Chicago Bears host Minnesota Vikings
The Chicago Bears will be looking to take control of the AFC North, while the Minnesota Vikings will be looking to stay alive as the two teams go head-to-head on Sunday 14 November.
Previous meetings and recent games
Sunday's matchup is a meeting between two AFC North rivals who have met 18 times since 2001. The Bears hold a slight advantage winning 10 times, including the team's last meeting by a score of 36-30 – a game which also took place at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Chicago won last Sunday over the 0-8 Buffalo Bills, but they didn't exactly make it look easy winning by a score of 22-19 and needing a late touchdown to come from behind to win.
The Minnesota Vikings, now at 3-5 on the season, find themselves in a perpetual state of trying to save their season. The Vikings camp has been filled with endless drama which has kept them on the front pages for just about everything besides football. With
so many off-field distractions it's amazing they've actually won three games. Thanks to some late game heroics last Sunday the Vikings managed a 27-24 overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals.
How they matchup
Two very beat up quarterbacks will be going head to head in this game. Jay Cutler and Brett Favre have been sacked a combined 45 times this season. Besides the tendonitis he had been suffering in his throwing elbow, the 41-year-old Favre still has two fractures
on his foot, and a gash on his chin from a hit against the New York Giants which needed stitches to mend. Favre also leads the NFL with 13 interceptions. Cutler tends to hold onto the ball a little too long which has led to him being sacked more than any other
quarterback in the NFL. He's also suffered from one concussion this season after getting sacked nine times by the New York Giants.
Chicago's typically reliable running back Matt Forte has been anything but while running the ball for the Bears this season. Aside from a week 5 matchup against the Carolina Panthers where he ran for 166 yards, Forte hasn't run for more than even 50 yards
in a game this season. His inability to effectively run the ball puts even more pressure on Cutler.
The Vikings, on the other hand, do have one reliable weapon on offence and that is their running back Adrian Peterson, who was recently overtaken by the Texans' Arian Foster for the league lead in rushing, but still has run for an impressive 857 yards this
season.
What to expect
If Chicago are going to win this game they will have to do it through their defence which is ranked eighth in the NFL. The Vikings have the NFL's fifth best defence themselves and should be able to get to Cutler, which means the Bears defence won't just
have to stop the Vikings, they'll need to force turnovers and score points as well.
Normally home field advantage would give the Bears the edge, but they're 2-2 at home this season.
Look for the Vikings to do just enough to win and for coach Brad Childress to keep his job for another day.
Vikings win 24-22.
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