The game originally in the Sunday night slot was Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, a rematch of last season’s Divisional Round game that the Jaguars surprisingly won in the Steel City. The Steelers remain “prime-time worthy,” but the Jaguars are not, so NBC made the change.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

It’s a crucial game for both the Vikings and Bears. Detroit isn’t a threat in the NFC North, while Green Bay might not be either. Chicago will visit Minneapolis to close the regular season, and it’s easy to picture that as winner-take-all for the division.

This series tends to have one dominant side for several years. Right now, that’s the Vikings as they have won three straight and eight of the past 11. It was 20-17 in the Windy City on a Monday in Week 5 last year. That game was notable as the NFL debut of then-Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. He struggled, including throwing a late interception that would lead to the Vikings’ winning field goal. Trubisky wasn’t much better in the 2017 finale at Minnesota, a 23-10 Bears loss. He’s a lot better in 2018.

Chicago’s last three wins in the series have been at Soldier Field. The home team is 4-1 ATS in the past five meetings.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings enter off their bye and are one game back of the first-place Bears in the win column. Minnesota entered the break off a 24-9 home win over Detroit in which the team had a franchise-record 10 sacks. Danielle Hunter had 3.5 of them and leads the NFL with 11.5 sacks. Minnesota’s defence has really improved of late, allowing 18.8 points per game in the past five. The team allowed 27.5 points per game in the first four of the year.

Adam Thielen leads the NFL in receptions (78) and was first in receiving yards (947) entering Week 10 (since passed) but had his record streak of 100-yard games end at eight in the Lions win. He did have a TD catch for a sixth game in a row. Not too shabby for an undrafted free agent out of little-known Minnesota State.

Chicago Bears

The Bears ended a 10-game losing streak in the NFC North with an easy 34-22 home win over Detroit on Sunday. Trubisky was fantastic, throwing for 355 yards (career high) and three scores and rushing for another TD. He can be very inaccurate at times but he has put up a few monster games in his second season. Allen Robinson and pass-rushing star Khalil Mack both returned after missing two games injured. Robinson caught six passes for 133 yards and two scores, while Mack had two sacks.

The only negative on the day was kicker Cody Parkey almost impossibly hitting the upright on four kicks and missing: two on PATs and two on field goals. Never seen that before. Coach Matt Nagy says Parkey’s job is safe. Hmm. Parkey cost Chicago a game in Miami in Week 6 when he missed a potential winning field goal in overtime.

Vikings vs. Bears Prediction