Week 8 - Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears

The 5-1 Minnesota Vikings travel to Chicago to take on the 1-5 Bears in this week's Monday night matchup with both teams coming off losses where they struggled on the offensive end. The Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers on the road 26-10 and had only 199 yards of total offense. Chicago will be getting Jay Cutler back this week as he has been out for the past 5 games due to injury. Minnesota suffered its first defeat of the season losing 21-10 to the Philadelphia Eagles after committing 4 turnovers. These two teams last met in week 15 of last season with the Vikings winning easily by the score of 38 to 17.

Sam Bradford struggled for the Vikings last week finishing with a quarterback rating of 7. He completed only 24 of his 41 passes for 224 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He was also sacked 6 times for a loss of 35 yards and lost 2 fumbles. His favorite target was Cordarrelle Patterson who caught 7 passes for 67 yards and the team's only touchdown. Kyle Rudolph was second on the team with 55 yards on 5 receptions. Matt Asiata had 55 of the teams 93 rushing yards on 12 carries. Defensively, they forced the Eagles to commit 3 turnovers but didn't have a sack and had only 2 tackles for losses. Philadelphia only gained 239 yards of total offense including only 138 passing yards. Minnesota only gave up 1 offensive play that gained more than 20 yards.

Chicago struggled on both ends of the ball as they failed to gain 200 yards of offensive while allowing the Packers to rack up 429 yards. Offensively Matt Barkley and Brian Hoyer combined to complete 10 of 26 passes for 120 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Ka;deem Hardy gained 48 of the teams 69 rushing yards on 10 carries. Zach Miller led the team with 40 receiving yards on 2 catches. Only 3 Chicago receivers caught more than 1 pass. Defensively, they were able to force 1 turnover and sacked Aaron Rodgers twice for a loss of 23 yards. They had no answer for Davante Adams who had 13 catches for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. They also struggled defending the rush as Green Bay gained 103 yards on 23 carries. The Bears have been outscored 72 to 49 during this current 3-game losing streak.

The Vikings have gone 5-1 against the spread this season including 3-1 as the favorite. Chicago has hone 1-6 against the spread this season including 1-4 as the underdog. Minnesota is a 5-point favorite in this game, and their last 3 victories have been by an average of 15 points. The Bears are currently tied for the second worst record in the NFL while the Vikings were the only team still un beaten entering last weeks game. The Bears are hoping the return of Jay Cutler can help them score points as the team averaged only 16 points per game while he was injured.