Chicago Bears: What to look for in important Week 12 matchup vs Vikings

The Chicago Bears once again try to end their losing streak, this time hosting division rival Minnesota Vikings. Here are things to look for in the game.

Well, here we are again. Another week in which we hope the Chicago Bears finally put things together and pull out a win. They came close last week, competing well with their hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers. They were set up to finally beat them. However, once again they snatched loss out of the jaws of victory.

Now the Bears have to continue the gauntlet. This week they face another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings, who are 8-2. Then they face the 9-1 Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. From there they take on the Vikings again and then the defending NFC Conference champions, the San Francisco 49ers.

That makes the task of getting back on track very difficult for the Chicago Bears. However, they have to concentrate on the Vikings first. Minnesota ran out to a 5-0 record to start the season before they lost two in a row. They got back on track, though, winning their last three games.

See, other teams can lose a couple of games without having their season tank. Why can’t the Chicago Bears?

Not many people give the Bears a realistic shot at beating the Vikings. However, they also expected a Packers blowout last week. While the Bears did lose as most expected, it took a great effort (and some luck) for Green Bay to come away with the victory.

Perhaps the same can happen against the Vikings. Teams only have the Packers film to try to figure out Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown‘s tendencies and philosophy. He can surprise opponents with what he does. He certainly had the Packers off-balanced.

Here are some things to look for in the Chicago Bears Week 12 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

What will Brown do with more preparation?

We saw a very good start of the Brown era as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator. The offense looked crisper and the ball moved more. WR1 D.J. Moore was more involved in the offense, as was the rushing game. The more effective offense consistently stayed in short to medium third downs. As a result, the offense was 9/16 on third downs.

Brown had the ball out of quarterback Caleb Williams‘ hand quicker. That helped the offensive line, which continues to struggle with injuries. Williams suffered three sacks, but two of them came on the final drive on consecutive snaps. Williams overcame them to get the Chicago Bears to within scoring range to win, though.

It is important to note that Brown only had a few days to prepare. The Chicago Bears fired Shane Waldron and hired Brown to replace him on Tuesday. So he had basically three days to work out his game plan. Now he has an entire week to prepare and have his players understand better what he wants to do.

With the extra time to prepare Brown should add some wrinkles to his offense. One thing to improve could be involving tight end Cole Kmet more. He caught all three targets that went his way last week. For the season, he caught 32 of his 37 targets for an 86.5 percent catch percentage.

With Kmet catching nearly all the targets going to him, it is important that he is more involved in the offense. He would be a great safety valve for Williams. He is big, strong, and athletic, with great hands. Williams cannot ask for more in his tight end.

Brown was able to convince Williams to take what the defense gave him. That helped keep the Chicago Bears offense in manageable situations. Instead of taking sacks or missing on deep passes so much, he took the 3-5 yards to keep the ball moving forward.

Hopefully, with all the completions going underneath the Vikings defense tries to defend that. When that happens, the deep throw could be available for Williams.

Can Williams have more success throwing?

During the four-game losing streak, Williams has struggled to throw the ball. He has not thrown for a touchdown in any of those games. His accuracy has taken a hit as well. During the losing streak, he completed 71 of his 126 pass attempts for a 56.3 completion rate.

Williams was better last week against the Packers, though. Taking those passes underneath, he completed 23 of his 31 passes for a 74.2 percent completion rate. When he does that, the Chicago Bears will win much more than they lose. That just was not the case last week.

The Vikings defense will give up yards and some touchdowns. They rank 19th in passing touchdowns allowed and 28th in passing yards allowed. Like the Chicago Bears’ defense, Minnesota has the “bend but don’t break” philosophy.

One thing to keep in mind is that Minnesota leads the league in interceptions. While they will give up a lot of yards, they could intercept the pass at any moment.

That would be a great clash. One thing Williams has done well is protect the ball. He has five interceptions for the season. Four of them cam in the Chicago Bears’ losses in Weeks 2 and 3. In the other eight games, he has just one interception, including none in his last four games.

Which defense comes out on top?

This could be a defensive battle. Both defenses are playing well. The Vikings rank fourth in points allowed while the Bears rank seventh. The Bears are stronger against the pass while the Vikings have the number one rush defense. The winner of this game could come down to which defense makes a mistake.

While the Chicago Bears defense is playing well, it is dealing with severe injuries. Andrew Billings is out for the season with a pectoral injury. He took up a lot of double teams, which helped others on the line. They had more room to operate and wreak havoc.

Safety Jaquan Brisker was finally put on injured reserve after missing the last five games. He will now miss at least four more with his concussion. He was a thumper in the secondary and was effective both against the run and pass.

Elijah Hicks has played in Brisker’s absence and has done a good job. However, he suffered an ankle injury in the Packers game. He has been unable to practice. The Chicago Bears signed Adrian Colbert to be there in case Hicks cannot go. Colbert was one of the fan favorites when the Bears were on Hard Knocks this offseason.

Reunion: The #Bears are re-signing veteran safety Adrian Colbert, per source. He was there parts of the past two seasons before being released in camp.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 20, 2024

Colbert had a good training camp and was one of the final cuts in the end. He has a good understanding of the defense so it made sense for him to return.

The Chicago Bears hope the defense can continue to play well. While the Vikings rank fifth in passing touchdowns they rank 24th in interceptions. The Bears rank number one in passing touchdowns allowed and 10th in interceptions. If the Bears can pressure Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, he will cough up the ball.

As mentioned earlier, Kmet needs to be involved more. That is especially true this week. The Vikings have the best rushing defense so it will be a difficult game for the Chicago Bears’ rushing attack. Perhaps Roschon Johnson, the battering ram, gets more snaps early in the game. He could wear down the defense so D’Andre Swift utilizes his speed late.

Kmet can help in taking the short passes and pounding the Minnesota secondary. The Bears need to wear them down so they can make big plays late in the game. Using Kmet and Johnson does that. Additionally, having Doug Kramer play the fullback at times other than goal line situations could help beat up the defenders.

Use Moore/Odunze duo

We will see if Moore and Williams are starting to jell together. In Brown’s offense Moore was more involved. He was targeted seven times and he caught all of them. While he still only had 62 yards, he was able to make big catches that helped keep drives going.

We saw how much damage the Williams/Moore duo can cause. In Weeks 4 and 5 he had 8 catches for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns. We know with what happened last season that those numbers could be had in just one game when Moore and his quarterback are locked in.

If the Vikings try to take away the short passes and dare Williams to go deep Moore could have a big game.

Another receiver who could help both Moore and Williams is Rome Odunze. Odunze is the one receiver who has built good chemistry with Williams. Despite Williams’ struggles with the receivers, Odunze has had two games in which he had over 100 receiving yards.

Odunze is a good deep target. He has the speed and body control to go up and outmuscle defensive backs for the ball. If the defense has to watch out for Odunze deep, Moore can hurt the defense underneath. He runs great routes to create space. Also, once he gets the ball he can make a variety of moves to break free.

Odunze and Moore can be an effective duo moving forward. Yes, the Chicago Bears also have Keenan Allen. However, he is in the final year of his huge contract. At nearly 33 years old, re-signing him may not be a good move.

If Williams starts to cook, he will have Odunze, Moore, Kmet, and Swift to help underneath. Giving him those options could jump start the offense and get it closer to what many expected before the season.

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