November 14, 2018
The original NFL schedule had this week’s Sunday night game as Pittsburgh at Jacksonville. The Steelers have kept up their end of the bargain, but the Jaguars haven’t so that game was flexed out of the prime-time window. Instead, the Minnesota Vikings visiting the Chicago Bears was flexed in. Will that affect these Vikings vs Bears odds leading up to Sunday night?
The Bears organization would likely not have greeted the move with smiles. Why? Starting seven hours earlier at 1:00 PM ET as originally planned might not sound like much, but Chicago has to play Thanksgiving afternoon at 12:30 PM ET at the Detroit Lions in Week 12. Sunday night to Thursday afternoon? That’s the quickest possible turnaround in the NFL.
Vikings-Bears has been a series over the years that tends to be dominated in stretches by one side. That’s the case currently as Minnesota has won three straight and eight of the past 11. Chicago’s three victories were all at Soldier Field.
The Vikings vs Bears odds has Chicago as a 3-point favorite and our against the spread pick. The total is 45.5 points.
The Bears are 4-1 at home. Their one loss against the Patriots saw Chicago blow a 17-7 lead, before nearly tying it on the final play of the game. On Sunday, the Bears’ victory was never in doubt, though. They successfully pushed around a bad Detroit team 34-22 to end a 10-game losing streak against their NFC North opponents.
Mitchell Trubisky was terrific in throwing for a career-high 355 yards along with three scores while also rushing for a TD. He’s one of the most improved players in the league from last year to this. Meanwhile, Allen Robinson returned from a two-game injury absence with six catches for 133 yards and two scores. The only issue was kicker Cody Parkey impossibly missing two PATs and two field goals by hitting the upright every time. That’s incredible.
The Vikings started shakily at 1-2-1, including a stunning 27-6 home loss to a terrible Buffalo Bills team in Week 3 that was a 17-point underdog. However, Minnesota has won four of five since. The team is also well-rested and about as healthy as possible coming off a bye week.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins and wide receiver Adam Thielen have been terrific all season, and both are now on pace to set numerous franchise records. The change has largely come on the defensive side, though. Minnesota allowed an average of 381.5 yards and 27.5 points in the first four games and that’s down to 274.8 yards and 18.8 points in the past five. Even in that one loss, to the New Orleans Saints, the defense dominated. In the Week 9 win over Detroit before the bye, the Vikings sacked Lions QB Matthew Stafford a franchise-record 10 times.
The NFL odds for both the line and total have been steady – Bears backers surely will be hoping the spread drops to -2.5.