5 Opponent Trends Minnesota Vikings Fans Should Watch Out For vs Bears

The Minnesota Vikings (8-2) play their final game of a three-game road trip this Sunday when they travel to face the Chicago Bears (4-6). Luck hasn’t been on the Bears’ side since their bye week as they’ve lost by a Hail Mary, blocked field goal, and even allowed a 53-yard touchdown run to the Arizona Cardinals right before halftime.

It’s been a disappointing season for the Bears, and the stats reflect that. They need almost every break possible to go their way if they want to make the playoffs, and they still have five division games yet to play. The Minnesota Vikings have won four consecutive games at Soldier Field and are favored to extend that streak to five this week.

Let’s look at five Bears stats to keep an eye on for Sunday’s game.

No Chicago Bears passing touchdowns in four games

The Bears entered their Week 7 bye on fire. They were riding a three-game win streak where quarterback Caleb Williams had thrown seven touchdowns and only one interception. Said three-game win streak also came against the LA Rams, who were decimated by injuries, the Carolina Panthers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since the bye week, Williams has failed to throw a touchdown pass. The silver lining is that he has yet to throw an interception in that time, but the Bears would likely trade a turnover or two if they could get more sustained drives.

Last week was an improvement as Williams was 23-of-31 passing for 231 yards. But can they build on that against Brian Flores? Or will we see a regression to the mean for the 30th-ranked passing attack?

Williams is second on the Bears in rushing

Part of the reason for the Williams’ woes in the passing game is that he hasn’t been aided by a consistent running game. He is the Bears’ second-leading rusher with 306 yards on the season. That trails only running back D’Andre Swift, who leads the team with 635 yards on 155 carries for a 4.1-yard average.

Chicago will need a consistent attack against the Minnesota’s top-ranked run defense. The Vikings have held three straight opponents to 68 yards or fewer, including a season-low 33 yards last week against the Tennessee Titans.

Last week, Bears interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown helped the offense churn out 179 yards on the ground. 70 of those yards came from Williams on designed zone-read plays as well as him scrambling and breaking the pocket.

CALEB WILLIAMS. WOW 🤯

(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/NJbnrJlbz4

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 17, 2024

Flores and the Minnesota Vikings defense will look to shut down the Bears’ run game and force them to be one-dimensional. The Titans tried to get quarterback Will Levis involved in the run game on zone-reads as well, but the Vikings snuffed them out. Will the Bears try the same with Williams after his success against the Packers? Or will the Vikings try to corral him the same way they did with Levis?

Chicago Bears wideouts failing to stretch the field

There was optimism before the season that the Bears’ offensive weapons would help ease Williams into the NFL. It’s the same reason Minnesota Vikings fans were so excited about JJ McCarthy (Jefferson, Addison, Hockenson) Unfortunately for them, the skill position players haven’t done enough in the passing game.

Only rookie wideout Rome Odunze (14.1 yards per reception) and tight end Cole Kmet (11.2 yards) are averaging at least 10 yards per reception. This is a receiving corps that includes D.J. Moore (9.8 yards) and Keenan Allen (9.4 yards).

Related: Minnesota Vikings Cut Another 2022 Defensive Back

It doesn’t help that among qualified passers (at least 24 attempts), Williams has been the most inaccurate passer on passes 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). He has completed only 9-of-41 passes on such passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Minnesota Vikings have been mostly great against the pass this season, but have had a few lapses, including a 98-yard touchdown last week. If Flores can force Williams to have to march down the field with 10-play drives and not give them any easy scores, the Bears’ downfield futility should continue.

Chance for the Minnesota Vikings running game to get on track

While the Bears’ pass defense has been solid this year (ninth in yards allowed), their run defense has been suspect. They rank 27th in yards per carry allowed (4.8) and have only held two teams to fewer than 100 yards on the ground all season.

This could give the Minnesota Vikings running game a chance to get back on track. They ran 33 times for 82 yards (2.48 yards per carry) against the Titans. Chicago doesn’t have the likes of defensive linemen Jeffrey Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat destroying the run game. Aaron Jones says his ribs are feeling better this week, too.

Like always, the Bears are taking the ball away

It feels like the Chicago Bears’ defense is always taking the ball away, especially when the Vikings go to Soldier Field. That’s been the case this year as well as the Bears have forced 17 turnovers, the seventh-most in the league. This includes nine interceptions and eight fumble recoveries.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Tight End Officially Ruled Out vs Bears

Sam Darnold protected the ball better in last week’s win over the Titans, although he was credited with a fumble on a pitch that slipped through Jones’ hands. But seven of the Minnesota Vikings 17 turnovers have come in the past three games. If there is one way to keep the overmatched Chicago Bears in this game, it will be if the Vikings get sloppy and turn the ball over.