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Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears Game Preview

| October 13th, 2011

The photo above is what happens to gear from Super Bowl losers.

Didn’t the Bears just play a game?  I was kind of shocked to realize it was Wednesday night and I had to write a game preview already.  Anyway the Bears play their second consecutive game in primetime, against another division rival, and this is the definition of a must win.

WHY DO I LIKE THE CHICAGO BEARS THIS WEEK?

  • I always like the Chicago Bears.
  • The one-dimensionality of the Minnesota Vikings on offense.  The Bears will commit this entire week to stopping the run game, containing Adrian Peterson.  They’ll be successful to a degree.  I can easily see AP breaking off a long one at some point Sunday night but I don’t think he’ll find enough consistency on early downs to keep Minnesota in control.
  • Donovan McNabb is not very good anymore.  And he’s nowhere near accurate enough on any routes outside of the screen game Minnesota rarely utilizes.  If McNabb is able to beat the Bears secondary, dissect the Cover 2 and win then we should not expect the Bears defense to stop another quarterback on their 2011 schedule.
  • Having seen a lot of Leslie Frazier’s work thus far, I think it’s safe to say the Bears are not going to face a coaching disadvantage this week.
  • Jay Cutler is starting to put heat on Martz & Company in his weekly press conferences.  He’s calling for better protection schemes.  He’s calling for quicker releases.  And I think he’s going to get them Sunday night.  Couple success in the short passing game with Matt Forte’s team MVP season and the Bears will move the ball efficiently.
  • Devin Hester has not played a return game as poor as Monday night in an awful long time.  He’s back in primetime, where he’s thrived, and I think he’ll light up the scoreboard against the Vikings.
  • The Bears are benching Frank Omiyale.  You know when you watch poker on television and they tell you the percentage possibility each player has of winning each hand?  Well the fewer snaps Omiyale plays for the Bears the higher their possibility of victory rises.  So if Omiyale plays 1% of snaps, the Bears have a 94% chance of victory.  If he plays 10% of snaps, the Bears have a 73% chance of victory.  If he plays 100% of snaps, the Bears have 1% chance of winning and 100% chance of recording the most false starts in the NFL that week.  Seriously, though, is Chris Williams really not a better option than this guy at tackle?
  • Look at the passing games the Bears have faced thus far.  Since beating up Matt Ryan in Week One, the Bears have faced 3 of the top 5 passing offenses around.  (And Detroit is a not too shabby 10th.)  Now they actually get the opportunity to face a team with weaker passing statistics then their own.  I think they pounce on it.
  • Never underestimate the “need it more” factor in the NFL.  The Vikings don’t have any delusions of titles this season.  The Bears still do.  They’ll approach this game like their season depends on it.  The Vikings will be relaxing off their beat down of the Cardinals.

Chicago Bears 27, Minnesota Vikings 13