The Chicago Bears are in the NFC North race. The Minnesota Vikings are in a race too. For the #1 pick in the NFL Draft. So even though “It’s a quarterback driven league.” And “It’s a passing league.” I know I know I’ll stop before I make you puke with the cliches. We have to ask if Adrian Petersen will break the rushing record on Sunday. Seriously, we could have the first 300 yard rushing game.
You know how bad the Bears run D is. And Adrian Petersen is their offense. No one ever needs to “He can make all the throws.” Ever. About anyone. And no one will ever say it about Minnesota Vikings QB Christian Ponder. However, we can post multiple pictures of his wife, ESPN personality Samantha Ponder. Or Samantha Steele. For lack of truth in reporting and justice towards reporting of talent, we’ll just refer to the Minnesota Vikings QB as Christine Steele, or Christian Steele from now on.
Chicago Bears vs Minnesota Vikings
TV: Fox Noon CST Sun
Spread: Minnesota Vikings -1
Chicago Bears analysis:
What was up with the Bears DL last week? Okay, it’s like every week these days. Well, not quite this bad. I said the Bears might have issues containing Zac Stacy. They did. But they knocked him out of the game. And then undrafted rookie free agent Benny Cunningham lit ’em up. And I mean ripped through them. Shea McClellin is still really awful at football. Not matter what his player of the week award says.
Jon Bostic has had his moments this year. Last week in St. Louis was not one of them. The linebackers as a whole played even worse than the DL. But maybe the safeties played worst of all. Chris Conte serves no purpose on the field. He really accomplishes nothing. He’s the worst Bears safety since Adam Archuleta. But hey, the Minnesota Vikings are a big pile of you know what, so I still like the Bears chances this week.
Minnesota Vikings analysis:
Christine Steele is a top 28 QB in the NFL. Solid top 30 for sure. I mean you’d love to have him over Josh Freeman, Blaine Gabbert, Matt Flynn, and……and……*crickets chirping* Maybe not over Josh Freeman. Time will tell.
The Minnesota Vikings are surprisingly 25th in the NFL in passing yards, not 32nd like you might think they would be. They are 11th in rushing so again, if they can get a decent lead early, look for them to pound it on the Bears early and often. You don’t want them to get a lead in this game. You want them to fall behind and have to pass. The Vikings defense ranks very very poorly against both the run and the pass, so Josh McCown and Matt Forte can have a field day here.
Brutally Honest pick (brutally honest record 73-27): Chicago Bears 23, Minnesota Vikings 20.
The Minnesota Vikings defense is horrible, and even though they should write the AP Style enough to win this game easily, they won’t. They’ve only beaten the Steelers when Pittsburgh was at its lowest point in decades and the hapless Redskins who rely on a guy who just isn’t himself. I’m not even going to talk about ties. Ever.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan