Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings: Who's better now and why

Who has the edge? A look at the improvements made by the Bears and how they compare to division opponent Minnesota after free agency and the draft.
Gene Chamberlain|
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell and Bears QB Caleb Williams meet after the Vikings' victory in Minnesota.
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell and Bears QB Caleb Williams meet after the Vikings' victory in Minnesota. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears hope to do what the Minnesota Vikings did last year and shock the NFC North with a major climb.

In 2023, Minnesota was no better than the Bears and maybe even worse. The Vikings were in the first year of a new defensive system and lost their quarterback, Kirk Cousins, to a torn Achilles. They played much of that season without their greatest weapon, Justin Jefferson.

Last year they put all of that in the past and coped with a journeyman quarterback, largely because of their coaching, offensive line strength and dangerous weapons. They've fashioned a defense with talent suited to the scheme moreso than they have found great athletic performers. The Bears, meanwhile, collapsed with an incompetent offensive coordinator and a defensive-side head coach who couldn't figure out how to call timeouts and stood petrified at game's end when most NFL games are decided.

Things have changed as the Bears sought to cover their obvious weaknesses, the greatest being the coaching staff.

Minnesota also made changes, improving their defensive personnel but especially some offensive line positions.

Here's how the Bears match up against the Vikings now, a team they've lost to seven of the last eight times. It looks like a closer matchup after the Vikings changed QBs. Then again, who knows, maybe they'll bring in a 41-year-old geezer who claims he owns the Bears?

Coaching

Kevin O'Connell rates among the better NFC coaches but Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell did have his number last year. Johnson has had the key to solving Brian

Flores' blitzing defense, but they also had a veteran quarterback and the division's best offensive line making it all work. The Bears are better in all three aspects than they were—coaching, quarterback and offensive line—but not enough to give them an edge over O'Connell and staff until Johnson proves otherwise as a head coach. He's not a coordinator anymore. Edge Vikings

Quarterback

J.J. McCarthy got to watch all year due to injury. There are plenty of those who will tell you the quarterbacks need to sit as rookies. So Jayden Daniels should have sat out last year?

Until McCarthy can prove he is capable of doing anything, and because Caleb Williams has been through it all for a season and survived 68 sacks to tell about it, there's no question who has this edge. Experience matters. QB experience will be a problem for Minnesota through the early going, although not as great because of the type of coaching McCarthy will receive. Edge Bears

Running Back

The Bears did nothing to help themselves in free agency at this position and their only addition in the draft was a seventh rounder, Kyle Monangai. D'Andre Swift averaged only 3.8 yards a carry, and has done much better in his past. The Vikings' Aaron Jones has been a superior every down back throughout his career. He's also turning 31 during the season, and is backed up by Jordan Mason, a player whose skills may have been hidden while on the 49ers and will likely emerge over the next two years either as capable of splitting time evenly with Jones.

The Bears should have been the ones trading for Mason, a 226-pound back who can win with both speed and power. The Vikings gave up only a fifth-rounder and a sixth and got Mason and a sixth in return. Mason has averaged 5.3 yards a carry with the 49ers, and last year had 789 yards on only 153 carries. Mason might not rate as the greatest possible improvement but he sure beats a seventh-round pick. Edge Vikings

Wide Receiver

The Bears have a talented group on paper but the Vikings have the division's best receiver in Justin Jefferson and another dangerous threat in Jordan Addison. No one can question DJ Moore's spot among the division's best but Rome Odunze still has much to prove and Luther Burden III is merely a rookie. There is more depth for the Bears here than the Vikings have, but not by much. Edge Vikings

Tight End

Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet and Durham Smythe combine to rate the best tight group in the division. Loveland may be a rookie but the 10th pick in the draft is a bit better than your common Day 2 or 3 tight end and is also a deep threat. Kmet over the past three seasons has developed a reputation for catching almost anything and had the league's highest catch percentage among tight ends last year. Smythe has had three seasons with more catches than Vikings backup Josh Oliver has ever had. The grouping combined is better even if T.J. Hockenson, who is the best at catching passes of all division tight ends. Hockenson was coming off a terrible knee injury last year. Edge Bears

Offensive Line

The Vikings didn't sit on what looked like a winning hand. While the Bears were trading and signing to get Drew Dalman, Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, the Vikings brought in former Colts Ryan Kelly and Will Fries and drafted Donovan Jackson for their interior line. The Bears might have come away a bit better for that exchange because Thuney is a four-time All-Pro but Fries is a rising talent. The tipping point in this comparison is at tackle, where the Vikings have Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill and the Bears counter with Darnell Wright and most likely Braxton Jones. Edge Vikings

Defensive Line

Bringing in Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett and Shemar Turner solved one of the bigger Bears issues on the defensive front, and that was lack of quality depth. However, they still seem to lack that edge rush presence necessary to take pressure off Montez Sweat, unless Odeyingbo or Austin Booker take big steps forward or the pressure comes from the inside. They restored the division's best run defense merely by getting Andrew Billings back from a pectoral tear. Minnesota's signing of Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen made their run defense more formidable than last year, when they were second in the league. But that second in the league was achieved partly because their pass  defense was so porous and invited attacks. Their pass rush is left in the hands of blitzers and Jonathan Greenard. No Edge

Linebackers

T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds have been the best standard linebacker duo in the division but the Vikings don't play standard defense. They're using linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel, Ivan Pace and Blake Cashman to attack the QB. It's when their linebackers fall into coverage that the Vikings are lacking. And Johnson has usually found ways to force Flores into backing out of that pressure enough in the past, thereby exposing the weakness of Minnesota's linebackers in pass coverage. No Edge

Secondary

The Bears have the best secondary in the division, anchored by two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and the best nickel cornerback in Kyler Gordon. The only question is whether corner Tyrique Stevenson matures and safety Jaquan Brisker stays healthy. The Vikings secondary is better than in the recent past because of system knowledge and Byron Murphy, but safety Harrison Smith is 36 years old and it's surprising they couldn't do more to upgrade over cornerbacks Isaiah Rodgers and Ambry Thomas. They put too much pressure on their corners with their scheme and lack the high quality athletes required at cornerback to pull this off. Edge Bears

Special Teams

This isn't even a contest. Cairo Santos has been the division's best kicker over the last four seasons as he has improved from distance while remaining nearly at 90% on field goals. And he does it as an outdoor kicker. Will Reichard's kicking doesn't look nearly as good if he's kicking outside for more than half of his games. Punter Tory Taylor exploded on the scene last year with a Bears record for distance and was among the league's best putting the ball inside the 20. The Bears upgraded their return game significantly with two-time Pro Bowl returner Devin Duvernay and Minnesota right now looks to be counting on average to sub-par Jalen Nailor and Ty Chandler.  Edge Bears

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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.