With the No. 1 seed officially out of reach, the Minnesota Vikings have one more week left to prepare for a playoff run. Their matchup against the Chicago Bears, who currently hold the second-worst record in the NFL, will lack Chicago’s star quarterback, Justin Fields.
It would certainly be reassuring to see the Vikings blow out the Nathan Peterman-led squad, even if they are resting some starters. Here are three things that define this struggling Bears team headed into the last week of the regular season.
Nathan Peterman
Peterman has had a less-than-stellar NFL career since the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the fifth round in 2017. With 141 career pass attempts, Peterman has completed 52.5% of his throws, recorded three touchdowns, and thrown 13 interceptions. That’s an interception every 10.8 attempts. His most famous accomplishment is throwing five interceptions in the first half of his debut in Buffalo. Peterman is a significant downgrade from Fields, who was only 63 yards short of the single-season quarterback rushing record before being ruled out this week.
With Peterman under center, it likely means that the Bears will rely even more heavily on their running game, giving David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert plenty of work. The duo has put together a respectable season, given how much Fields has run the ball, combining for 1,461 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
Run Defense
The Bears are the only team in the league giving up more points per game than the Vikings. This is mainly due to their run defense, which is surrendering the second-most yards per game on the ground this season (158.3). Linebacker Roquan Smith, who has only played in eight games this season, is the Bears’ third-leading tackler, which points to their inability to track down the ball carrier. Additionally, three of the other four top five tacklers are members of the secondary, showing how often running backs break through to the second level.
The Vikings will certainly look to attack this weakness with Dalvin Cook, who has 1,136 yards on the season. But the offensive line has had some mix-ups due to health issues. Following Austin Schlottmann’s injury, the Vikings signed Greg Mancz from free agency to compete with Chris Reed for center duties this week. Oli Udoh will take over at right tackle after the Vikings placed Brian O’Neill on IR. The performance of these replacements will heavily impact the Vikings’ offense, which is used to great run-blocking from all five linemen.
Revenge Games
A surprising number of players have played for both of these teams in the past. The Vikings signed Duke Shelly and Khyiris Tonga from Chicago’s practice squad this season. On the other sideline, ex-Vikings Armon Watts and Harrison Hand have rotational roles in the Bears’ defense.
Unfortunately for Vikings fans, the Bears have released Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had a game-losing fumble in their first matchup. But the potential for players who switched teams to have a big impact in this game is still high, and it will be interesting to see if any of them level up their game for a matchup against their former team.
