The Minnesota Vikings don’t win too often in Chicago — their last win at Soldier Field was back in 2007 and they’ve only beaten the Bears at home three times since 2000 (despite the Vikings leading the all-time series 54-50-2). Sunday’s game may finally change Minnesota’s luck in Chicago, as the Vikings (4-5) are riding a rare two-game winning streak while the Bears (3-6) are in danger of melting down altogether.
In spite of the potential signs of a Vikings win, talk of any kind of playoff push is very premature … and despite that the Daily Norseman‘s Ted Glover dares to hope:
@Chicago: We’ve laid out what the Vikings need to do to beat Chicago, and this is their best opportunity to escape the Windy City with a win since 2009…and they couldn’t get it done then. And let’s face it, the Vikings have to beat the Bears to keep any chance at the post season alive. A loss puts them at 4-6, and no realistic shot.
Green Bay: The Vikings have been on the short end of the stick more often than not against Green Bay and Chicago in recent seasons, but I don’t know if I was ever more dis-spirited than after the Thursday night debacle in Lambeau. In the wake of that disaster, the Vikings defense actually played a decent game, until the three and outs piled up by the offense just got to be too much. This is going to be one of the two toughest remaining opponents the Vikings face, and a win here would be huge. Can they do it? With Teddy Bridgewater, at home, I think they can.
I can’t emphasize how big two division wins would be for the Vikings here. Not only for playoff positioning, but as a ‘stand up and take notice that we’re here to stay for awhile’ kind of statement. We all want to beat the Packers, but if the Vikings are going to start their climb to the top of the NFC North and stay there, they have to start beating them. Starting that climb here would be fantastic.
After that, the Vikings should beat Carolina and the Jets, then they face the Lions in Detroit which is likely a loss, then two winnable games against the Dolphins and the Bears (who might be playing for an interim coach if Trestman can’t turn the Bears around). A 10-6 finish would be fantastic for the Vikings after their horrific start to the 2014 season (and it’d be two games better than I expected … and I didn’t foresee Adrian Peterson being out for most of the year when I made that guess).
