The Minnesota Vikings will play the Chicago Bears in Week 15 in an NFC North Monday night matchup. Since we avoided the first two games of this unusual Monday Football action with 3 games instead of the usual 1 Monday Night game, we decided that this game is the one that we will predict and preview.
The Vikings returned from a mini-bye after a Thursday night win over the Steelers, and are still in prime position to claim the NFC’s final playoff spot with a strong finish over their last four games. They won at Soldier Field last year for just the fourth time in the 21st century, and will face the 4-9 Bears for the first time this season on Monday night.
The Vikings and Bears will play in Week 15 as Minnesota looks to keep pace in the NFC Wild Card race. The Vikings are 6-7 and right in the mix for one of the final playoff spots. Chicago has had a tough season and will need to win the remainder of their games to even have an outside shot at the Wild Card. Justin Fields will continue to get more experience at quarterback as the Bears look to pick up their third home win of the season. Minnesota to no surprise comes in as solid favorites over the Bears for this Monday night divisional game.
The Vikings put six players on the COVID-19 list last week, but they’re still in better shape than the Bears, who have 14 players on the list and spent the week without all three of their coordinators (offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor). The NFL’s postponement of the Seahawks-Rams game until Tuesday puts the Vikings in a rare situation: They’ll come off a Monday night game with more rest than their next opponent — the Rams, who visit U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday.
Chicago also presents a juicy matchup for Dalvin Cook, who is coming off a monster showing against the Steelers. The Bears rank 22nd in the NFL in DVOA against the run and are allowing 120 yards per game on the ground. The Vikings also led the league sacks coming into Week 15, so Justin Fields could be facing some added pressure, especially considering he may be down his two starting tackles. Bears are 0-4 ATS in their last home games and facing a covid-19 restrictions are going to be an easy opponent to the Vikings who are much stronger then their position says at the moment.
Prediction: Vikings -6