and also creating turnovers to effectively end drives. But the defense is largely not getting stops and is spending a lot of time on the field and giving up a lot of yards as a result.

Secondly, there is the Vikings offense, which has largely been the opposite of the defense during these games, with long stretches of futility and a failure to produce or control the clock. The offense has been saved by bursts of scoring and energy, mostly coming late in these games.

And lastly, there is the coaching. There was evidence in the earlier part of the season of a failure to adjust to what the opposing team was doing to generate success against the Vikings, but this trend seems to have become more pronounced in recent weeks where we're literally seeing teams like the Cardinals repeat the same types of blitz schemes over and over with the same results for long stretches of games. We're watching as opposing offenses attack the same parts of the field in the passing game with relative ease, or watching as the defense concedes easy catches on 3rd downs against a porous zone, sometimes running the exact same routes that were run with the same result earlier in the same game.

The Bears as they stand are a team the Vikings should beat on Monday Night, but I'm in no way convinced that will be the result at this point because despite their overall record and win streak, I don't think the Vikings have played all that well in recent weeks. They had to go to overtime to beat the Bears, squeaked past the Cardinals, and I think the final score of the game against the Falcons does not reflect the way most of that game went for the Vikings.

I do think the Vikings will beat the Bears, and I hope we see an overall effort that is reflective of a good team rounding out and playing well as the post season approaches rather than another effort where the Bears suddenly look competent and the Vikings continue to struggle.

No score prediction for this one - I think it will be close.

[CharVike]

The Bears are a team that has completely fell apart from top to bottom. There is nothing about this team that should create tremendous issues for us. Their OL is horrible and is on pace to set a record for sacks allowed. They also have a hard time running the ball. Like always we need to play clean football. If we turn it over a few times it will create a much closer game than it should be. We also need to take control of the point or there will be sacks and not much on the ground. I expect a win to clinch a playoff spot if needed and keep the division title alive 27-13.

It is undoubtedly just a team-centric bias, but it really seems like whatever issue a team is having up to the point of playing the Vikings, they seemingly suddenly have instant success with whatever it is.

Last week it was Atlanta can't get after the quarterback, so Atlanta gets four sacks.

Vikings no.1 rush D, Falcons get themselves 150ish with no issue.

So, this week, if the Bears offensive line is having a hard time, I'll expect them to keep Williams clean, and if they can't run the ball, I imagine they'll find success.

Vikings should definitely win, and double digits would be great, but I guess I'll just be a skeptic til I'm not.

I'm a skeptic also. I fully expect the Bears to attack the interior of our offensive line and look to get immediate penetration which will give us big time problems regardless of what we are trying to do. Every team will do that because we are weak in that area. It happened on the long TD under throw to Addison last week. Risner was driven back into Darnold and he couldn't make his stride which made the throw weak. Good for us Addison tracked the ball. Also good Darnold has a cannon. If it were Mullens or noodle arm Jones it would have been a 20 yard pop up. For us to have the record we do some things are going right more than wrong. Can we beat the mighty Lions? I think we can. Goff has some bad outings and that D is nothing to write home about. Of course their OL can dominate the action. The Bears gave them a battle to the end with a rookie QB and terrible coaching.

[Tommy TarkenKapp]

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[CharVike]

Getting a win was the most important thing but I really liked the way that we punched the ball into the end zone at the goal line. That's dominating the point. To win that needs to happen. Our D had a very good game. The Bears didn't have much success on 3rd or 4th down. They're going through the developing a rookie QB stuff so that helped our defense. Getting a punt blocked wasn't good. I'll give the Bears secondary credit because they did have tight coverage and they hit. I prefer the downfield passing more than the quick dump offs. The deeper one to Addison got us the PI in the end zone. We did a good job of converting on 3rd down and some of them long. I thought the Bears played a hard game. They wanted to win.

[cogitator]

Much as I hate to say it, I think if Chicago can ever work out their coaching problems, Caleb Williams looks like he's going to be very good to great. Very difficult to sack once he get out of the pocket, reminded me of Lamar Jackson and Mahomes. Obviously if the pocket just collapses he can be sacked, but once he's out, he was really difficult to get. Has a strong arm, mostly accurate on the run, although he had a few clinkers, and he seemed to see the field pretty well while scrambling. So this could be a deal where the NFC North is like the AFC West is for the Chargers and Broncos, where they have to see and try to beat and mostly fail to beat KC and Mahomes. First sentence is the key, maybe the Bears are always borderline dysfunctional on offense.

[VikingLord]

Good win against a struggling team. I thought the offense was pretty efficient in the 1st half even if the score didn't reflect it. Struggled a bit more in the 3rd before settling down in the 4th. Darnold was a bit off. Some of his throws were very risky while others were way off the mark. Otherwise, he looked pretty sharp. Not sure if the Bears played to take away the deeper shots but I think there was only one ball that went downfield (overthrow to JJ?), which I don't think is enough attempts. With Darnold's arm and the receivers the Vikings have KOC should be calling for 3-4 deep shots a game minimum. It keeps the DBs from cheating up and can generate some big chunk plays and/or penalties and I think it's a differentiator for the Vikings offense, which is important when the playoffs start.

Defense looked dominant at times. I don't think Caleb Williams sees the field very well. Seems like he looks anywhere but where his valve option(s) are and while he's elusive, he made some pretty questionable decisions with the ball and got away with them. One pick went right through Smith's hands, and there were another two throws that probably should have been picked as well. Overall, I think the defense played much better than the prior 3 weeks. Granted, the Bear offense is pretty bad and I'm sure that had something to do with it too, but I'd have been really worried had the Bears piled up the yardage we've seen from other recent opponents.

Coaching-wise, I wasn't a fan of KOC going for it on 4th and not taking the points. We've had this debate on here before and there probably isn't a correct answer as to what is the best call in a situation like that, but it sucks to come away with no points when you can almost certainly put 3 on the board.

One other comment on the punter contact. I get the rule, but running into a punter when he has his leg fully extended like that could end his career. If the spirit of the rule exists to protect punters, then I don't see the difference between a guy who endangers a punter after touching the ball as compared to one who hits him without touching it. Maybe the rule should be adjusted to reflect the nature of the contact and the risk to the punter's safety. I'm not saying that just because it was the Vikings' punter who could have been hurt - that could happen to any punter. Guys can try to block punts without smacking directly into a punter who is in the act of punting regardless of when or if contact is made with the ball.

Now on to the final stanza of this season where we'll find out a lot about where the Vikings are relative to some of the best teams in the conference...

[DonCain]

As a way of introduction, I have been a Vikings fan since 1969, when I was 13 years old and they won the last NFL championship. That was the year before the merger, and we got the AFC and NFC. I love tradition.

I'm saying this to point out that I hate those Winter Warrior uniforms, particularly with the white helmet. I'm sorry, but the whole game I could only think of the Woody Allen movie "Everything you wanted to know about sex" and the scene with the sperm.

I'm glad they won. I hope to never see those uniforms again.

[Cliff]

As a way of introduction, I have been a Vikings fan since 1969, when I was 13 years old and they won the last NFL championship. That was the year before the merger, and we got the AFC and NFC. I love tradition.

I'm saying this to point out that I hate those Winter Warrior uniforms, particularly with the white helmet. I'm sorry, but the whole game I could only think of the Woody Allen movie "Everything you wanted to know about sex" and the scene with the sperm.

I'm glad they won. I hope to never see those uniforms again.

to the board!

I didn't like them because they didn't look like Vikings uniforms at all. They reminded me of Colts more than anything.