Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings Week 15 Game Day Preview

Key statistics, trends and individual matchups in Monday night's game in Minneapolis between the Bears and the Minnesota Vikings.

Gene Chamberlain

Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson celebrates a touchdown catch against the Bears.
Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson celebrates a touchdown catch against the Bears. / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
In this story:

Chicago Bears (4-9) at Minnesota Vikings (11-2)

Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis Minn.

TV: ABC/ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Westwood One (Kevin Harlan, Kurt Warner)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Mateo Moreno)

The Line: Vikings by 7, over/under 44 1/2 (Draft Kings)

Chicago Bears On SI Pick: Vikings 37, Bears 16

The Series: The 128th time they've played. The Vikings lead 67-58-2 and won the last game, 30-27 in overtime on Nov. 24 at Soldier Field. The Bears won the last game at Minneapolis, 12-10 last season.

The Coaches: Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown lost his first game last week and is 0-1 after replacing Matt Eberflus.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell owns a 31-17 record in his third season and is 4-1 against Chicago.

The Teams: The Bears are trying to avoid an eight-game losing streak after suffering their worst defeat of the season, 38-13 at San Francisco. They had been outgained 319 yards to 4 at halftime before Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze in the second half for two touchdown passes. The Bears are now 14-33 since the end of Matt Nagy's coaching regime. They were 34-31 under Nagy in four years with two playoff berths. Brown is one of the possibilities for head coach next year but there currently are no announced candidates as the pursuit of a coach will begin when the season ends.

The Vikings have clinched a playoff spot and have a chance for a division title, especially after Detroit's loss on Sunday to Buffalo. They are tied with the Lions and beat Detroit earlier this season. Minnesota has won six straight and QB Sam Darnold has had a 100 passer rating in seven of the last eight games and 11 of 13 on the year while WR Jordan Addison has four catches for 410 yards and five TDs in the last four games. Justin Jefferson is coming off a two-catch and 27-yard effort in the first game with the Bears.

Stat Leaders: Williams leads the Bears in passing with 270 completions in 434 attempts (62.2%) for 16 TDs and five interceptions with a passer rating of 87.8. RB D'Andre Swift leads the Bears in rushing with 742 yards on 193 carries (3.8 yards a carry) and Roschon Jonson, who is injured, leads in rushing TDs with six. WR DJ Moore leads in receptions with 68, yards with 712 and is tied with Keenan Allen for the TD reception lead with five. ... LB T.J. Edwards leads the Bears in tackles with 103 and tackles for loss with eight. DT Gervon Dexter leads in sacks with five but is injured. CB Jaylon Johnson has two interceptions to lead the team, while Tyrique Stevenson leads in pass defenses with nine.

For the Vikings, Sam Darnold is 264 of 386 (68.4%) for 3,299 yards with 28 TDs and 10 interceptions for a 108.1 passer rating. Aaron Jones leads the Vikings in rushing with 893 yards on 197 carries (4.5 ypc) and in rushing TDs with four. Justin Jefferson leads in receptions with 75, yards with 1,170 and is tied with Jordan Addison for TD catches at seven. ... S John Metllus is the Vikings leader in tackles with 78 and edge Jonathan Greenard and OLB Andrew Van Ginkel lead in tackles for loss with 15. CB Byron Murphy has the Vikings lead in interceptions with six and in pass breakups with 12. Greenardhas the lead in forced fumbles with three.

Injury Report: For the Bears, T Braxton Jones (concussion), guard Ryan Bates (concussion), DT Gervon Dexter (knee) and RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) are out. RB D'Andre Swift (groin) is questionable.

For Minnesota, CB Stephon Gilmore (hamstring) is questionable.

Matching Up: The Bears are 32nd on offense (last), 30th in passing and 23rd rushing. They are 24th in scoring. Chicago is 24th on defense, 16th against the pass and 26th against the run. They are 10th in scoring defense.

THREE KEYS TO A BEARS UPSET OF THE VIKINGS

WHAT A WEEKEND WITHOUT FOOTBALL SAID FOR THE BEARS: THE COACHING HUNT

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE 2024 CHICAGO BEARS?

BEARS AND VIKINGS: WHO WINS AND WHY

The Vikings are 11th on offense, seventh in passing and 17th at rushing. They are ninth in scoring. Minnesota's defense is 17th overall, 29th against the pass and second against the run. The Vikings are sixth in scoring defense.

Of Note: The Bears are plus-9 in turnover ratio and the Vikings plus-4. ... Williams has thrown 255 straight passes without an interception, an NFL rookie record, and has gone seven full games without one. ... The five-TD game last week by Darnold was the first by a Vikings passer since Daunte Culpepper in 2004. ... The Bears' Allen needs three catches and 29 yards for his 11th straight year of at least 50 catches and 500 yards. ... Bears WR Keenan Allen has 56 catches for 631 yards and three TDs in five career games against Minnesota, and no games with less than eight catches or 86 yards. ... The Vikings have seven players with multiple interceptions, most since 1988 when they had nine. ... The Vikings have trailed for only two hours, 39 minutes and 48 seconds this season, the least amount of time in the league. Washington is next fewest (2:48:26). ... Jefferson's 33 100-yard games are the most by anyone in their first five seasons. ... Bears K Cairo Santos needs one 50-yard field goal or longer to set the franchise record for a single season with eight.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears T Kiran Amegadjie vs. Vikings DE Jonathan Greenard

Yikes. The Bears' rookie tackle from Yale has fought through injuries all year and played a little but this would be his first start and it's in the dome against the Vikings' blitzing plus Greenard, who has gone double digits in sacks now. Amegadjie, the Hinsdale product, has the physical tools needed to play tackle in the NFL but not the training after missing training camp and then sitting out almost all regular season. But the concussion to Braxton Jones means either he plays or it's Jake Curhan or possibly Larry Borom. Considering they're protecting the franchise, it wouldn't be a shock if they decided on a veteran rather than Amegadjie. Greenard might be considered a steal by the Vikings but they gave up Danielle Hunter for him and Hunter has a dozen sacks this year. The most difficult thing about this for Amegadjie is the noise because he's at tackle, and the complexity of Minnesota blitzes even if Greenard is a formidable foe.

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson

The Bears took a group approach with safety help for Johnson on Jefferson last time, while varying their disguised coverages. The two catches and 27 yards will only make Jefferson more dangerous in this one. Johnson's passer rating against is 35.4 points higher than last year when he was a second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl player, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference.

Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson vs. Vikings WR Jordan Addison

Stevenson struggled in the earlier game and only played about 35% of the snaps as he was replaced by Terell Smith. Addison lit up whoever he was facing. Addison had 410 receiving yards in the last four games and had five TD catches in those games. He's in the middle of the hottest stretch of his career, as QB Sam Darnold is lighting it up. Stevenson needs to be physical if possible. Addison is not a big receiver, at 5-11, 175 pounds, so the 6-foot, 204-pound Bears cornerback needs to rely on his edge here.

Bears DE Montez Sweat vs. Vikings RT Brian O'Neill

Sweat has been going through a disappointing season, there is no doubt about it. Lack of help is one factor but he hasn't even been getting the pressures let alone the sacks. He has 17 pressures in 13 games when he had 21 last year in nine Bears games, 40 for the season total, as he was playing in a contract season. Sweat nearly had a sack last week but Brock Purdy shrugged off his tackle attempt. He still has more sacks (4 1/2) than any of the other Bears edge rushers and without injured sacks leader Gervon Dexter (5 sacks), the Bears' pass rush is up to him. O'Neill has had a strong year with two sacks allowed and three penalties committed. Sweat did have a sack and one of his better pass-rushing games of the season in the last matchup against O'Neill with two quarterback hits.

Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds vs. Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson

Edmunds covers a wider and deeper area in Bears zone coverage than many linebackers do and his coverage has been essential in their red zone success, as they rank third overall even after allowing five TDs in five trips to San Francisco. Edmunds hasn't been having an overall strong season, as he's ranked 67th among 83 linebackers in the league graded by Pro Football Focus. Hockenson last time torched the Bears for seven catches and 114 yards, easily his best effort this year as he has played only six games while coming back from knee surgery. He has had only one other game with more than 28 yards receiving.

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Vikings CB Shaquill Griffin

With Stephon Gilmore injured, the Vikings could rely on Griffin to start for the second time in a row. Griffin has two interceptions on the year but going against Moore might not be the easiest task for him. Moore had his biggest game of the year yardage-wise against the Vikings last game (106) and was critical to Bears attempts to beat the blitz with quick routes and yards after the catch. Moore is fifth in the league in yards after the catch. Griffin, the former Seahawks cornerback, is in his eighth season. At 6-foot, 198, he might be having his best season with a 68.8 passer rating against and 52.4% completions allowed when targeted. Moore is in the midst of his best stretch of the season with 28 catches for 314 yards and two TDs, including one against Minnesota.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.