Kirk Cousins and the ‘desperate’ Minnesota Vikings will be looking to pick up a huge road upset over Mitch Trubisky and the blossoming Chicago Bears when the two longtime rivals throw down live from Soldier Field on Sunday in one of their two annual NFC North division battles. Will Minnesota’s high-priced new franchise signal-caller give them their money’s worth in this contest or will he be upstaged by Chicago’s second-year signal-caller in this meaningful matchup?
Let’s find out now which one of these teams is going to boost their chances of winning the competitive NFC North on Sunday Night Football.
Sunday Night Football: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Game Information
What: Sunday Night Football: Minnesota Vikings (5-3-1) at Chicago Bears (6-3)
When: Sunday, November 18, 2018, 8:20 PM ET
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
TV: NBC
Live Streaming: NFL.com Game Pass
Radio: TuneIn
Minnesota has won four of their last five games including their convincing 24-9 mugging of Detroit in Week 9. The Vikings pounded Lions quarterback Matt Stafford into the turf a franchise record 10 times with defensive end Danielle Hunter recording 3.5 sacks in the dominating performance.
“We knew he liked to throw the ball down the field, so that’s something that really helped us a lot because he held on to the ball,” said Hunter, who leads the NFL with 11.5 sacks for the season. “So as long as we executed the rush plan, we knew we’d be able to get back there.”
Kirk Cousins was held to a modest 164 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the Vikings didn’t need much from their offense two weeks ago and now, they’re well-rested after getting a bye this past weekend. Chicago has won three straight and comes into this matchup off a convincing 34-22 win over Detroit on Sunday as Mitch Trubisky passed for 355 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Chicago’s defense recorded two interceptions against Lions quarterback Matt Stafford and sacked him a half-dozen times.
“We knew he liked to throw the ball down the field, so that’s something that really helped us a lot because he held on to the ball,” said Hunter, who moved into the NFL lead with 11 1/2 sacks for the season. “So as long as we executed the rush plan, we knew we’d be able to get back there.”
Expert Pick and Prediction
I’m not going to hate on Chicago. I thought they made a great hire in naming former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their head coach and I’ve been impressed with the direction they’re headed under their first-year leader this season. Still, while the Bears have managed to win three straight, Chicago’s wins didn’t exactly come against any challenging teams as they took down the rebuilding Jets and Bills before beating Detroit on Sunday.
While Chicago is statistically better on both sides of the ball, I genuinely believe the Minnesota Vikings are going to show up in a big way to take down their division rivals with a statement-making win that narrows the narrow gap on the two in the race for first place in the NFC North.
Minnesota is 4-1 SU over the last five meetings against Chicago and 7-3 SU over the last 10 meetings overall. While Chicago has gone 8-3 ATS in their last 11 home games against Minnesota and 5-1 ATS in their last six home games overall, the Vikings have gone 8-3-1 SU in their last 12 road games, an unblemished 4-0 ATS in their last four games in the month of November and a consistent 36-16-1 ATS in their last 53 games following a ATS win. I’m going with Minnesota for the upset and you should too.
I like the way Minnesota’s defense has heated up recently in limiting three of their last four opponents to 17 points or less and I believe they’re going to show up in a big way In this huge divisional showdown
Predicted Score Minnesota Vikings 24 | Chicago Bears 20
