You know those two undefeated NFC North teams? The only two perfect teams remaining in the NFL? These are……..not them. The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions have already put some distance between themselves and these two teams, so Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings in prime time Sunday night is a battle for third place!
Excited yet? I have tickets downstairs to this one, so I better be excited. Or get myself excited.
At the very least, I can point out three dead men walking in this game: Bears WR Roy Williams, Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz and Vikings QB Donovonn McNabb. 2011 will likely be the last stop for the NFL career train.
Minnesota Vikings (1-4) Analysis:
McNabb brought the Vikes to a 34-10 victory over Arizona last week. It was his first win in five starts was ugly. He completed just 10 of 21 passes for a meager 169 yards (but hey it was better than his 39 yard effort in week 1) and misfired so badly on several short and intermediate throws that fans chanted for rookie Christian Ponder to assume the reins.
What makes this fact notable is that Minnesota was leading by 28 points at the time. Everywhere McNabb has gone (Syracuse, Philadelphia, Washington) he’s had his fair share of very hash critics. Even wacko instigator Rush Limbaugh once used him as a springboard for one of his typical racist, African-American bashing rants.
I still say the Chicago- Mt. Carmel product has been unjustly attacked for most of his career. In his 13 NFL seasons, McNabb has had a 80+ passer rating in every season but two. He’s had a 90+ in four seasons.
It’s amazing how fast the pieces around the QB crumbled in Minnesota. It was only just 2009- when the Vikings were a couple plays away from the Super Bowl. Today, it’s hard to name any player beyond Adrian Peterson or Jared Allen.
Chicago Bears (2-3) Analysis:
How bad are things when Dane Sanzenbacher is your go-to receiver on 3rd down? Or your go-to receiver period? The undrafted Caucasian receiver from Ohio State is like a homeless man’s Julian Edelman. But he’s not even close to being one of the worst starters on the Bears. He doesn’t really start, but how can you classify Roy Williams as a “starting wide receiver.” Williams is a waste of space.
Frank Omilaye (I don’t care enough about him to check if I’m spelling his name correctly or not) is one of the worst OL in history. And Kellen Davis…..about as awesome as SS Craig Steltz. All three don’t really belong on a NFL roster. And watching Martz mismanage them is a grossly comical. He really should run max protect schemes with the crap he has to work with on the OL. But instead he keeps calling plays and formations that will get quarterback Jay Cutler KILLED.
Prediction to be taken with an entire truckload of salt, not a grain of salt: Bears 24, Vikings 20 (2010-11 prediction record 28-13)
The Vikings have a +5 point differential on the season, despite their ugly record. The Bears are -15 on the season. But they have won two of three at home this season. And this season the Bears-Vikings series looks like home team wins each time.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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