The Minnesota Vikings (6-4) travel to the Windy City and take on the Chicago Bears (7-3) at noon on Sunday. The NFC North division has also been known as the black and blue division. There is a ton on the line so I fully expect the nickname to be lived up to. It’s going to be a war.
The series is 52-48-2 in favor the Minnesota Vikings which includes 21-27-2 in Chicago. The last 12 years have been a struggle for the purple as they have only won 2 times since 2000 in Chicago. The years were 2000 and 2007 in which Minnesota took home the win.
The Bears come in on a 2 game losing streak including last Monday’s night ugly loss in San Francisco. The Vikings as we know won their last game before the bye week so the Vikings should be well rested. A 2 week rest for Minnesota and the Bears only have 6 days to get ready for this clash. Advantage: VIKINGS
There are 2 big story lines with one from each team. The first with Minnesota’s Percy Harvin and his ankle situation and for the Bears it will be quarterback Jay Cutler if he is cleared to play after suffering the concussion against the Houston Texans.
Minnesota in the game against Detroit did a great job of finding guys to step up and pick up the slack in Harvin’s absence.
The Bears backup quarterback Jason Campbell did not have such good luck in replacing Cutler as the 49ers sacked him 6 times and made his night miserable.
Minnesota’s run offense is clicking on high gear as Adrian Peterson is a machine. It will be real interesting to see how the Vikings offensive line does in run blocking. The Bears first 6 games they gave up an average of 70 yards per game. The story the last 4 games is the Bears defense is starting to get crack as they are now yielding 131 per game in the last 4. This is exciting news for the men who block for AP. Vikings O-Line vs. Bears run defense I see advantage: VIKINGS
The last 6 games of the year the Vikings will face major test after test with some awesome pass rushing teams and it starts Sunday with the Bears big pass rush lead by Julius Peppers. Vikings left tackle, Matt Kalil, what can you say about the job he has done thus far. Sunday will be his one of his biggest test if not the biggest. The 49ers pass rush is awesome but that was a home game for the Vikings and now a road test against seemingly a year in and out Pro Bowl man in Peppers. I am confident in Kalil but in the same breath the 4 others need to play top notch as well.
The Bears defense is playing lights out as far as the turnovers created and this is truly a concern but if Ponder can play anywhere close to how he did against Detroit things will be alright. The Bears are about as physical team as the Vikings will play all year. The turnover stat in the NFL is huge and the Bears take pride in being good at stripping the ball. Sunday will be about; can Minnesota avoid the big word, turnover? If so, I believe Minnesota will come out 7-4.
I watched last Monday night’s game with Chicago and San Francisco and really thought the 49ers did whatever they wanted. The Bears talented linebacking corp lead by Brian Urlacher really looked for once overmatched. There were so missed tackles you do not normally see a Bears defense miss.
2 losses in a row by Chicago is a concern on how the Bears will come into this game. How does this streak affect the Bears? Has Chicago been playing over their head? Sunday is a great chance for the Vikings to make a statement in the NFC North.
The Minnesota defense no matter who is behind center at quarterback will have to be licking their chops. The Bears come in giving up 34 sacks which is 2nd in the league. A stat I like even better I found was Jared Allen himself has 13 sacks in 4 ½ games against the Bears. A Packer-Bears game earlier in the season saw the Packers get 9 sacks and most recently against the 49ers they gave up 6 including 5 to 49ers’s Aldon Smith. I am looking for fireworks and it not even the 4th of July. The Bears quarterback not matter who will know if there are clouds in the sky or not as they will have the ability to be lying on their back and looking into the sky.
The Minnesota secondary will face top notch receivers to end the year with the likes of the Packer’s Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb twice, Houston’s Andre Johnson and Sunday they will be matched up against Bears star receiver Brandon Marshall who is a big physical receiver. The 49ers did a great job of shutting him down so I know when the Vikings coaches watch film this should be a help.
This Sunday’s game most important group of players who may help the Vikings take a win on the road will be special teams. Chris Kluwe and Blair Walsh will need their biggest performances of the year. The Bears star return man, Devin Hester has given the Vikings a headache the last few times. Kluwe will need to be huge in his directional kicking keeping the ball towards the sideline and hoping special teams can pin him to the sideline and keep containment. Blair Walsh just needs to be Blair Walsh with his touchback machine of a leg. The wind Sunday will play a huge factor as well.
It is an NFC North battle with the winner taking a big step towards the first goal and that is a division title. A loss does not mean the end but it sure hampers things as far as tie breakers and head to head.
It is a brutal last 6 weeks but my faith in the Vikings leaves me with this thought: Vikings 21 Bears 13
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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