The Minnesota Vikings know that the Chicago Bears are trying to prevent their season from completely slipping away.
It’s understandable that the Vikings are being cautious.
“This league’s all about response, and when you have teams who go through situations like that, tests of adversity, it’s always about response,” said safety Josh Metellus. “This could make or break them.”
The Vikings (8-2) hope to “break” the Bears (4-6) and maybe move closer to first place in the NFC North when they meet on Sunday in a matchup between two teams heading in different directions.
Minnesota comes into the game with three straight wins, including a 23-13 victory over Tennessee last week, where Sam Darnold threw two touchdowns and ran for another. The Vikings are trying to catch first-place Detroit (9-1) and stay ahead of Green Bay (7-3) in a tight division.
The Lions are playing Indianapolis on Sunday, and the Packers are hosting San Francisco. The Bears, who are in last place, are struggling with four straight losses after falling 20-19 to Green Bay at Soldier Field last week.
Chicago was close to ending a 10-game losing streak to the Packers but couldn’t hold on to the lead in the final minutes. They lost when Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field goal was blocked as time expired.
This was their second loss in the last four weeks on a last-second play. Their losing streak started with a Hail Mary from Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
On a positive note, the Bears’ offense looked better against Green Bay after Thomas Brown became the new offensive coordinator, replacing Shane Waldron. No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams had a strong game, throwing for 231 yards and running for a career-high 70 yards after struggling the previous three weeks.
“There are going to be rough times, rough patches over the long healthy career I hopefully have,” he said. “That’s not going to change my mindset, nor is it going to change it now.”
