Three keys to a Chicago Bears victory over the Vikings in Week 6

Last Thursday, the Chicago Bears won a football game for the first time in nearly one year. With the embarrassing 14-game losing streak now off their backs, the Bears will try to carry the momentum from that emotional primetime win into a home matchup against the division-rival Minnesota Vikings in Week 6.

Like the Bears, the Vikings are 1-4 this season. While many expected a regression given their unprecedented 11-0 record in one-score games in 2022, this is still quite the fall from grace.

Speculation has even arisen about whether Minnesota will trade Kirk Cousins now that the season is lost. Additionally, star wide receiver is on injured reserve with a bum hamstring. It’s a good time for the Bears to snag the Vikings on their schedule.

This looks like a very winnable game for the Chicago Bears, but division games are always tricky.

Here are three keys to a Bears’ victory in Week 6.

Wide Receivers not named DJ Moore need to step up

Last week, one of my keys to victory for Chicago was to force-feed DJ Moore. They did, to the tune of eight catches, 230 yards, and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, no other receiver recorded a catch. Darnell Mooney was targeted four times but couldn’t come down with the ball.

Moore can’t put up numbers like that every week. Guys like Mooney, rookie Tyler Scott, and Velus Jones Jr. must step up, especially now that Moore has established himself as the Bears’ alpha. He will get doubled, and when he does, another Bears receiver must get open and make plays.

D’Onta Foreman Time

Khalil Herbert will miss a few weeks with an ankle injury, and backup running backs Travis Homer and Roschon Johnson have not practiced all week as they deal with their own injuries. That leaves Foreman as the Bears’ top option in the backfield.

I’m a little shocked that Foreman hasn’t played much this season, given how productive he was in 2022. After Christian McCaffrey was traded from the Panthers to the 49ers, Foreman took over RB1 duties in Carolina for the remaining 12 games and ran for 914 yards, five touchdowns, and a 4.5 yards per carry average.

Foreman may have been the Chicago Bears’ fourth-string running back, but he could easily be a starter on several teams. The Bears need him to keep the offense chugging along. If he struggles carrying the ball or in pass protection, it could be a long day in Soldier Field.

Defense, defense, defense

This is the same key as last week, but still relevant. The defense must prove that their game against the Commander wasn’t a fluke. They had multiple sacks in a game for the first time all season and finally snagged an interception off a starting quarterback.

Several rookies, most notably Gervon Dexter Sr. and Terrell Smith, also appeared to be coming into their own.

Even with Jefferson out, the Vikings still possess considerable offensive firepower. If the same Bears defense we saw in Weeks 1-4 shows up on Sunday, they could easily give up another 30-point game, and they can’t keep asking the offense to win these shootouts. But if last Thursday’s defense takes the field, shuts down the run, takes the ball away, and sacks the quarterback, Chicago will have a great chance at its first winning streak since Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2021 season.

Final Prediction: Bears lose, 30-24

As much as I want to predict a win here — and I almost did — I’m just not feeling it.

Last year, when the Bears blew out the Patriots on their own field in primetime, it looked like the turning point we’d all been waiting for. The team went on to lose its next 14 games. I don’t have faith in the defense to repeat last week’s performance, and I worry that Fields will also struggle.

From now until the trade deadline, any loss feels like it could trigger a fire sale at Halas Hall. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this Sunday for the sake of Chicago Bears fans everywhere.