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The line on the Bears-Vikings game sat at Minnesota -7 all week. Not surprising, Sagarin gives us a number of 6.87, which is right on the money.
Stats to Know
- The Bears have lost seven straight games.
- Last week, the Bears allowed a season high in points and the second-most yards (452) of the season.
- Bears Rookie Tory Taylor’s 48.7-yard gross punting average is the highest single-season average in franchise history.
- The Vikings put themselves in position to clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win.
- The Vikings could have clinched a playoff spot ahead of this game had the Rams or Cardinals lost their respective games, they did not.
Bears Player to Watch
QB Caleb Williams. The first overall draft pick had one of his best performances to date against Minnesota, passing for 340 yards and two touchdowns to help the Bears erase an 11-point deficit in the final 22 seconds of regulation. Now he’s seeking a rebound. Last week, Williams threw for just 134 yards with two late TDs to rookie Rome Odunze and was sacked seven times with one lost fumble. He stretched his NFL rookie record of passes not picked off to 255 in a row in his seventh straight interception-free game, but the production was a sharp drop-off from the previous three games with now-interim coach Thomas Brown calling plays after the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Williams was 75 of 117 for 827 yards with five TDs, no interceptions and a passer rating of 99.2 in that stretch.
Vikings Player to Watch
QB Sam Darnold. The third overall pick in the 2018 draft continued his career-altering season last week against Atlanta by becoming the ninth quarterback in NFL history and first since Aaron Rodgers in 2019 with at least 325 passing yards, five TD passes, a completion rate of 75-plus percent and a passer rating of 155-plus with no interceptions. He became the first Vikings player with five passing TDs in a game since Daunte Culpepper in 2004 and had his 11th game this season with a 100-plus passer rating to set the franchise record and was later selected as NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Key Matchup
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson. Johnson, a Pro Bowl pick last season, had a big hand in holding Jefferson to a season-low two catches for 27 yards in the previous meeting in Chicago, though he was called twice for pass interference penalties. The Bears went all out with heavy safety help to limit Jefferson in that game, which opened up the field for major gains by WR Jordan Addison, TE T.J. Hockenson and RB Aaron Jones.
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