The Vikings will try to sweep the Bears for the third time in four years on Monday night. They’ll don their all-white jerseys and helmets for their only home night game of the year, as they try to get to 12-2 before a tough three-game stretch to close out the regular season. Thomas Brown, who coached with Kevin O’Connell in Los Angeles and interviewed for the Vikings’ offensive coordinator job in 2022, is the Bears’ interim head coach after the team fired Matt Eberflus on Nov. 29.
Here’s a look at what to expect on Monday night:
Looking for a sweep under the lights: The Vikings and Bears will play on Monday night for the fourth time in the past five years, and the sixth time in the past nine seasons. Kevin O’Connell’s only loss to the Bears came in a Monday night game before the bye week last year, when Joshua Dobbs threw four interceptions in a 12-10 defeat. This time, the Vikings are trying to keep pace with the Lions in the NFC North, while facing a Bears team that’s lost seven straight.
Vikings offense vs. Bears defense
Darnold looks to keep his run going: In the Vikings’ first meeting with the Bears, Sam Darnold threw for 90 yards on the team’s game-winning overtime drive to finish with 330 passing yards for the day. He won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his five-touchdown performance against the Falcons, and will try to repeat his Soldier Field showing at home. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes without an interception since the Vikings’ 12-7 win in Jacksonville, where he had three INTs. If he gets 11 scoring passes in the Vikings’ final four games, he’ll tie Daunte Culpepper’s single-season franchise record for TD passes at 39.
Will Bears play Jefferson differently? The Bears kept two defenders near Justin Jefferson during most of the first game between the teams, and the Vikings took advantage with Jordan Addison posting 162 yards and T.J. Hockenson getting 114. Jefferson also drew a 35-yard pass interference penalty in the game. The Falcons used more single-safety coverage shells against the Vikings than most teams have last week, and Jefferson made them pay with two touchdowns. There’s no easy way to deal with the Vikings’ weapons in the passing game right now, and as O’Connell has mentioned, split-safety coverages mean teams aren’t able to blitz Darnold much. We’ll see if the Bears try a different approach in the second meeting between the teams.
Vikings defense vs. Bears offense
Williams is Vikings’ first rematch at QB: In the Bears’ first game against the Vikings, No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams had one of his best days of the season, throwing for 340 yards while running six times for 33 yards in the loss. Asked what the Vikings learned about Williams in the first meeting, defensive coordinator Brian Flores said, “He’s fast.” The quarterback evaded several Vikings defenders, including on a highlight throw to D’Andre Swift when he got away from Blake Cashman. He’ll become the first quarterback the Vikings see twice this season, before games against Jordan Love and Jared Goff to end the year.
Vikings try to contain the run: In holding the Bears to four net yards (yes, you read that correctly) in the first half on Sunday, the 49ers ran roughshod over the Bears offensive line, sacking Williams four times before halftime while allowing D’Andre Swift to gain just seven yards on four carries. Center Coleman Shelton had a particularly tough day against the 49ers, and when the Bears tried to run outside, they couldn’t hold blocks long enough for Swift to find space. The Vikings defense has allowed more than 150 rushing yards in each of its past two games, after giving up more than 100 only three times in the first 11 games of the season. Swift had only 30 yards on 13 carries in the first matchup and is dealing with a groin injury; this could be an opportunity for the Vikings run defense to reassert itself.
The Bears haven’t won since before their Oct. 20 bye, and they’ve lost games in such dramatic fashion it’s worth wondering how much fight they’ll have left now that the playoffs have slipped away following a 4-2 start. It’s a tough place to be, heading into U.S. Bank Stadium for a prime-time game against a team that has everything to play for, and if the Vikings can keep Williams from making the kinds of big plays that nearly turned the first game, they should be able to win their seventh straight and get to 12-2 before a tough finishing stretch against the Seahawks, Packers and Lions. Division games are rarely one-sided, but the Vikings should win comfortably. Vikings 31, Bears 20