Bears and Vikings Game Day at a Glance
Minnesota Vikings (1-4) at Chicago Bears (1-4)
When: Noon, Sunday
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: Fox (Brandon Gaudin, Robert Smith, Jen Hale)
Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)
Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)
Digital Radio: SiriusXM (Channel 81 or 226)
Streaming: fuboTV (free trial)
The Line: Vikings by 3 (over/under 44 1/2)
BearDigest Pick: Bears 24, Vikings 23
The Setting: Having just snapped a 14-game losing streak, the Bears now take aim at a 10-game NFC North losing streak and nine-game home-field losing streak as they host the Minnesota Vikings, who are without wide receiver Justin Jefferson, their top threat, due to a hamstring injury. Jefferson was placed on IR this week.
Special Day: It's a day to honor Dick Butkus and the Bears will wear No. 51 patches on their jerseys the rest of the year. The in-stadium experience will be filled with several Butkus memorials and big screen highlights.
The Series: The 125th meeting overall in the series. Minnesota 65-57-2, including a Bears playoff win after the 1994 season. Minnesota has won the last four in the series, longest winning streak in the series since 2018-19 when the Bears won four straight. No one has won more than four straight since the Bears ran off six straight from 2009-12.
The Coaches: Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is 14-8 in his second season, including 2-0 against the Bears. Matt Eberflus is 4-18 in his second season and 0-2 against the Vikings.
Last Week: The Vikings lost 27-20 at home to Kansas City despite QB Kirk Cousins going 29 of 47 for 284 yards with TD passes to Jordan Addison and Alexander Mattison. The Bears won in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, 40-20, over Washington after the announcement that all-time Bears great linebacker Dick Butkus had died. Justin Fields completed 15 of 29 for 282 yards with three TDs to Moore, and another TD to Cole Kmet. It was the second straight four-TD effort by Fields.
Team Leaders: For Minnesota, QB Kirk Cousins is 137 of 204 (67.2%) for 1,498 yards and 13 TDs with four INTs and a passer rating of 101.7. Cousins leads the NFL in TD passes. His top target is Jefferson, but this week it will be TE T.J. Hockenson, who has 30 receptions for 254 yards with two TDs. Rookie WR Jordan Addison is tied with Jefferson for the team TD catch lead with three and has 19 catches for 249 yards. RB Alexander Mattison leads the Vikings in rushing yards with 276 on 64 carries (4.3 yards a carry) and leads in rushing TDs with 10. DE Danielle Hunter leads the Vikings with six sacks, tied for second in the NFL behind T.J. Watt (8). LB Camryn Bynum leads Minnesota in tackles with 51 while Hunter leads in tackles for loss with nine.
For the Bears, QB Justin Fields is 94 of 152 (61.8%) for 1,143 yards with 11 TDs and five INTs. His TD percentage of 7.2% leads the NFL. Fields has a passer rating of 95.4. He has run for 191 yards on 39 carries and is the leading ball carrier for the Bears in this game with Khalil Herbert out due to an ankle injury. DJ Moore leads the Bears in receptions with 27 for a team-high 531 yards and team-high five TDs. Weakside LB T.J. Edwards leads the Bears in tackles with 62 while DE DeMarcus Walker leads in tackles for loss with five. Greg Stroman Jr., Jack Sanborn and Quindell Johnson have the Bears interceptions.
Matching Up: The Vikings are ninth on offense, second in passing and 29th in rushing. Minnesota is 15th in scoring. The Vikings are 19th on defense, 22nd against the pass and 13th against the run. Minnesota is 23rd in scoring defense.
The Bears are 14th on offense, 17th passing and ninth in rushing. Chicago is 11th in scoring offense. The Bears are 29th on defense, 31st against the pass and 11th against the run. They are 30th in scoring defense.
Injury Report: For the Vikings, RB Kene Nwangwu is questionable with a back injury. WR Justin Jefferson has been placed on injured reserve.
For the Bears, RB Khalil Herbert (ankle), RB Travis Homer (hamstring), RB Roschon Johnson (concussion), CB Terell Smith (ankle, illness) are out. RB Khalil Herbert (ankle) and WR Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring) have been placed on injured reserve. Safety Eddie Jackson (foot) and guard Lucas Patrick (concussion) are questionable.
Notable: Fields is coming off back-to-back passer ratings of 125 or more for the first time. His passer rating was 125.3 last week, 132.7 the previous week in a 31-28 loss to Denver. ... Fields has at least one TD pass in each game this season and a streak of eight straight games with at least one TD pass. ... RB D'Onta Foreman hasn't played since Week 1 but is expected to start. He had five carries for 16 yards in the opener. ... The last Bears home win was Sept. 25, 2022, when they beat Houston 23-20. Their last divisional win was on Thanksgiving in 2021 under coach Matt Nagy when they won at Detroit 16-14 with Andy Dalton at QB. ... The last Bears winning streak was two games in Weeks 16 and 17 of 2021 against Seattle and the New York Giants. ... The Vikings are 7-0 dating back to last year when they possess the ball longer than opponents. ... Since Week 16 last year, the Vikings have committed four red zone turnovers, most in the NFL. ... Minnesota's only win this season came over winless Carolina.
The Key Stat: The Vikings this year are minus-9 in turnover differential, last in the NFL. They lost eight fumbles and Cousins has thrown one interception.
Key Individual Matchups
Bears S Jaquan Brisker vs. Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson
This is a matchup Brisker could handle but the Bears would prefer it's Tremaine Edmunds in coverage against Hockenson because he's the same height at 6-5. Look for Brisker to go deeper on routes with Jefferson out, as he's their most proven pass catcher. Brisker has given up six TD catches in 20 career games, according to Sportradar. Hockenson has 90 catches and five TDs for 15 games since going to Minnesota in a trade from Detroit.
Bears LT Larry Borom vs. Vikings DE Danielle Hunter
Hunter has been an outstanding, very athletic pass rusher and his six sacks this year include three of Jalen Hurts in a loss to the Eagles. He also is extremely active in run defense with 94 career tackles for loss. Borom is replacing injured Braxton Jones and is making his 21st start in three seasons. At 6-5, 333, Borom is known more as a strong run blocker. Borom is ranked 62nd among 71 tackles graded this year by Pro Football Focus, and 65th in pass blocking. He has allowed one sack and committed two penalties.
Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Vikings CB Byron Murphy
Murphy started 48 games in four years for Arizona and left in free agency after spending the end of last year on injured reserve with a back injury. Murphy had solid seasons in 2020-21 but last year his passer rating against ballooned to 103.1 and this year has reached 113.3 with a career-worst completion percentage allowed of 74.3% when targeted, according to Sportradar. He has four pass defenses this year, and his last interception came in 2021 with the Cardinals. Moore is coming off the two best games ever recorded back-to-back by a Bears receiver yardage-wise. He has been effective downfield or at running hitches. He's leading the NFL in TD catches with five and is averaging 19.7 yards per reception, a career high.
Bears LG Teven Jenkins vs. Vikings DE Jonathan Bullard
Bullard was a Bears third-round draft pick who couldn't stick with the team and was waived. Eventually he made his way to Minnesota, his fifth NFL team, and has been starting this year. He's a two-gap defensive lineman but not particularly large at 290 pounds. Jenkins, at 6-6, 321, is coming off a strong first effort of the year following calf injuries. He was graded at 81.2 by PFF overall for the game. Jenkins' strength, though, is run blocking in the wide zone. His return to the lineup lets the Bears have the option of moving Cody Whitehair to center.
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Vikings WR Jordan Addison
If the Bears do not choose to put Johnson on the rookie all over the field, then Addison would likely be on Tyrique Stevenson's side of the field. However, they have often used Johnson this way. Johnson is playing for the first time since Week 3, when he suffered a pulled hamstring. He has a height edge on Addison, who is built like a slot or Z-type receiverr at 5-11, 175. If the Bears choose to keep Johnson in place, he'd be matching up on wide receiver K.J. Osborn, who burned the Bears for 10 receptions and 158 yards last year in two games and is 5-11, 203. Either way, it's a much shorter and ground-based Vikings receiver corps when Jefferson is not involved.
Bears DE DeMarcus Walker vs. Vikings T Christian Darrisaw
Walker has become more active the last two games, especially in the second half last week during the win. He is still looking for his first Bears sack but has three tackles for loss. He'll be up against the fourth-ranked tackle in the NFL according to PFF grades. Darrisaw is 6-5, 315 and was selected 23rd in the 2021 draft. Darrisaw has allowed one sack and committed two penalties. At 6-4, 280, Walker is a bit better matchup for the Bears against a big tackle than Yannick Ngakoue on the other side, who is 6-2, 250.
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