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The Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings are set to square off in an NFC North matchup at 1 p.m. ET Jan. 9 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Bears will be strutting in after a victory while Minnesota will be stumbling in from a loss.
Everything went Chicago's way against the New York Giants last week as they made off with a 29-3 win. The team accrued 22 points in the first half and coasted on those for the victory. No one had a standout game offensively for Chicago, but they got scores from RB David Montgomery and WR Darnell Mooney.
Chicago's defense was a presence, holding New York to a paltry 151 yards. The defense got past the Giants' offensive line to sack QB Mike Glennon four times for a total loss of 34 yards. Leading the way was LB Trevis Gipson and his two sacks. Gipson now has 6.5 sacks this year.
Meanwhile, a win for the Vikings just wasn't in the stars last week as the squad never even grasped a temporary lead. 2022 "welcomed" them with a 37-10 beatdown courtesy of the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota was down 30-10 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. RB Dalvin Cook had a memorable game, but not in the way you want to be remembered: he rushed for 13 yards on nine carries.
The Bears are now 6-10 while Minnesota sits at 7-9. Neither team can make the playoffs, so they're playing for draft order now.
Chicago is expected to lose this next one by 5.5. Those betting on them against the spread shouldn't have high expectations for them since the squad is 2-8 ATS when expected to lose.
A pair of defensive numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: Chicago ranks third in the NFL when it comes to sacks, with 46 on the season. Less enviably, the Vikings are stumbling into the contest with the second most yards allowed per game in the league, having given up 385.4 on average.
