Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears: Key information and first quarter discussion

We’re a little less than an hour away from the start of the action at Soldier Field, where we’ll see a big battle in the NFC North between the Chicago Bears and your Minnesota Vikings. The winner for this one will find themselves tied for first place in the division, while the loser will find themselves in an 0-2 divisional hole.

Here is everything you need to know about today’s game.

Date and Time: Sunday, 29 September, 2019, 3:25 PM Central

Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Television Coverage: WCCO-4 in the Twin Cities, CBS affiliates across the country, DirecTV Channel 715

Radio Coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 108, XM Channel 227 (CHI feed), SiriusXM App Channel 819

Line: Chicago -2, Over/Under 38

Chris’ Prediction: Vikings 17, Bears 13

Three keys

1) Make Mitchell Trubisky beat you - For the most part, Mitchell Trubisky has been pretty awful this season. Last year, we saw Trubisky make plays with his feet to extend drives and make just enough throws when he had to in the two games between these teams. If the Vikings can keep the Chicago run game under wraps, they should be able to get after Trubisky, and that should lead to mistakes. It’s important to not just pressure Trubisky, but to contain him when the Vikings get there so that he can’t convert on the ground.

2) No stupid mistakes - Last year’s game against Soldier Field saw Kirk Cousins miss Stefon Diggs on a wide open throw for a touchdown, a pick-six, and numerous other awful plays by the Vikings’ offense. Points are going to be at a premium in this one, with both of these defenses playing very well, and you can’t give those opportunities up. The Vikings need to be smart and hold on to the football if they want to win today.

3) Win on special teams - With points being at a premium, field position is going to be big, and it should be interesting to see the return of Marcus Sherels in this one to see if he makes an impact for the Vikings. We also need Dan Bailey to be accurate and for Britton Colquitt to continue his performance early on to keep giving the Bears long fields to work with.

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We’ll have our new Open Thread for each quarter of play up shortly after each quarter ends, so keep your eyes open for those.

Other than that, let’s enjoy the action, and hopefully in about three hours we can all come back here and celebrate a Minnesota Vikings victory.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!