Bears embrace the tough road test in Minnesota and the key to victory could play perfectly into Ben Johnson’s offensive plan
For the first time since Week 2, the Chicago Bears will face off in a divisional matchup and it’ll be a rematch opportunity against the Minnesota Vikings after dropping the season opener at home.A lot has changed for both sides since the first game of the season going into this Week 1 matchup and for […]
For the first time since Week 2, the Chicago Bears will face off in a divisional matchup and it’ll be a rematch opportunity against the Minnesota Vikings after dropping the season opener at home.
A lot has changed for both sides since the first game of the season going into this Week 1 matchup and for Chicago, this game will be a major measuring stick for the team after a 6-3 start to the season but one that comes with an 0-2 record in the NFC North.
“We desperately need to win our first division game,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said in his weekly interview with Jeff Joniak on ESPN Chicago. “There’s no doubt about it. This will be a tough challenge. Their stadium is one of the hardest, I think, in the National Football League. It’s loud, you hear that Viking horn go off, you hear the SKOL chant going on. We gotta embrace this environment that we’re going into.”
Playing on the road in Minnesota will be a tough test, but one the Bears are prepared for
Recently, the Bears have struggled facing the Vikings on the road, losing three of the last four matchups in Minnesota including the 30-12 blowout loss suffered last season. This season, however, the Vikings have struggled to defend the home turf with a 1-3 record.
To learn more about the team’s home struggles, as well as the difficulties the environment can bring for an opposing team, I spoke with Tyler Forness of A to Z Sports Minnesota.
“U.S. Bank Stadium is a great home field advantage for the Vikings. The fanbase gets riled up before the game with the SKOL chant, and they do it sporadically throughout the game. Where things get interesting is how rowdy they get in critical in-game situations.
If you want to prevent the fans from getting into the game, the key is to keep them quiet early and often. Running the ball successfully and keeping the chains moving is the simple recipe for keeping the fanbase out of it, because once they get into it, you won’t get them out. They are very loud and impact the snap counts, forcing a large amount of pre-snap penalties for their opponents. That is another thing to watch.” – Tyler Forness, A to Z Sports Minnesota
Looking at the Vikings’ home losses this season, Forness has a point. Look specifically at the games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Baltimore Ravens for example. Both teams dominated in the run game, won the time of possession battle, and kept the penalties down to secure a road win against the Vikings.
While it’s easier said than done to achieve that, that’s the kind of football Ben Johnson’s offense has been playing since figuring things out during the bye week. Since the bye week, the Bears are the NFL’s leading offense in rushing yards per game, are sustaining longer drives as a unit, and have cleaned up the pre-snap penalty issues on offense.
But, of course, it’s not just the outside element the Bears are going to have to deal with on Sunday. The unit will also be going up against one of the league’s top defensive minds in Brian Flores and his ever-changing scheme, just to add another difficult wrinkle to this matchup.
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