Chicago Bears: Week 4 matchup could be critical for winning a season
The Chicago Bears host the Minnesota Vikings in a matchup that could be critical for both teams. A loss could dig the team a big hole in the NFC North.
After waiting so much time for the NFL season to begin, we’re reaching the quarter-point of the year. So far, the Chicago Bears are 2-1, but they’ve experienced trouble with a struggling offense. They had just one touchdown in the first two games and no passing touchdowns.
Then they traveled to Washington and the offense got a cure to what ailed them. After scoring 19 points in the first two games, they put up 31 against Washington. The team hopes that the game provided them with a springboard.
This week, the Bears face their NFC North division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings. With their loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, this second divisional game could be critical for success this season. A loss to the Vikings makes them 0-2 in the division, and likely in last place. Each team in the NFC North is experiencing success in one way or another, so digging a hole for themselves early could be difficult to come back from.
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As I mentioned, the Bears hope their Week 3 performance proves to be a springboard to more success. Yes, Washington is a bad team, but getting a boost in confidence can create momentum going against better teams.
The Vikings defense is better than Washington, of course. They are more aggressive and rank fifth in points allowed. However, their passing defense has holes. They rank 19th in passing touchdowns given up. They do rank sixth in sacks, though, so they do pressure the quarterback.
The most interesting aspect of this game is the matchup between the Bears defense and Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. Cook ran for over 100 yards in each of the first three games. In fact, he has 375 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
The Bears defense is the best in the NFL, however. Last year, they didn’t give up their first rushing touchdown until Week 9. They’re continuing that path this season. They have yet to give up a rushing touchdown. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The Bears did do well against Cook last year, though. In two games, they held Cook to just 51 total rushing yards and no touchdowns.
Head coach Matt Nagy spoke about how the Vikings use the running game well with Cook via the team’s official website:
"“Well, they’re persistent with it. It’s something that they’re going to do regardless, and they’re good at it. (Cook is) a guy that fits that mold, that zone-type runner that can see the vision of being able to hit the wide zone, the inside zone and cut it back. So if your pursuit’s not there, you’re in trouble. He’s got speed. He can do things out of the backfield with his hands. They’re using him really well.”"
If the Bears’ ball distribution is as good as it was in Week 4 the Bears offense should play well. The defense will again be a big help. Kirk Cousins has trouble winning big games throughout his career. He especially had trouble with the Bears last season.
He threw two interceptions and was sacked six times last season. He’ll give the defense a chance to create a turnover and the Bears defense feasts on that. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has to take advantage of the opportunities given to him.
Another concern for the Bears is the kicker…again. This time it’s because of an injury and not because of bad play. Eddy Pineiro is still dealing with a pinched nerve in his knee. He missed one of his two field goals against Washington. His health could be the difference in the game.
If the Chicago Bears beat a pretty good Vikings team, it’ll do wonders to change the narrative of the season so far. They struggled coming out of the gate. While they had a good game in Week 4, many point out that it was against a bad Washington team. A win against the Vikings and some of the talk simmers down.
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A loss, however, and the talk grows even louder and puts the Bears in a big hole as well. We don’t want to see what happens then. Hopefully, they get things done and we see them go on a nice run so we could forget the talk and just concentrate on the football.