Bears vs. Vikings Point Spread: NFL Week 15 Odds, Prediction
It’s big NFC North action with the Vikes priced as 7-point favourites with a game total of 43.5.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The NFL can sure be an unpredictable sport. Both these teams were going to unveil new starting quarterbacks this season, and it was thought that Chicago was on the rise after selection mega-touted prospect Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall in this year’s draft. Williams has had a solid rookie campaign – he won’t win Offensive Rookie of the Year – but not much else has gone right with the Bears as they will be picking very high again in the 2025 draft and have an entirely new coaching staff next year with head coach Matt Eberflus fired after a brutal loss on Thanksgiving.
This was thought to be a bit of reboot season for the Vikings after losing starting QB Kirk Cousins in free agency. They signed journeyman Sam Darnold to a one-year deal as a bridge quarterback to JJ McCarthy, who was drafted No. 10 overall this year out of Michigan. Except McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in camp and won’t play at all this season. Darnold has completely rejuvenated his career with an MVP-calibre season. He won’t win that but deserves NFL Comeback Player of the Year. The Vikings will be going to the playoffs and how far Darnold leads them there might decide whether he is re-signed.
Minnesota tries for the season sweep as it was a 3.5-point favorite in Chicago in Week 12 and escaped 30-27 in overtime despite blowing a 27-16 lead with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation. Darnold threw for 330 yards and two scores and Williams 340 and two TDs. The Vikings are 7-3 SU and 6-3-1 ATS in the past 10 meetings.
Chicago Bears
Sometimes it’s interesting to see how a team plays in its first game after a head coach is fired. Sometimes that team plays its best of the season and sometimes just falls flat. The Bears were in that scenario on Sunday in San Francisco and got clobbered 38-13 in their seventh straight loss. In the first half alone, the Niners outgained the Bears an incredible 319-4. It was Chicago’s fewest first-half total yards in a game since at least 1991 and San Francisco’s largest yardage margin in any half over the last 40 seasons. Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown kept the play-calling duties while also taking over as interim head coach for the fired Matt Eberflus. Brown was considered to have a shot to earn the full-time gig, but not after something like that. One bright spot was rookie QB Caleb Williams with two more TD throws, and he extended his NFL rookie-record streak of consecutive passes without a pick to 233. But his seven-game losing streak without throwing a pick in any is the longest by any quarterback since 1970. The Bears have allowed their opponent to score first in every game except their Week 12 overtime loss to the Vikings and have a -43 point differential in the first quarter (29th in the NFL). Chicago has lost eight straight road games.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings kept the pressure on first-place Detroit in the NFC North with a sixth straight win on Sunday, 42-21 over Atlanta – the return of long-time Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins to the Twin Cities after he left for the Falcons in the offseason. He was picked off twice by that terrific Vikings defence and didn’t have a TD pass. On the flip side, Sam Darnold had a career game for the Vikings with 347 yards passing and five scores. He became the first QB in franchise history to complete at least 75 per cent of his passes with at least five scores, and his 157.9 passer rating was also a Vikings single-game record. Darnold is now the first quarterback to start 11-2 or better in his first season after changing teams since Brett Favre in 2009 also with Minnesota. Jordan Addison finished with three scores and Justin Jefferson two vs. the Falcons, making them the second pair of teammates in Vikings history to each have a 100-yard performance and multiple touchdowns in a single game. Minnesota is 6-1 SU in its past seven at home.
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