Kevin O’Connell’s squad has high aspirations this season. As always, achieving them will revolve around a general level of consistent health. Unfortunately for them, Chicago’s playing surface is already in tough shape.

Chicago’s dingy stadium already causing problems for MN Vikings

Soldier Field was built in 1924. The Chicago Bears have played their since 1971. Of course it has undergone renovations and upgrades, but among the most consistent problems has been the playing surface itself. Now just hours from Monday Night Football, the pregame updates are not good.

Several members of the field crew at Soldier Field are surveying the turf right now and placing a sand/seed mix in areas that need to be filled on the playing surface. The field was re-sodded after a stretch of five concerts at the end of August.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) September 8, 2025

A look at the turf of @SoldierField from the @vikings booth pic.twitter.com/GhQHjMmisU

— Chris Hawkey (@Chris_Hawkey) September 8, 2025

Sporting venues are often popular places to hold concerts due to their massive capacities. It’s also the draw of experience something in a non-traditional way. That said, hosting those concerts around key points on the calendar for the intended purpose of said sporting venues never seems to go well.

There is a level of resiliency when a playing surface is turf. When it is grass, and you have that many people trampling all over it for hours on end, there’s only so much you can do. New sod can be laid, but there’s still a timetable for it to take hold. We have seen this issue for the Minnesota Twins when hosting concerts at Target Field.

With the Vikings now looking at their first kickoff of the season, Kevin O’Connell gets an added wrinkle to worry about. McCarthy missed the entire 2024 season after suffering a knee injury. This is the grass he gets to return on. Christian Darrisaw is also returning from a knee injury, and he already carries a questionable status.

Related: Official: Minnesota Vikings Without Veteran Leader vs Bears

It’s a good thing that weather isn’t expected to play a factor for Monday Night Football. The Soldier Field grass often becomes a slop fest in rain or snow. Still, a lack of sod being completely filled in or adhered to the dirt below it is a problem.

This isn’t the look the NFL should want for their first Monday Night Football matchup of the season. It’s not a heartwarming one for O’Connell or the Vikings either.

Below, you can find out how to watch Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears, including who is commentating and officiating the game.

Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears Broadcast Map – Week 12

Everyone surrounding Minnesota is going to have a chance to watch this game, on their local FOX station. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 PM CT. The blue on the map represents viewers who will see Vikings vs Bears. For all the latest information on today’s game, view our Minnesota Vikings Game Today post below.

• Minnesota Vikings game today: 2024 Schedule, Latest Betting Lines, and More

pic.twitter.com/tVfSbzDIuR

— Skol Cole (@SkolSmith) November 22, 2024

Broadcast Crew – FOX

On the call, we get Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston, a decent draw and far better than having to listen to Jonathan Vilma for three hours. Fans located outside of the broadcast area (blue) will have to get Sunday Ticket or find somewhere that does.

Referee Assignment – Week 12

Clay Martin will call his second Vikings game of the season. His crew handled the Vikings-Lions game last month where Detroit beat Minnesota on a last-second field goal. Be prepared to yell at your TV. Martin’s crew calls the second-most penalties on visiting teams. You can view more stats and trends about Martin’s crew below.

• Vikings Referee Assignment (Week 12) – What to Know About Refs for Vikings vs Bears

Chicago IL Weather Forecast – November 24, 2024

According to Chicago’s weather report today, at Weather.com, as of Sunday morning at approximately 10:00 a.m. CST, we’re looking at a mostly-cloudy afternoon in the Windy City. Temperatures are expected to peak at a high of 51 degrees, during the Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears game.

Keep an eye on the wind: At the start of Vikings vs Bears, winds will be out of the southeast at a relatively mild 7-8 MPH. As the day goes on, the clouds will get thicker, thanks to rain that is expected to move in overnight. By this evening, wind speeds are expected to increase to near 20 MPH.

As of now, the change in wind factor isn’t expected to take place until around 4 PM. Between 4-6 PM, however, it is supposed to jump into the double digits. Should tonight’s front move in sooner than expected, 4th quarter field goals this afternoon could get a bit dicey.

It’s also worth noting that Minnesota Vikings kicker John Parker Romo missed an extra point last week vs the Tennessee Titans. That same Sunday, Bears kicker Cairo Santos had his potentially game-winning field goal vs the Green Bay Packers blocked.

“Get right game” for Minnesota Vikings

Think about it… an easy win over the woeful Bears, in week 6, would give the Vikings a chance to get their season back on track. The schedule, to this point, has been undeniably brutal. Minnesota’s four losses have come to teams (Bucs, Eagles, Chargers, Chiefs) with a combined 15-4 record.

Related: Kirk Cousins Sidesteps Question About Waiving No-Trade Clause

No matter how much better the Bears have looked in the last two weeks, they do not stack up to any of those teams. With the rise of the Detroit Lions in recent years, Chicago has become the gutter of the NFC North, winning a total of nine games in their last two seasons (9-25).

THE BEARS STILL SUCK 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/41tJxg0IFs

— GBP Daily – Rob Westerman lll (@GBPdaily) October 1, 2023

2nd-year head coach, Kevin O’Connell, is a perfect 2-0 against the Bears, and the Vikings have won five of their last six vs the division rival. Common football sense tells us that Sunday’s contest in Chicago is a “get right game” for the visiting purple.

Life as a Minnesota Vikings sports fan isn’t that easy…

But as a lifelong Minnesota sports fan, I see this game differently. Yes, a matchup vs Justin Fields and the struggle bus Chicago Bears, should be a springboard for the Vikings back into the win column. But what if it isn’t…?

What if Kirk Cousins & Co. — without superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson — can’t fix their turnover problems. What if it’s raining, wet and cold, which it probably will be? Remember what happened last year in Green Bay, in those same conditions?

Would it shock anyone if Justin Fields runs up, down and around the Vikings defense, on a sloppy Soldier Field, while the Minnesota offense struggles to find a rhythm, without the best wide receiver in the league available to Kirk Cousins? Because it seems like a plausible scenario to me…

A win would give Vikings hope entering week 7 on MNF

Don’t get me wrong, I hope, with all of my sports-loving heart, that the 62nd matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears this weekend ends up being the “get right game” mentioned earlier in this blog. I’d love nothing more than to have my Minnesota sports fan anxiety flipped upside down.

But fandom is rarely that easy, here, and there’s a lot on the line with Sunday’s game. If the Vikings win, they’ll enter week 7, at 2-4, with their playoff hopes still alive, especially now that three NFC Wildcards make the bracket now.

Related: Jaguars Want Danielle Hunter but May Lack Draft Capital Needed to Entice Vikings

Instead of a sure season-ending knockout punch on Monday Night Football next week, vs the (5-0) San Francisco 49ers, the primetime matchup vs Brock Purdy & Co would become an opportunity — AT US BANK STADIUM — for Minnesota to put themselves back on the NFC postseason map.

And with the 2023-24 Vikings, it’s really easy to flip the narrative back in a positive direction. They have a high-powered offense, with both team and individual numbers that rank near the top of the NFL. By some divine miracle, they have a vastly improved offensive line too.

Composite of pass protection ratings through week 5

The Patriots have been "dethroned" from their spot at No. 32 pic.twitter.com/LSXxNSZ0Ur

— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 11, 2023

Even the defense, which ranks near the bottom of the league in most categories, shows flashes of brilliance, under new defensive coordinator, Brian Flores.

So, if the Vikings were to “take care of business” vs the Bears on Sunday, hope would remain alive. And, should they get ridiculous, and parlay a week 6 win with a huge upset next Monday, everyone would be jumping back on the 3-4 Minnesota Vikings bandwagon.

Vikings Firesale imminent with loss vs Chicago Bears

But… if the Minnesota Vikings lose in Chicago, we could see a fire sale out of TCO Performance Center like nothing we’ve ever seen before, as fans of this franchise. They’d be 1-5, with a high likelihood of 1-6, if they lose to the 49ers in week 7. The Tuesday after that Vikings vs Niners MNF game, will be October 24, one week before the NFL trade deadline.

At that point, it would be in the organization’s best interest to fold up shop and start planning for the future. “Tanking” is frowned upon, so we don’t go that route (wink, wink). Instead, we trade/waive all of our veterans who other teams might find valuable, in order to get our younger players more experience.

Related: Vikings Sign Former QB and WR to Practice Squad, in Flurry of Week 6 Roster Moves

That list includes, but is not limited to, franchise faces like Danielle Hunter, Kirk Cousins, Harrison Smith, Jordan Hicks, Byron Murphy Jr, Harrison Phillips, Ezra Cleveland, KJ Osborn, Alexander Mattison, Garrett Bradbury and any others the Vikings do not see as part of their new 3-year “competitive rebuild” plan.

Minnesota Vikings history at Soldier Field

Sure, life at Soldier Field has gotten better for the Vikings in the last few years, but that hasn’t been the case in recent history. From 2001 to 2019, the Minnesota Vikings went 3-16 vs the Bears, in Illinois.

All but one of the losses came in the Windy City, at Soldier Field, where the two squads will do battle again this weekend. But in 2002, Chicago came out on top 27-23 at Memorial Stadium (Champagne, IL), while renovations were taking place at Soldier Field.

But what has happened between these two historic rivals over the last 2.5 decades has very little, if any, impact on how the game will unfold in 2023. There’s no doubt the Minnesota Vikings are better than the Chicago Bears, even without Justin Jefferson.

On Sunday, it’s up to the players and coaches out on the field and standing on the sideline, and prove to the front office that this team has a fighting chance at a postseason birth, even after a dreadful start to the season.

Everyone on Soldier Field with a purple uniform knows what could happen if they lose to the Bears. Let’s see how much fight Kirk and the boys have.

Read all of our blogs about the Minnesota Vikings

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Since 2001, the Minnesota Vikings are 3-16 when playing in Chicago against the Bears (according to footballdb.com). Most of those games were played at Soldier Field, a place Minnesota fans think is cursed, but there was one loss mixed in at Memorial Stadium (University of Illinois) when the home of Da Bears was being renovated in 2002.

The deeper you get into the numbers (margins of victory etc), the worse you’ll feel about the last 20 years in Chicago, so I’ll leave you to your own research.

It hasn’t been just the losses, though. Soldier Field is where Norv Turner coached his last game for the Vikings and where John DeFilippo started his march out of Minnesota, by calling an offense that mustered just 22 rush yards in week 11 of 2018.

It’s also where Sam Bradford started his last game for the Vikings, where Zimmer’s eye problems started, and where Stefon Diggs played before skipping two practices because of a *cough, cough* cold.

Fuck the Soldier Field curse.

The Bears suck. Curse that.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 16, 2020

Seriously, the Bears are absolutely horrible, especially on offense. On a list of 0-10, Chicago’s offense is a -3. They’ve posted 400+ yards of offense in only ONE game this season and they haven’t rushed for 100 yards in a game since week 3 (it’s week 10 right now). The Bears rank LAST in rush YPG and 30th in both total YPG and PPG. They can’t move the ball and they can’t score it either.

As long as the Minnesota Vikings don’t give up points to the Bears defense and they score 25 points of their own, they should win Monday night. That’s good news because, since coming off of their bye two weeks ago, the Vikings have held both Detroit and Green Bay under 25 points and they haven’t giving the ball away once.

It should be an easy formula to follow again. Even if their defense is better, the Bears are the worst team we’ve played out of the three. AT WORST, we should be talking about a really boring game where both Minnesota and Chicago struggle to move the football in big chunks.

“Frauds. Absolute frauds. Yeah, the Bears have 5 wins but they are a fraudulent five-win football team.”

–@AdamSchein is not a believer in Chicago and their “car wreck” offense pic.twitter.com/goAeZnoayc

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2020

If they can slow Dalvin Cook…

If the Bears let Dalvin Cook get loose in any form or fashion, this one is over. So far, nobody has slowed Dalvin. All the Bears have is their defense. If they can’t stop Cook then this one will be over before the 2nd half starts.

This is not me projecting a Vikings win…

I want the football gods (and all of our readers) to know that this is not me projecting a Minnesota Vikings victory over the Chicago Bears tonight. I will not do that anymore. My projections have proven to have adverse effects on too many innocent victims.

If the Vikings can’t go into an empty Soldier Field on Monday Night Football and STOMP a weak Bears team that is already down, then fuck the playoffs. We don’t deserve to be playing in them anyway.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan