The Chicago Bears will be Big Test for Dalvin Cook
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings are 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bears in pursuit of the NFC North division. The Green Bay Packers are the pace-setter with a 6-2 record and have an easy game on deck at home versus the amateurish Jacksonville Jaguars. Green Bay should have no problems extending their NFC North lead over the Vikings and Bears in Week 10.
Curiously, the Vikings are 2.5-point favorites over the Bears in this divisional showdown. This strange for several reasons. First, as mentioned above, the Bears have a better win-loss record than the Vikings. Then, the game is at Soldier Field – a notoriously ghoulish habitat for the Vikings. Oddsmakers evidently do not give a damn.
Take those two “disadvantages” and sprinkle in a little Monday Night Football. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is winless in his career on Monday Night Football, a stat that is advertised more widely than coronavirus infection numbers.
These three components to the Week 10 tryst should, in theory, flag the Vikings as underdogs. But, that is not the case. This isn’t the first time that Sin City has oddly given Minnesota the benefit of the doubt. In Week 8, the Vikings were “only” 5.5-point underdogs at Lambeau Field, and this contest probably could have a spread of 12 points beforehand. No pundit would have blinked.
Perhaps the Minnesta better than even its most loyal fans surmise? That seems far-fetched, but Vegas does appear to have a soft spot for Minnesota. This may be attributed to the kingly play of Dalvin Cook. The 25-year-old is bruising opposing defenses. His accomplishments in the last two weeks have even mandated national MVP chatter.
No matter how you dice it, though, the Bears will be a tough matchup for Cook.
Per Usual, Chicago’s 2020 Defense is Tough
Few things are certain in professional sports. Here are some: Rafael Nadal will win the French Open. Duke will have a winning basketball program. And, the Twins will lose in the playoffs.
A footnote to these factoids is the Chicago Bears defense – the unit is routinely effective no matter the personnel scrawled on the depth chart. It also does not seem to matter who the defensive coordinator is during a given season. The Bears defense is always good.
This year is no different. The team is the seventh-best team in the NFL in points allowed. Chicago is the league’s best redzone team defensively. They allow the sixth-fewest rushing touchdowns to opponents. Pertaining to Cook’s forecast, the Bears are the NFL’s 11th-best team in rushing yards allowed.
The only metric that lags is turnovers-forced. Ordinarily, the Bears create turnovers like refried beans do flatulence. This season, Matt Nagy’s bunch ranks 25th in the business in takeaways. The Vikings actually force turnovers with more frequency than do the Bears.
This Monday night matchup will be no cakewalk for Minnesota’s efficient offense – especially for Dalvin Cook.
Habitual Woes for Cook vs. CHI
History is not on Cook’s side. If one was required to pinpoint a team that causes fits for the Vikings tailback, it would be Chicago. In three career games versus the Bears – all losses – Cook has carried the ball 34 times for a total of 86 rushing yards and one touchdown. That’s 29 yards per game or more concerning – 2.5 yards per carry. Not good.
However, if it was preordained that Cook would suddenly improve against the Bears, now is the time. Cook is playing maniacally and dragging the Vikings to a 2020 about-face. He’s averaging a lewd 6.4 yards-gained every time the football touches his hands. This statistical spectacle is ushering his name alongside Adrian Peterson’s for Vikings water cooler talk. How’s that for majesty?
The Hunt for the MVP
When Peterson’s name is invoked, then comes the MVP whispers. Hell, we didn’t even have whispers. National punditry like Sports Illustrated is injecting Cook’s name into the MVPdiscourse. A running back has not brought home the MVP award since – you guessed it – Adrian Peterson in 2012. It, too, was a season where a single player schlepped a team to the postseason on his shoulders.
A case for the MVP award spans 17 weeks. For Cook, it’s so far, so good. He leads the NFL in touchdowns, rushing yards, scoring in general, and yards per attempt (among qualifying running backs). Yet, his output must be maintained for the next two months. There can be no meaningful drop-offs because the deck is stacked in favor of quarterbacks regarding the MVP trophy. Cook would need to topple players like Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson to win the award. Those men have NFL Blitz-like statistics at the season’s midpoint.
Chicago is not an ideal place to foster the promotion of an MVP case. But if Cook is truly an NFL MVP, he must exorcise old demons and personally bludgeon the Bears.