Monday,
12-17-07
8:30 pm game:
Chicago Bears (5-8) vs. Minnesota Vikings (7-6)
Location: Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
The
Bears were knocked out of the playoffs last Thursday when they lost to the
Redskins. The winners of their last 4
games, the Vikes continue to hold on to the last playoff spot in the NFC. With both of these teams being in the NFC
North/Central, the Bears would love to play spoilers against their old “Black
and Blue” division rivals and knock the Vikes out of the playoffs. By the numbers, that’s not going to happen.
Offensively,
the Vikes are ranked 13th in total offense in the NFL while the
Bears are ranked 22nd. The
Vikes have the #1 ranked rushing offense in the league while the Bears are
ranked 30th in the NFL. In
passing offense, the Bears are ranked 14th in the NFL while the
Vikes are ranked 31st.
Despite their ranking in the bottom of the NFL’s passing category, the
Vikes offense has shown some flashes of passing the ball effectively in their
last 4 games.
Defensively,
both teams are in the “middle of the road”.
The Vikes are ranked 11th in total defense while the Bears
are ranked 19th in the league.
In passing defense, the Bears are ranked 26th in the NFL
while the Vikes are ranked last overall.
Against the rush the Bears are ranked 20th in the league and
the Vikes are the #1 ranked rushing defense.
There’s your edge.
The
Bears have been inconsistent all year on both sides of the ball mainly due to
injuries. The Bears, like so many other
teams in the league, have played the “QB Shuffle” this season and this game is
no exception. The Bears will start 3rd
year QB, Kyle Orton in place of Brian Griese and Rex
Grossman. It looks as though Head
Coach Lovie Smith is looking to play young guys now, so that he can
prepare for the future.
QB Tavaris
Jackson is growing to be a solid QB in the NFL. He’s not great, but he does just enough to
get by in the NFL and does a solid job of managing the game on the field. Since
the Vikes passing game is still trying to find it’s place in the offense, RB Adrian
Peterson and the Vikes rush offense seems to be the focal point in this
game. The last time these two teams
matched-up, the Vikes won that 34-31.
Peterson ran for 224 yards on 20 carries and scored 3 TDs
that day. With the Bears’ defense
hurting like it is, look for Peterson to try to reenact that performance.
The key
match-up in this game will be the Bears’ O-line vs. the Vikes’ rushing
offense. The Bears have to attack right
when the ball is snapped and force the Vikes to throw the ball. Also, with the Vikes having the better
offense, the Bears have to keep the Vikes offense off of the field. Orton and the Bears offense has to use smart
ball control and eat up the clock as much as possible.
The
Vikes have to go after Orton and put pressure on him so that he can make
mistakes on defense. On offense, the
Vikes cannot stray away from their game plan.
They have to stick to what they have been doing in the last 4
games. They have to continue to move the
ball on the ground and look for the play-action pass for big gains through the
air.
With the
Vikes riding on momentum at the moment and the Bears looking to prepare for
next season, the Vikes are the better team in this match-up. But just because the Vikes have the better
numbers, it doesn’t mean they will blow the Bears out. This will be a close game and possibly one of
the better MNF games we will see this year.
My
Pick: Vikings