Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings – Week 11 Game Preview: Overview, Keys to Game, Insights
The Bears (6-3) rallied again for a fourth-quarter victory against the Giants last Sunday at Soldier Field to move into an improbable tie for first place in the NFC North. Ben Johnson’s team attempts to continue to survive and advance toward a playoff berth when they head north for a battle with the rival Vikings this week.
Minnesota (4-5) had their own comeback win over Chicago to begin the 2025 season on a high note. It’s been a roller coaster ride since that with young quarterback J.J. McCarthy missing five weeks with an ankle injury and then backup quarterback Carson Wentz going out for the season with a shoulder injury.
McCarthy has started the last two games and directs an offense that features superstar wide receiver Jordan Jefferson. Fellow WRs Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor have big play potential as does tight end T.J. Hockenson. Starting running back Aaron Jones has battled injuries all season and former 49ers back Jordan Mason has done a decent job filling in.
Overall, the Vikings are scoring 22.3 points per game which is in the middle of the pack in the NFL. The passing game is better than the run attack but McCarthy has thrown six interceptions in his four starts. Inconsistency has been the rule so far in 2025 with stretches of competence being followed by complete ineptitude, especially at quarterback position.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is known for his aggressive playcalling and never hesitates to blitz. Minnesota has not been able to match the great success they had defensively in 2024. They have been surrendering 23.7 points per game, sitting in the middle of the pack in the league.
The secondary has been good limiting the passing game, statistically one of the top 10 in the NFL. Defensive tackles Jalen Redmond and Javon Hargrave are having strong seasons but the same can’t be said for linebackers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel who have seen their sack totals plummet from last season.
The Bears had an excellent opportunity to beat the Vikings in Week 1, blowing a 17-6 lead in the fourth quarter. Chicago has been scraping by against some pretty bad teams the past month, they will have to step up their game against a Minnesota squad that can best be described as decent. It’s time to see if they are capable of putting together a more complete effort.
Where to Watch/Listen
- Sunday, November 16 at 12:00pm CT on FOX, WBBM Radio (English), and WRTO Radio (Spanish).
Keys to Victory
Here are my keys to Sunday’s game. If these things happen, the Bears should have a shot to win.
- Get off to a good start. The Bears have been consistently falling behind and are being forced to come back late. It would behoove them to avoid falling into an early hole again.
- Take advantage of McCarthy’s mistakes. The young Vikings quarterback can display flashes of talent but he’s going to make mistakes. Chicago has been good at tuning similar mistakes into turnovers so far in 2025 and they need to keep doing that in this one.
- Caleb Williams needs to keep building on success. The Bears QB has had two good games in a row and if he can keep it going it will start to become a trend. His receivers could also help him by limiting drops this week after a rough afternoon against the Giants.
- Exploit Minnesota’s porous run defense. The Vikings have had the same issues stopping the run as Cincinnati and New York did so Chicago should keep feeding running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
Don’t Tell Me the Odds
Minnesota is favored by 2.5 points at home against Chicago Sunday. Vegas expects a pretty high score with the over/under set at 48.5.
It’s Football Weather
U.S. Bank Stadium is a dome and weather will not be a factor in this one.
My Prediction
This has the potential to be a high-scoring affair with two struggling defenses. The Bears will fall behind again early in this time they won’t be able to climb back out of the hole dropping the game 31-27.
Official NFL Preview
Here is the official preview of the Bears-Vikings game from the NFL.
