Struggling Vikings Have Chance To Right Ship Against 1st-Place Bears

The Chicago Bears (6-3) are on top in the NFC North and are one of the biggest surprises of the season. Their ability to finish off opponents in the final moments keyed victories over the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants the past two weeks is indicative of the growth of quarterback Caleb Williams and the effectiveness of sideline boss Ben Johnson.

The Minnesota Vikings (4-5) are at the bottom of the NFC North standings as they are the only team in the division with a losing record. They have dropped three of their four home games this season, and that’s something that head coach Kevin O’Connell just can’t accept.

Their 27-19 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10 featured 13 penalties by the Vikings, including eight of the pre-snap variety that placed second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the offense behind the chains on a consistent basis.

The Vikings host the Bears Sunday, and the two teams have gone in opposite directions since the Vikings opened the season with a 27-24 victory at Soldier Field over Chicago. Nevertheless, the Vikings are still 3-point favorites over the Bears in Sunday’s encounter at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Bears have won six of their last seven games, but none of those victories have come over winning teams. They will not be playing a winning team in Minnesota, but they are facing a desperate team that hopes to get back into playoff contention. The Vikings were at their best two weeks ago in their road win over the Detroit Lions, the team that is tied with the Bears for the top spot.

There is little comparison between the Bears and Lions. Chicago is an upstart team that finished in last place a year ago, while the Lions have been a dominant NFC team for the past 2-plus seasons. If the Vikings were able to beat the Lions on the road, they must dominate against the Bears at home.

Nice-guy O’Connell has to flex his muscles

O’Connell’s signature has been his non-stop support of his players and the positive atmosphere he has created in the Vikings locker room. There’s no doubt that O’Connell is a great guy and the Vikings players are lucky to have him as their boss. But the nice guy attitude only takes a team so far in the NFL. The days of hard-edged coaches like Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, Bud Grant and even Bill Belichick may be over, but it’s time for O’Connell to flex whatever muscle he has.

The undisciplined and mistake-riddled play against the Ravens has to end. Superstar Justin Jefferson, who was clearly one of the two best receivers in the league at the start of the year – with the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase – is barely in the top-10 this season. He has to step up and that means running his once-pristine pass routes sharper and quicker and putting an end to the near-misses on the passes thrown by McCarthy.

The running game has shown flashes with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, and the Bears (24^th-ranked run defense) are just the team to turn those flashes into consistent success. If that is going to happen, left tackle Christian Darrisaw and right tackle Brian O’Neill are going to have to breathe fire for 60 minutes and punish the Bears’ defensive front.

Despite their loss to the Ravens, the Vikings defense played quite well. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores saw his defense stop Baltimore on 9 of 15 third-down plays and limit Lamar Jackson’s offense to 321 yards. However, they couldn’t turn that performance into a victory because the Vikings lost the turnover battle by a 3-0 margin.

That can’t happen against the Bears. Linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman have to harass Williams and keep him from making decisive plays with his powerful arm and his legs. Takeaways are the keys for the Minnesota defense. The Vikings got five of them when they blew out the Bengals 48-10 in Week 3, but they have been scarce since then.

The Vikings have to come away with at least two against the Bears and they can’t give the Bears any more than one turnover.

There is very little difference between these two teams in terms of talent, but the Bears have taken advantage of a soft schedule to this point and they have executed in the final minutes when the game is on the line. The Vikings can’t afford to let that happen here, or they will find themselves buried in the NFC North.