Monday Night Football is set for a showdown in the NFC North between the Chicago Bears, with a 3-8 record, and the Minnesota Vikings, with a 6-5 mark.
The Bears are in last place in the division, with a lot of work to do to get into the playoff conversation, while the Vikings are barely clinging to a wild card spot for now.
Chicago lost at Detroit last time out, falling 31-26. Minnesota is coming off their first loss in six games and fell to the Broncos on Sunday night 21-20.
All Eyes Will Be on Fields
Justin Fields missed four games in the middle of the season after suffering a hand injury the last time they played Minnesota.
Fields has a modest passing game, but had a strong ground game against the Detroit Lions last week. Fields threw for 169 yards with a touchdown, but also rushed for 104 yards in the game.
The Bears have just one win in six games as visitors and will need to get hot quickly to have any hope in the playoff race.
Justin Fields has played in seven games this season, averaging 195.7 yards per aerial game, and is always a threat to run, as he averages 48.7 yards per game on the ground.
Fields has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12-6 and completes 62.7% of his passes. Starting running back Khalil Herbert just came off the injured list, played last week against Detroit, but had only 35 yards on 16 carries.
The Bears will use a combination of Herbert and D'Onta Foreman in the backfield. Foreman has the best yards per game average at 54.4.
D.J. Moore is the leading receiver, averaging 80.8 yards per game and has had 14 receptions of 20-plus yards with six touchdowns. Cole Kmet is a solid tight end, totaling 39.9 YPG with five touchdowns.
The Bears rank 18th in the NFL in scoring at 20.9 points per game, but their defense ranks 29th allowing 26.0 points per game.
Linebacker TJ Edwards leads the team in tackles by a wide margin, he has 121 and the next highest is linebacker Tremaine Edwards with 70.
Defensive wing Montez Sweat leads the team with 7.5 catches and no defensive player has more than two interceptions.
Chicago's defense has 13 turnovers on the season, but they have turned the ball over 19 times on offense.
Monday 👏 Night 👏 Football pic.twitter.com/0t9I9WmarY
- Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 27, 2023
Vikings Look to Regain Winning Streak
The Vikings got hot right in the middle of the season and won five straight games before losing last week to the Broncos. The game was in prime time, and Josh Dobbs seemed to continue Kirk Cousins' tradition of losing games in that time slot.
The Vikings lost the fourth quarter 12-3 and still had a chance to win, but couldn't protect Dobbs enough to make plays on their final series. Dobbs threw for 221 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss.
Dobbs is the new leader at the quarterback position for Minnesota and has been averaging 215.7 yards per aerial play with four touchdowns and one interception in his three games with the Vikings.
Dobbs is elusive in the pocket and also rushed for 43.7 yards per game and three touchdowns with Minnesota. Justin Jefferson is still re-entering the lineup, was limited in practice this week and is questionable for Monday.
Jefferson averages 114.2 yards per game when healthy. Rookie Jordan Addison has become the leading receiver in his absence, averages 58.8 yards per game and has seven touchdowns.
Tight end T.J. Hockenson leads the team in total receiving yards on the season and totals 66.9 yards per game. Alexander Mattison is the leading rusher with 49.3 yards per game, but has yet to score his first touchdown on the ground.
The Vikings rank 11th in the NFL in scoring with 23.0 points per game and their defense ranks 14th allowing 20.9 per game.
Safety Camryn Bynum leads the team in tackles with 91 and defensive end Danielle Hunter leads the team in catches with 12.
Corner Byron Murphy Jr. has three interceptions on the season. His defense has 14 fumble recoveries on the season, but his offense has turned it over 20 times.
