Brett Favre, Jared Allen, and Co Have Bear In Their Sights

The playoff stretch run officially starts this Sunday.  The 4-6 Chicago Bears will come into the Metrodome to play the 9-1 Minnesota Vikings.  A Vikings win will officially eliminate the Bears from division contention if we can win.  Also a Packers loss today, or next week against Baltimore will eliminate them if coupled by a Vikings win this week and next week.  Either way if the Vikings handle their business the next three weeks we will be crowned division champions.  It's a far cry from last year where the division came all the way down to the wire.

This will be the first look the Vikings have at Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.  The disgruntled Cutler forced himself out of Denver this offseason and ultimately landed with the Bears.  The Vikings gave a bit of interest in acquiring him, however the asking price was far too high.

At the time I was kind of upset that the Vikes didn't pursue him harder, and let him land on a divisional rival whom at the time appeared to be one quarterback away from serious contention.  I was worried that the tight division race last year could go the other way this year with the Bears having an improved quarterback situation.

Hindsight being what it is I am so glad things have shaken out the way the way they have.  I am glad we got Brett Favre without having to sell the farm the way the Bears have.  Also, Cutler doesn't appear to be an upgrade at quarterback at all.  Having gotten the chance to actually watch a few Bears games he appears to be the second coming of Jeff George.  All the physical tools, the strong arm, mobile, accurate (when he wants to be) yet he doesn't have the mental tools it appears. 

Cutler has also displayed a knack for throwing interceptions, especially at the worst moments.  Some of his picks have been just back breaking this year.    He seems to disappear as the stage gets bigger.  His league leading 18 interceptions has put him under some fire from Chicago and around the nation.  The once savior has turned sour so far.

All of that being said, Cutler is capable of putting up monster games.  He just really doesn't have the weapons to light people up like he did last year.  If this game was a few weeks earlier this year I'd be more worried.  For the first half or so of the season our pass defense was atrocious.  Thus far it appears to have turned around, even without our pro bowl corner Antoine Winfield.

If the pass coverage can remain above average it's a huge help to our team.  Our run defense gave up all of 4 yards last week to Seattle and is ranked 1 in the conference and number 3 overall.  So it appears to be hitting it's stride at the right time.  The Bears offensive line has been offensive this season so that should provide some good opportunities for Jared Allen the defensive line to pat their stats a bit.

However, Jay Cutler is not like Aaron Rodgers who notoriously holds on to the ball too long.  Cutler will get the ball out rather than take a sack.  That being said often time he is forcing the ball downfield into triple coverage.  He especially likes to force the ball to Greg Olsen.

Greg Olsen needs to be priority number 1 this week.  Their running back Matt Forte is having a terrible year, and they don't have any true wide receivers on their team.  Greg Olsen their tight end is their primary offensive weapon.  Lately the Vikings have done a much better job at covering tight ends.  I believe Seahawks tight end John Carlson last week only had one catch.

On defense the Bears aren't the "Monsters of the Midway" anymore.  Their defense is vulnerable to both run and pass.  Adrian Peterson thus far in his career owns the Bears.  I believe he will torch them yet again this week.  Without Brian Urlacher in there their defense appears to have lost some of it's toughness.

I am hoping for another game like last week for Brett Favre, obviously I am not sure if he can replicate his 88% completion percentage or his 4 touchdowns.  What I most want is the number of throws to be replicated: 25.  We need to keep him fresh for the stretch run.  Hopefully we can get a nice lead in the fourth quarter and go to the bullpen again to keep Favre rested.

From a talent perspective the Vikings outmatch the Bears, I mean honestly the Vikings out talent just about every team in the NFL.  However the Bears still have playmakers we must be aware of.  Devin Hester can flat out fly and has burned the Vikings before.  Their rookie of the year candidate Johnny Knox is even faster than Hester.  And Forte is still capable of having a decent game. 

Our secondary is a tad slow, especially Winfield (if he is back which reports are he is planning on coming back this week) so that could be a match up problem.  The key will be for our defensive line to get pressure and force Cutler into his normal bad decision making.  Also his accuracy goes way down when pressure is applied.

I want to see us continue to get Percy Harvin involved in the game.  He is our better, and stronger version of Devin Hester.  Percy can be a legit wide receiver and has good hands.  Earlier in the week I made my top 10 Vikings moments of the year and Percy Harvin was a frequent flyer on that list.  He is the epitome of an "on your feet" player.  Everytime he touches the ball you know something magical can happen.  He can flat out fly and break tackles.  Devin Hester can have stone hands, doesn't break a tackle, but he is fast.  Hester is a special teams player masquerading as a receiver. 

By the way it was nice to Sidney "Inspector Gadger" Rice get some touchdowns last week.  He gets a ton of receptions and yards but only had 2 touchdowns going into last week.  He was able to double that total in one game against the Seahawks.

If this upcoming game wasn't a divisional game I would look for a domination like last week.  However, I am not sure the Bears are just going to roll over and die.  They are NFL players and they have some measure of pride and they are in desperation mode.  They really have little too lose at this point, and we have everything to lose. 

Hopefully this new and improved Vikings team will use that as motivation.  I hope we come out and hit them in the mouth right away.  I hope Jared Allen makes good on his off season promise to "peel" Jay Cutler's "head off the turf."  Awesome.  I want to see the Jared  Allen sack dance at least three times this week. 

The Minnesota Vikings have Bear in their sights.  Hopefully this killer instinct they seem to be developing allows them to pull the trigger so to speak. 

Have a happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Skol Vikings.