The Minnesota Vikings have a chance to better their playoff chances before a much-needed bye week on Monday night against the Chicago Bears (7:20 p.m. CST, ESPN)
After dropping the Sunday night game against the Denver Broncos, Minnesota is still slated at sixth in the playoff race, but a win would give them an 82% chance to make the postseason.
Which, after a deflating 0-3 start, would be yet another testament to the resiliency of this team. To do that, they need to stop this Chicago offense that hasn’t been full-strength since their last meeting.
Justin Fields accounted for 273 yards of total offense in last week’s eventual collapse against the Detroit Lions. This was his first action back since leaving the first meeting against the Vikings with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.
The addition of Fields was felt immediately as the Bears were a Tyler Scott completion from salting away a huge upset win against Detroit. This offense cannot be overlooked, despite how well the Minnesota defense has looked recently.
If they want to stop this offense, they must follow these four keys to success on the defensive side.
Mekhi Blackmon has to step up
Last week, with Akayleb Evans out, Mekhi Blackmon was tasked with replacing him. Just to hold the fort down until Evans could overcome his calf injury.
The results were near cataclysmic.
He gave up a near-perfect passer rating (153.9), allowing six completions on seven targets for 80 yards and the eventual game-winning touchdown against Courtland Sutton late in the fourth quarter.
With Evans being questionable to play again tonight, Blackmon will have to step up when called upon. If Fields is able to pick on him like Russell Wilson did last week, it will be tough to keep this offense out of rhythm.
Rally to the football
Against Detroit, Fields’ Intended Air Yards per attempt was a whopping 10.9. When asked, Fields was not afraid to take his shots downfield.
However, with Flores’ pass-rush, there shouldn’t be enough time for those long-developing routes downfield.
The Bears’ receivers are not big in stature, their biggest being Equanimeous St. Brown at 6’5″, 214. So, they will rely on their speed to get open, and against a team as aggressive as Minnesota, that means getting them the ball quicker than the pass rush can get to Fields.
That emphasizes the defensive backs to make open-field tackles, which has not been a problem up to this point. They have 43 missed tackles on the season through 11 games, tied for fourth-least in the NFL.
That reliability will have to be on display with the likes of D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney and Tyler Scott on the outside.
Stay disciplined in pass-rush
Going into last week, Minnesota’s defense ran two coverages far above league average, Cover-0 (11.2%, league avg. is 4.0%) and Cover-2 (20.7%, league avg. is 10.1%).
NFL Offensive units & the coverages they face heading into Week 12.
C0: Eagles
C1: Colts, Ravens, Patriots
C3: Falcons
C2: Steelers, Broncos, Dolphins
Q: Chiefs, Cardinals
C6: Bengals**Via PFF#ArtofX pic.twitter.com/NJ2qi0MhZX
— Cody Alexander (@The_Coach_A) November 26, 2023
With Flores’ aggressiveness, the secondary is either playing man-to-man or they are looking to mitigate the quick pass.
However, a quarterback with the mobility of Fields muddies the picture and forces defenses to rethink how they attack the offense.
That shouldn’t stop Flores from still sending the heat at Fields, but it will be at a less frenetic pace. Flores will be calculated in how he sends his pressures against Chicago’s front to confuse both them and Fields enough to stymie this offense.
Danielle Hunter is second in the league in total sacks at 12.0 for the season while D.J. Wonnum has burst on the season with 6.0 of his own. This defense knows how to get to a quarterback consistently, and will look to further prove that tonight.
Continue to improve
The turnaround for this defense has been another aspect of this Minnesota team that has become one of the best stories in football.
A unit seen as a liability last season has continuously improved and that improvement is felt with every performance. Both Flores and head coach Kevin O’Connell see something special in this group of guys, and they both commented on that leading up to this week.
Kevin O'Connell gave a long answer on the job Brian Flores has done as defensive coordinator this year.
"I think all Vikings fans were excited to see 22 (Harrison Smith) down around the line of scrimmage pressuring again, being a part of some of those things — as was I." pic.twitter.com/zAgpUzCLjP
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) November 22, 2023
O’Connell listed essentially every player on the defense and how they have been a part of the evolution of this Vikings defense.
Flores has done an amazing job thus far, and with one more test before the bye week, he is looking to leave his stamp on this game as well.
Brian Flores Assistant Coach of the Year. Write it in Sharpie.
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) November 20, 2023
