5 things you can count on from Vikings v. Bears
The Minnesota Vikings will aim for their best start since 2016 when they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon.
This should be a smash spot for the Vikings against a team that appears to be more focused on a high draft pick than winning games, but it also presents a couple of wrinkles that could make Sunday's game more unpredictable than you think.
That being said, here are five things you can count on.
Dalvin Cook having a monster game
Cook hasn't looked like himself over the past four games averaging a career-low 4.4 yards per carry. Although Cook is still looking for his first 20-yard run and 100-yard game this season, there's a good chance both will happen against the Bears.
Chicago comes into Sunday's game with the league's worst run defense, allowing 183.3 yards per game. Last week against the New York Giants, they allowed Saquon Barkley to run for 146 yards and allowed 263 total rushing yards.
This is good news for the Vikings who have three offensive linemen (Brian O'Neill, Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram) in the top 15 at their position in Pro Football Focus's run-blocking grades. That should give the ground game plenty of room to run and a big day for Cook.
Chicago running the damn ball
If you thought Mike Zimmer loved to run the ball, wait until you see the Bears. Chicago is third in the NFL with 136 rushing attempts this season. Only the Philadelphia Eagles (153) and Cleveland Browns (149) have run the ball more.
There's a good reason for this. The Bears are averaging 5.1 yards per carry – the fifth-highest clip in the NFL. Although David Montgomery is questionable with an ankle injury, backup Khalil Herbert has 6.1 yards per carry this season.
The Vikings have played a conservative style of defense so far that eliminates the big pass play as opposed to stopping the run, but with Minnesota allowing 4.7 yards per carry this season, running the ball might be the Bears' best chance to escape with a victory.
D.J. Wonnum terrorizing the Bears
The other reason why the Bears run the ball so much is because their passing game is horrendous. The Bears ranked 29th in PFF's latest offensive line rankings and are allowing pressure on 49 percent of Justin Field's attempts – the fifth-highest rate in the NFL.
Even worse? Fields has been a wreck when pressured this season, posting a 27.4 passer rating on 21 attempts. Although the Bears don't throw often, there should be opportunities to clean up – and that's where D.J. Wonnum comes in.
DJ Wonnum's 8 sacks in 2021, presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/l5ODTfTYlZ
— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) January 13, 2022
Of Wonnum's eight sacks last season, five came against the Bears. Most of these sacks came because of pressure generated from somewhere else on the field, but Wonnum was the janitor that cleaned up on those plays. Look for him to get to Fields at least once and the Vikings to live in the Chicago backfield.
Jetlag
Sunday's game is where the planets align for the Vikings. It's a noon game. It's at home. It's against a bad divisional opponent. The Vikings should crush the Bears, but there's a small caveat mixed in.
The Vikings played in London last week and opted to push their bye later into the season. According to the Star Tribune's Ben Goessling, no team has won in London and returned home to win the following week. The Action Network's Brandon Anderson adds that previous teams that have played the week after a London game were either trailing or tied entering the fourth quarter.
Kevin O'Connell and his staff have tried different methods to try and avoid any sort of jetlag, but the Vikings' travel schedule could make things more interesting on Sunday.
The Vikings will smash the Bears on Sunday
Travel schedule or not, this should be where the Vikings prove themselves as a legitimate team.
The Bears have a quarterback that appears to be a bust, an offensive line that is a sieve, a defense that is getting over and a general manager more focused on 2025 than this season. If the Vikings want to be a legitimate contender, they should crush teams like the one they'll see on Sunday.
Regardless, a win is a win and even if it's closer than it should be, they should be able to get one in Week 5.
Prediction: Vikings 31, Bears 10
