CBS Sports: Predicting a Viking's shit show in Chicago
4. Bears -2 vs. VikingsI loved the Vikings as big favorites over the Raiders last week because it's just what this team and this quarterback do. They beat up on bad football teams. I do not, however, love the Vikings against the Bears (in Chicago) because what this team and this quarterback don't do is beat up on good football teams.
The Bears have been tough to back to this point in the season because of their comatose offense, but their offense woke up against a bad Redskins defense on Monday night, with Mitchell Trubisky completing 80.7 percent of his passes, averaging 7.5 yards per attempt, and throwing three touchdowns and one interception for a 116.5 passer rating. Was it perfect? Not even close. He demonstrated shaky accuracy with his ball placement on downfield passes and threw an awful pick in the red zone, but he made progress after two dismal performances to begin the season.
A few stats that stand out to me heading into Sunday’s game against Minnesota:- Since 2010, the Bears are 15-4 against the Vikings at Soldier Field.
- Kirk Cousins is 4-26 against winning teams. #Bears
The key will be how the Bears' defense handles NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook and the Vikings' seventh-ranked rushing attack, per Football Outsiders. If the Bears can stop Cook, they'll force the Vikings to rely on Cousins and their pass protection, which has struggled immensely. According to NFL Matchup on ESPN, only three quarterbacks have been under pressure on a higher percentage of their passes than Cousins (34.8%). I think the Bears can stop the running game. Their defense ranks third against the run, per Football Outsiders, and is allowing only 68.7 rushing yards per game (the fifth lowest).
I was tempted to take the under, but 38 seems too low (both defenses could get in on the scoring action), so instead I'll ride with the Bears and their defense. At worst, the Bears should be favored by three points at home, so I love getting the extra point here.
Hate to say it but, "where's the lie"?
As fans we want to believe, but objectively speaking until the Vikings prove they can beat good teams on Sundays, I can't blame bettors for going the other way with their money until we actually do.
Hard to argue with those statistics...
I don't think we have the OL to win this one in the trenches. Therefore I dont think we'll win either (shrug).
But I'll dance a jig if we do.
I don't disagree with it at all, I just posted what everyone should already understand. It'll be a big shock if Minnesota wins. Plus, PF will dance a jig so he'll be posting that to YouTube....
"Nice" of him to use a DVOA to say 7th ranked, rather than simply 2nd ranked in ypg and avg/att. ;)
I imagine they'll gear up to primarily stop the run first. They haven't exactly faced teams doing all that well rushing the ball yet, but I don't doubt they'll be tough enough with the focus. We'll see... supposedly strong defenses can have issues exposed. We know that well enough. Still, Kirk is most likely going to have to perform and produce a lot better to win this game. I'm not very optimistic seeing as how it's always tough for the Vikings in Chicago, even when the Bears are garbage.
If we avoid turnovers, I think we win. We have the better all around team. But if we get behind, it could get ugly. Although, our offense has shown they won't panic, like in GB, we kept running the ball down 21-0. If Kirk keeps his wits about him, we have a good chance.
Yeah, I don't see how we win this, especially if the Bears slowdown the running game. Our Captain Kirk just doesn't give us much confidence or hope playing tough, winning teams.
Can Kirk come up big, and lead this team to a awesome road win? I'm hoping so, but I'll believe it when I see it.
sounds like all of the makings to keep us 'underdogs.' Sounds like no one will go to sleep Sunday thinking, "those Vikings are tough!" Nope, sounds like they'll just be laughing at how bad the Bears were losing to us. That's fine though; you can't rest your laurels on a Week 4 win.
I'll actually be pretty surprised if the Vikes win Sunday. It'll be close but..........
I think this is a very winnable “big” game. Our defense should contain their offense
enough that our offense never has to abandon the run. I think this game is mostly on the defense
doing its job, and the offense doing enough without being overly risky. No one should have to be playing hero
ball. The most important thing is to not
give the Bears easy turnovers, short fields, and defensive/ST TDs.
I’m not saying we have to win, but if our team comes out and
looks frazzled, shellshocked, and unprepared, I think that’s a strong sign that
the writings on the wall that we’re never going to be big game ready. I think there’s no real reason for Cousins to
be shellshocked this game. It should be
just run the ball and make relatively safe throws. Try to get in a rhythm and get comfortable.
@"StickyBun" said: I don't disagree with it at all, I just posted what everyone should already understand. It'll be a big shock if Minnesota wins. Plus, PF will dance a jig so he'll be posting that to YouTube....Chicago is favored by 2, don't see how a Vikings win would be a big shock.
Since 2010, the Bears are 15-4 against the Vikings at Soldier Field.
How it's that possible?
As I posted before, Washington gouged the Bears when they got behind with quick playcalling and short passes. The Bears got winded and couldn't rush Case. Then Washington remembered who they were and coughed it up.
Limit mistakes and make Trubitsky start from his 20 and we can beat them!
@"Bolstad79" said:Vikings are 4-15 against Chicago there since 2000@"StickyBun" said: I don't disagree with it at all, I just posted what everyone should already understand. It'll be a big shock if Minnesota wins. Plus, PF will dance a jig so he'll be posting that to YouTube.... Chicago is favored by 2, don't see how a Vikings win would be a big shock.
First of all, I always laugh when people bring up past records. Seriously, what do teams with Daunte Culpepper, Wasswa Serwanga, Cade McNown and Brian Urlacher have to do with determining who should win this current matchup? Nothing. You want to bring up last year's games, fine. That's really the only thing that's relevant here.
Second, I know Cousins has not played particularly well against good team (at least that's the prevailing narrative), but just how overhyped is this little factoid? I know he did't play well against the Bears in either game. That's relevant. And he played like crap against the Patriots. That's relevant too. But here's how he did against the other "good" teams on our schedule last year. Is it really that bad?
Kirk Cousins at Packers: 35 of 48, 425 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins at Rams: 36 of 50, 422 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Eagles: 30 of 37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Saints: 31 of 41, 359 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Packers: 29 of 38, 342 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Seahawks: 20 of 33, 208 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
@"purplefaithful" said: Hard to argue with those statistics...I don't think we have the OL to win this one in the trenches. Therefore I dont think we'll win either (shrug).
But I'll dance a jig if we do.
The threat of you dancing is almost enough to make the Wilfs forfeit. :p
@"MaroonBells" said: First of all, I always laugh when people bring up past records. Seriously, what do teams with Daunte Culpepper, Wasswa Serwanga, Cade McNown and Brian Urlacher have to do with determining who should win this current matchup? Nothing. You want to bring up last year's games, fine. That's really the only thing that's relevant here.Second, I know Cousins has not played particularly well against good team (at least that's the prevailing narrative), but just how overhyped is this little factoid? I know he did't play well against the Bears in either game. That's relevant. And he played like crap against the Patriots. That's relevant too. But here's how he did against the other "good" teams on our schedule last year. Is it really that bad?
Kirk Cousins at Packers: 35 of 48, 425 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins at Rams: 36 of 50, 422 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Eagles: 30 of 37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Saints: 31 of 41, 359 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Packers: 29 of 38, 342 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Seahawks: 20 of 33, 208 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Its a trend until it isn't. Especially in VikingLand.
@"MaroonBells" said: First of all, I always laugh when people bring up past records. Seriously, what do teams with Daunte Culpepper, Wasswa Serwanga, Cade McNown and Brian Urlacher have to do with determining who should win this current matchup? Nothing. You want to bring up last year's games, fine. That's really the only thing that's relevant here.Second, I know Cousins has not played particularly well against good team (at least that's the prevailing narrative), but just how overhyped is this little factoid? I know he did't play well against the Bears in either game. That's relevant. And he played like crap against the Patriots. That's relevant too. But here's how he did against the other "good" teams on our schedule last year. Is it really that bad?
Kirk Cousins at Packers: 35 of 48, 425 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins at Rams: 36 of 50, 422 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Eagles: 30 of 37, 301 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Saints: 31 of 41, 359 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Kirk Cousins vs Packers: 29 of 38, 342 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Kirk Cousins at Seahawks: 20 of 33, 208 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Its stat cherry picking, there are always stats available to support any point a person wants to make. I think in a team game team win loss records are pretty hard to hang on an individual without looking at that individuals performance and your post certainly paints a much prettier picture...I'm with you on this one
I personally think this game is more about our OL vs the Bears front 7 than it will be on KC to win or lose the game.
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