Insights on the Bears will try to defend Justin Jefferson and other burning questions before Vikings' Week 12 matchup
Sitting with an 8-2 record, the Minnesota Vikings are in a great position to get a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon and can keep pace with the Detroit Lions. Soldier Field hasn't been an easy place to win for the Vikings historically. Since the year 2001, they have won just seven times […]
Sitting with an 8-2 record, the Minnesota Vikings are in a great position to get a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon and can keep pace with the Detroit Lions.
Soldier Field hasn't been an easy place to win for the Vikings historically. Since the year 2001, they have won just seven times in the Windy City, with a 1-13 record from 2001-2014.
To get a sense of what the Bears are heading into Sunday afternoon, I spoke to Bears beat writer Kole Noble to understand where things are at with the Bears.
How has the offense shifted after one week with Thomas Brown calling plays?
For starters, Thomas Brown has been getting calls in at a much faster pace compared to Shane Waldron, which has aided the entire operation getting ready for the next play. As for the designs themselves, Brown called a lot quicker passing concepts for Caleb Williams to get the ball out of his hand, which helped improve the protection up-front. When the play wasn’t there, Brown also encouraged Williams to use his legs more as opposed to waiting around for something to open. I expect to see a lot more short-yardage throws early on and then build further downfield as the game goes on.
The Bears are second in EPA/play allowed but are 14th in success rate. Is it as simple as the Bears don’t allow big plays but you can march down the field methodically?
That’s definitely been the case through the first 10 games of the season. The Bears’ defense under Matt Eberflus and Eric Washington has largely been a bend-but-don’t-break unit. Outside of the Packers’ game on Sunday, the unit hasn’t given up very many big plays. The Bears have the fifth-fewest missed tackles on defense with the fourth-highest 3-and-out percentage. Of the 18 touchdown drives allowed this season, half of those came on drives of 8+ plays. You’re not going to beat this unit by big plays but by sustaining long drives that tire everyone out.
What will the Bears do to try and stop Justin Jefferson?
The simple answer would be to shadow Jefferson with Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson. This season, Johnson has allowed a 57.1 passer rating in coverage and only 18 receptions on 33 targets. Unfortunately, last week Johnson had a really bad down game allowing two receptions for 85 yards against Christian Watson. Moving Jefferson around with motions and using him in the slot could help keep Johnson off of him during the game to help create favorable matchups down the field.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky accidentally reveals that the national media doesn’t pay much attention to the Minnesota Vikings
It’s honestly getting ridiculous
