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The Minnesota Vikings will host the Chicago Bears
Week 12 is here, and the Vikings will be playing the Bears for the first time this season. The rest of the NFC North is wrapped up for the Vikings, and the Bears are all that’s left.
The Vikings are 9-1 on the season and have a pretty commanding lead over the 4-6 Bears, but the win this week is still important for Minnesota, who is trying to put some distance between them and the 7-4 Packers.
Peterson and Winfield out?
Coming into this game, Adrian Peterson and Antoine Winfield are listed as questionable. Technically “questionable” means that there’s a 50% chance of them playing.
Winfield is still nursing a foot sprain suffered in Week 7. Some people thought that he’d be back last week against the Seahawks, but the team decided he needed a little more rest.
Peterson missed practice today because of an illness. Hopefully he’ll be better by Sunday. Personally I can’t imagine him missing this game if he has a choice. Adrian Peterson tends to run all over the Bears. In 4 career games against Chicago, Peterson averages 138.5 yards rushing.
How will Cutler handle the pressure?
If the Bears lose this game, they will slip to 4-7 with only 5 games left in the season. At that point it would be mathematically impossible for them to catch the Vikings for the division championship, and they’d likely have to win out the rest of the season to even make a run at a wildcard spot.
The team will be under pressure, but a lot of that pressure will lie on the shoulders of the Bears new quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler is talked about by many as being one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, but so far he has not shown that he can lead his team to victory. Cutler’s career record is 22-25 in games that he’s started.
Another one of Culter’s big problems in throwing interceptions. Last year Brett Favre (playing for the New York Jets) led the NFL in interceptions, and Jay Culter was #2. This year, Favre has reversed course, and actually leads the NFL (among starting quarterbacks) with FEWEST interceptions, while Cutler is still struggling, throwing more than anyone else in the league.
The Vikings will be looking to pressure Cutler and force him into some bad throws. If the Vikings can come out strong early and force Chicago to be in a position where they have to throw the ball, Minnesota should be playing right into Cutler’s weaknesses
-Pressure Cutler
Like I said above, the Vikings need to force Cutler into bad throws and bad decisions. The Vikings defensive line has been ferocious this year, and they need to keep up that pace. Sacks, hits, and hurries will lead to mistakes.
-Consistent play
Last week the Vikings showed that it is possible for them to play 4 solid quarters of football. If they do that this week, the Bears won’t fair any better than the Seahawks did.
-Solid special teams
I’ve been very impressed this year by the Vikings special teams unit. The Bears returners have hurt them in the past. The special teams needs to continue their solid play and not let the Bears get good starting field position.
My Prediction
The Vikings will be just fine. I think they’ll win 35-10.
Related posts:
- IT’S GAME TIME – Week 16 Preview: The Minnesota Vikings at The Chicago Bears
- IT’S GAME TIME – Week 10 Preview: The Minnesota Vikings vs The Detroit Lions
- IT’S GAME TIME – Week 14 Preview: The Minnesota Vikings vs The Cincinnati Bengals
- IT’S GAME TIME – Week 7 Preview Vikings vs Steelers
- IT’S GAME TIME – Week 17 Preview – The Minnesota Vikings vs The New York Giants
