Spots Where Bears Rate an Edge

The Monday Night Football matchups where the Bears should hold a decided edge to exploit against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears and Vikings possess plenty of ingredients for an interesting and wild matchup, possibly like the one they staged last year in Minneapolis when David Montgomery helped pull out a 33-27 victory.

Then again, that game last year came after a 13-9 game in Chicago so it's presumptuous to expect a particular type of outcome.

The Vikings rank next to last in the league in yards allowed per rush, an open invitation for Montgomery to run the ball. Their pass defense has been atrocious, ranking 27th overall. But it's far worst than this, considering their pass defense benefited from the most sack yardage as the league leaders in sacks.

The Bears are not explosive by any means, but their passing attack has surged in the last five games. Their own defense has holes similar to Minnesota's, but strengths in the same place.

Because Minnesota's defense loves pressuring the A-gap with blitz looks or brings safety Harrison Smith up in blitzes, they can be a nightmare for a young quarterback but also get burned by scrambling quarterbacks.

"Any time you get into third-and-long situations, second-and-long situations, that's the down and distance that they want you in so they can bring some of those looks, get the running backs one on one with linebackers and stuff like that in those situations," Bears center Sam Mustipher said. "But they're running stunts up front, games. They've got a veteran linebacker corps that understands how to run that defense very well."

The mix adds up to what could be a crazy night on the lakefront even if it's rather meaningless at this point for a 4-9 Bears team still alive in the playoff chase only mathematically.

Here are the matchups where the Bears should have a decided advantage.

Bears WR Damiere Byrd vs. Vikings CB Mackensie Alexander

Alexander two years ago with Minnesota seemed like he could be on the verge of being one of the league's better slot cornerbacks, but went to Cincinnati in free agency and struggled. He came back to Minnesota and the bottom has fallen out. PFF ranks him overall the worst cornerback in the league. Byrd has been making an impact since Marquise Goodwin's foot injury and has been especially effective over the middle with catch and run. The Bears are 28th in yards after catch at 4.7 per reception but Byrd is better than that at 5.6 yards. He has 10 catches for 156 yards and a 54-yard TD since getting more playing time after Goodwin's injury four games ago.

Bears OLB Robert Quinn vs. Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw

Robert Quinn's sack total could continue to rocket skyward in this one as he makes a bid to break Richard Dent's team sacks record of 17 1/2. Quinn is four shy of breaking it. Combining his speed and power with a veteran's knowledge of how to apply pressure, Quinn is giving the Bears defense its one remaining weapon after about everyone else has been lost to injury. Usually it's been Khalil Mack giving headaches to Kirk Cousins. This time the Bears need it to be Quinn. Darrisaw has been fairly effective for a rookie and Minnesota has allowed only 18 sacks this year. Darrisaw's big weakness, though, is pass blocking and he ranks 65th at this out of 80 tackles graded by PFF. One big concern for Quinn in this will be the Vikings' use of bootlegs and screens. They love to get the defensive edges out of position.

Bears RG James Daniels vs. Vikings DT Michael Pierce

Pierce was expected to make a big impact inside for the Vikings and should, as he was an effective veteran with the Ravens prior to this season. He made a difference early but an elbow injury took him out of the lineup. He's been back two weeks but their defense continues to struggle. At 6-foot-4, 340 pounds, Pierce might be better suited to being a tree trunk, or for being a 3-4 nose than a tackle in Mike Zimmer's 4-3 scheme. Minnesota ranks 31st in the league at stopping runs right up the middle (5.01 yards an attempt) and 29th both off right guard and right tackle. It's an opportunity for James Daniels to make an impact in the running attack while blocking against a defense ranked 27th stopping the run. Daniels has been the second-best Bears offensive lineman this year, ranking 23rd out of 80 graded by Pro Football Focus at guard.

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