Bears and Vikings Game Day Outlook

Chicago Bears (3-8) at Minnesota Vikings (6-5)

Kickoff: Monday, 7:15 p.m.

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

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

Radio: ESPN AM-1000, 100.3 FM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Westwood One (Kevin Harlan, Kurt Warner)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

Digital Radio: SiriusXM (XM Channel 81, Channel 88)

Streaming: fuboTV (free trial)

The Line: Vikings by 3 1/2 (over/under 43 1/2)

BearDigest Pick: Vikings 17, Bears 13

The Matchup: The Bears come in off a heart-breaking blown game, losing a 26-14 lead for a 31-26 with 17 Detroit points coming in the final four minutes of a game Chicago dominated. The Vikings had a five-game winning streak starting back with the first game against the Bears but lost to the Denver Broncos 21-20 with Joshua Dobbs at quarterback. Minnesota could have wide receiver Justin Jefferson back after he had been on injured reserve with a hamstring injury since first Bears game Oct . 15. He has been termed questionable for the game by coach Kevin O'Connell. QB Kirk Cousins is out for the season and Dobbs is the starter. The Vikings won the first game against the Bears this season 19-13, as Justin Fields suffered a dislocated thumb in the third quarter and left in favor of Tyson Bagent, who gave up the deciding points on a strip-sack for a touchdown return by Jordan Hicks.

The Matchup: The Bears try to end a 12-game NFC North losing streak after a crushing blown victory in Detroit in Justin Fields' second game back after a thumb dislocation. The Vikings had their five-game winning streak ended last week after Dobbs had won his first start as relief QB for Kirk Cousins and Jaren Hall. Minnesota hasn't had WR Justin Jefferson since Week 5 due to a hamstring injury but has won five out of six with a defense that has 29 sacks and nine interceptions. Without Jefferson, WR Addison (48 catches, 647 yards) and Hockenson have stepped up.

The Series: The 126th meeting. The Vikings lead the series 66-57-2, which includes one Bears playoff win after the 1994 season. Minnesota has won five straight, longest streak by either team in the series since the Bears won six straight from 2009-12. The last Bears win in Minneapolis was in 2020, 33-27.

The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus has a 6-22 record in his second season and is 0-3 against the Vikings. His Bears teams are 0-9 in the NFC North.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell has a 19-9 mark in his second season, and has beaten the Bears three straight.

Last Week: Chicago held the ball for 40 minutes and had a 4-1 turnover edge but let a 26-14 lead escape over the final 4:15 of a 31-26 loss. Russell Wilson overcame a 17-9 deficit in the fourth quarter and rallied the Broncos and with a 15-yard TD pass to Courtland Sutton for the decisive points in a 21-20 win over Minnesota.

Matching Up: The Bears are 20th on offense, 25th at passing and fourth in rushing. They are 18th in scoring. Chicago is 15th on defense, 26th against the pass and second against the run. The Bears are 29th in points allowed.

The Vikings are 10th on offense, fourth at passing and 27th stopping the run. They are 11th in points allowed. Minnesota is 12th on defense, 16th against the pass and eighth against the run. The Vikings are 14th in points allowed.

Stat Leaders: Bears QB Justin Fields is 116 of 185 for 1,370 yards (62.7%) with 12 TDs, six INTs and a passer rating of 93.3. He also is the leading rusher for the Bears in the game with 341 yards on 65 carries (5.2 ypc). ... DJ Moore leads the Bears with 59 catches for 889 yards and six TDs. ... LB T.J. Edwards has a team-high 121 tackles while DT Justin Jones leads in tackles for loss with seven. ... Yannick Ngakoue has a team-high three sacks. ... LB Tremaine Edmunds and CB Jaylon Johnson lead in interceptions with two each. ... CB Tyrique Stevenson leads with seven pass breakups.

Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs has started two games and played another, and is 63 of 96 (65.6%) for 647 yards, four touchdowns with one interception for a passer rating of 94.4. ... RB Alexander Mattison leads the Vikings with 542 yards on 148 carries (3.7 ypc). ... TE T.J. Hockenson leads the Vikings in catches with 75 for 736 yards. ... WR Jordan Addison leads the Vikings in TD catches with seven. ... The Vikings defense is led by S Camryn Bynum in tackles with 91. ... Edge player Danielle Hunter leads in tackles for loss with 16 and sacks with 12. ... CB Byron Murphy has a team-high three interceptions and 12 pass breakups. ... S Harrison Smith, Hunter and CB Akayleb Evans have each forced three fumbles.

Injury Report: For the Bears, LB Noah Sewell (knee), CB Tyrique Stevenson (ankle), T Larry Borom (illness) and RB D'Onta Foreman (ankle/shin) are out.

For the Ravens, WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) and NT Khyiris Tonga (knee) are questionable.

Notable: Even with four takeaways last week, the Bears are at minus-6 in turnover differential and tied with the Vikings for 25th in the league ... Minnesota's Hunter is the one credited with injuring Fields' thumb on a pass rush in the first game. ... The Bears are looking to surpass last year's win total of three. ... Minnesota is 1-2 in games decided by three points or less after they were 5-0 in 2022. ... When he replaced Hall, Dobbs became the first player in NFL history with at least one TD passing and one rushing in his first three games with a team. ... RB Ty Chandler had a career-high 73 yards rushing for the Vikings last week but 31 came on run during a fake punt. ... Bears kicker Cairo Santos is 19 of 20 on the year and one of five kickers in the league to make all five field goal tries of 50-plus yards this season. He has made all 10 of his field goal tries at Minneapolis. ... Since Week 6, the Bears rank second on defense in the NFL at 283.7 yards a game. ... The Bears defense is second in the league and has allowed two rushing TDs since Week 3, tied for fewest in that span. ... DJ Moore needs 111 receiving yards for his fourth 1,000-yard season. ... The Bears have 48 rushing plays of 10 yards or more, which ranks first in the NFL. ... The Vikings are wearing their 1960s-70s throwback uniforms in this game. The other time they wore those were in the opener and they lost to Tampa Bay 20-17. ... Addison's seven TDs lead all NFL rookies in TDs scored with seven.

Key Individual Matchups

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

The Bears got their first sack from Sweat last week and need more, along with more pressure on the passer. Sweat has five pressures in three games. He has impacted their overall pressure on the QB as Pro Football Focus has them at 17 or more pressures each of the last three games. They hadn't been able to put together three consistent games like that before Sweat's arrival. O'Neill is a 6-foot-7, 310-pound former Pro Bowl tackle in his sixth season who has allowed two sacks after giving up six last year. He has committed seven penalties this season. Montez faced Dobbs with Arizona earlier this season and had a sack and a half.

Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Vikings CB Byron Murphy Jr.

Murphy is ranked 94th of 116 cornerbacks in the league according to Pro Football Focus. Murphy is 20 pounds lighter than the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Moore, which makes it tougher on shorter passing plays to get the tackle. Murphy has allowed a 96.5 passer rating when targeted this season and 64.5% completions. He has given up six touchdown passes. Moore's 96 yards receiving last week were his most since he had 230 against Washington and it's not surprising because he and Fields were reunited in the game.

Bears CB Kyler Gordon vs. Vikings WR Jordan Addison

The Bears limited Addison to three catches for 28 yards in the last game and Gordon was playing his first game back after being out four weeks with an injury. He allowed three catches for 24 yards in the game and has since had several strong efforts. Addison ran 4.49 in the 40 so he's a hair faster than Gordon (4.52), who can be more physical in this matchup because he has a 25-pound edge. Addison has been held below 70 yards receiving in each of his last three games.

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

The Bears were able to limit Lions TE Sam LaPorta to five catches for 47 yards last week in part because they had Edmunds back for most of the game from a knee injury. Edmunds is off the injury report now and better able to use his 6-5, 250-pound frame in the middle of the zone. He had his second interception of the season last week and third takeaway in his last four games. Hockenson had six catches for 50 yards in the last game. Only Tampa and Atlanta held Hockenson to fewer yards per target than the Bears have. Hockenson had a huge game with Dobbs starting against New Orleans with 11 catches and 134 yards but only four catches of Dobbs passes for 55 yards last week.

Bears RT Darnell Wright vs. Vikings Edge Danielle Hunter

Wright has been going through some tough games and has fallen to 52nd on PFF grades among 81 tackles. He's given up six sacks with eight penalties and against Minnesota last time allowed three pressures. Hunter has been a dominant player on the Vikings defense with 16 tackles for loss and 12 sacks and must be accounted for if the Bears are going to win. They may need to focus extra blockers on him to keep him off Fields.

Bears TE Cole Kmet vs. Vikings S Harrison Smith

The Vikings likely would target Kmet with one of their safeties with as much blitzing as they do. It's going to leave Kmet one on one with someone and Smith is a long-time Bears nemesis. The Vikings defense gives up a 113.2 passer rating against when teams target tight ends against them. So Kmet could find himself as the object of the passing game more than in the first game when they targeted him just three times and he had two catches for 9 yards. Smith has been all over the field for an older safety, making three sacks, forcing three fumbles and making two tackles for loss. His passer rating against when targeted is a successful 82.0.

Bears RB Khalil Herbert vs. Vikings LB Jordan Hicks

The Vikings linebacker had a big play with a fumble return for a TD after Tyson Bagent had been sacked in the first game, but he's been strong stopping the run and the pass all year. Hicks has 89 tackles, with double digits in tackles four times. Stopping Herbert might be overlooked in importance because he hasn't played much recently but after his sub-par 35-yard game last week coming off an ankle injury he can be expected to bounce back big. Herbert was at 179 yards for his last two games before his ankle injury.

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