You can look at both sides of Week 12’s curtain closer between the Bears and Vikings and make a case for its importance to either team.
Joshua Dobbs has been the patch-and-play nobody knew the Vikings needed. Since joining Minnesota three weeks ago, Dobbs has seamlessly clicked with the offense, maintaining a 94.4 passer rating and servicing two wins to keep the Vikings in the playoff mix.
Vikings vs. Bears prediction
(8:15 p.m. ET. ESPN)
Dobbs has done this without Justin Jefferson, who owned 27.2 percent of Kirk Cousins’ targets before going down to a hamstring injury.
T.J. Hockenson has taken the reins handily with 11.3 targets from Dobbs.
The two have connected for 258 total yards and a touchdown; Dobbs uses Hockenson as a trusty downfield option with completions for at least 28 yards in all three outings.
I expect that rapport to prosper with a ripe matchup against a Bears secondary that gives up 5.7 receptions to tight ends and 245.9 yards passing yards overall.
The Vikings are reeling from a one-point heartbreaker to Denver, so Dobbs should waste no time getting the gears moving in a divisional game that cannot be overlooked.
Chicago’s playoff hopes have long set sail. As the Bears sink a little lower, their draft outlook rises a bit higher and Justin Fields’ job becomes more scrutinized.
The agile, fourth-year signal-caller has too much flair to simply roll over and die — especially after posting the second-highest rushing season from a quarterback in history a season ago.
Fields’ return to action from a four-week thumb injury was vintage; he tallied his fifth career 100-yard rushing game and completed 69.6 percent of his throws.
The Lions’ strong pocket pressure didn’t only not hamper Fields, it ignited his scrambling potential. Now his legs will contend with a league-leading Vikings blitz rate.
From a passing perspective, the last two complete games that Fields and DJ Moore shared together churned out 326 yards and four scores. Minnesota’s secondary has been friendly to opposing receivers, yielding them 170.9 yards per game.
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The tight spread on this game and Minnesota’s trend towards the under has the public favoring under 43.5 total points. Chicago’s No. 25 ranked defensive DVOA and Fields’ ostensible boost to the offense gives incentive to fade the public.
There’s too much offensive upside on both teams to not move the chains in a late-season divisional matchup with respective goals at stake.
THE BET: Bears-Vikings Over 43.5 (-115, FanDuel)