Bear Digest

Three Keys to a Chicago Bears Upset of the Minnesota Vikings

The pressure on blitzes will be there but Caleb Williams beat it last time for a high passer rating, and here's what he'll need to do to give the Bears another shot at an upset.

Gene Chamberlain

Jonathan Greenard gets to Caleb Williams for one of the Vikings' three sacks in their November game at Soldier Field.
Jonathan Greenard gets to Caleb Williams for one of the Vikings' three sacks in their November game at Soldier Field. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
In this story:

It's still sitting there, an eyesore just like an ugly garden gnome except in this case no one knows how to get rid of it and with the gnome it's merely a matter of throwing it out on garbage day when your wife isn't looking.

It's how the Bears never score first in games. They're now at 12 out of 13 times and counting. They just fall behind first and put themselves in a hole.

"I think it's more psychological than it sounds when it comes to the approach overall," coach Thomas Brown said. "I mentioned several times, plays are on paper until you bring them life."

They'd better start giving birth to those plays earlier then.

"There's an understanding of how to get guys going earlier in games, but that's just making plays and being efficient, being detailed and not just hunting for big plays all the time, which I don't think we do that, for the most part, in the first half of games," Brown said.

Considering how few big plays they have lately, they'd probably be better off doing this as well.

"I take a big part of the ownership aspect of it, of how I call a game early on and get us in a flow and a rhythm," Brown said. "It's always going to be a collaborative effort between the players and coaches."

If it's everyone's fault, then all of them need to get working harder and solve it immediately because it's embarrassing to go through two play callers and still have this problem.

Scoring first will not win the game, though. It only makes it easier to finish on top in the end.

Here are the three Bears keys to upsetting Minnesota.

3. Secondary's Encore

The secondary really did nothing extraordinary in the last game to shut down Justin Jefferson. They need to repeat this procedure. They did put Jaylon Johnson on him at times and other times played disguised coverages and shifted coverages to him.

The goal was to take him out of the offense and make the Vikings beat them with Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.

Of course, that's exactly what the Vikings did. However, it was awfully difficult for the Vikings to achieve this. The game went to overtime and the Bears had first possession but couldn't move the ball before the defense caved.

They need a repeat effort using same tactics. The Vikings couldn't possibly have been surprised any of the tactics the Bears used to take away Jefferson because everyone does it. Every team knows he's their top target and probably the best receiver in the league.

What the Bears need to do in this game different is make sure when they do overplay Jefferson that someone has Addison in their scopes for tighter coverage. Asking them to also cover Hockenson is probably too much because they haven't been able to cover many tight ends all year.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE 2024 CHICAGO BEARS?

BEARS AND VIKINGS: WHO WINS AND WHY

WHAT A WEEKEND WITHOUT PLAYING TOLD BEARS: THE COACHING SEARCH

PROTECTING CALEB WILLIAMS' BLIND SIDE JUST GOT MUCH TOUGHER

The problem with all of this is the last game they played against Minnesota was with Gervon Dexter providing a good interior rush at Sam Darnold, sometimes flushing him out to the side of the pocket. In this game, they might not have the interior rush to hurry Darnold into poor decisions or throws because Dexter is out.

2. Mix It Up

In the first game with Minnesota, the Bears offense had a pre-planned attack against pressure in general and it worked for Caleb Williams to some extent. The Vikings had three sacks, which is a low total against the Bears this year. Minnesota brings in Brian Flores' blitzing defense but last time the blitz had trouble against Williams. The Bears threw wide receiver screens, ran shallow crossing routes so Williams didn't need as much time to get the ball to his receiver.

The Bears need to vary the short passing attack this time so it includes more to tight end Cole Kmet than they've targeted him recently. Kmet got targeted 10 times in the last Vikings game and he had seven catches for 64 yards. In the other six games in their seven-game losing streak they have targeted him a combined total of 11 times.

They also need to mix in the maximum-protection deep ball up the middle, if for no other reason than to keep the Vikings guessing. Minnesota's pass defense has been worst in deep middle coverage, ranking 21st in yards per catch allowed. 

More than anything, the hot receivers need to be well known ahead of time because they were in the last game and the Vikings got seven pressures when they blitzed but the Bears QB hit them with a 137.9 passer rating on blitzes in the game, according to Pro Football Focus.

1. It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

"Superman" needs to make an appearance again. Williams' alter ego of the guy who occasionally goes outside the pocket and makes magic happen must appear for the Bears to have a chance against Minnesota.

A few big connections on extended plays downfield would go a long way toward an upset.

The Bears will not beat the Vikings by nickel-and-diming them because of the extreme pressure the Vikings' blitzing applies, especially in the dome. Breaking a few plays downfield with Williams getting outside the pocket will keep it an interesting game, maybe even allow for the upset.

The Bears need special tonight from Williams to win this game.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.