Vikings Have Quite the Win Streak vs. Bears
It’s a long wait for Vikings fans to see their team in action this week. Minnesota is last on the game slate with a Monday Night Football matchup against division rivals the Chicago Bears. The Vikings look to get back on track by extending their win streak against the Bears and strengthening their position in the playoff places.
Vikings Have Quite the Win Streak vs. Bears
It’s been a strange season in Minnesota. On the back of a 13-win season in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s first season, optimism wasn’t as high as you might expect from such results. The Vikings were seen as “lucky” to win so many close games, an opinion compounded by a disappointing playoff loss at the first attempt to the New York Giants. Fast forward to this season, after letting several veteran leaders leave the building, the Vikings lost their first three games and four of the first five.
With the season looking all but lost and the time nigh to tear everything down and start again, in the opinion of some. The Vikings flipped the script and reeled off five straight wins.
With the optimism back, despite a catalog of injuries to crucial players, the Vikings lost in Denver. It might feel like the bubble has burst, especially with the mounting injuries, but the Vikings are still in a strong position to claim a wildcard playoff berth at a minimum. Hopes for a repeat of a division title took a blow in Denver, but they need to get back on track straight away and avoid falling back into the pack. Stacking wins is all the Vikings need to worry about at this stage.
A loss and a bye week to follow could see the chasing teams (Rams/Packers/Falcons/Buccaneers) right beside the Vikings before Minnesota plays again.
The bye week is much needed for the Vikings. It’s a long slog going all the way to Week 13, waiting for a bye. It should give the Vikings a chance to get some players healthy. Most notably, Justin Jefferson, should he not play this week, but there are others as well, like Jordan Hicks and Marcus Davenport, the Vikings will hope to get back. It will also give all the players a chance to heal up all the niggles and knocks before a final push for the last five games of the regular season. Hitting the bye on the back of a win will help everyone feel a little better.
Vikings Win Streak Vs. Bears
Minnesota had a bad run against Chicago between 2018 and 2022, losing five of six games. Since 2021, it has been five wins in a row for the Vikings, who will look to make it six on Monday night, equalling their second-best win streak against the Bears in team history, which came between 1992 and 1994. They have some way to get to the longest win streak, which unsurprisingly came during the Vikings’ dominant decade — the 1970s. Minnesota won eight games in a row between 1972 and 1976.
The Vikings lead the series 66-57-2 and are even more dominant at home with a 39-24 record. This is a game that history says the Vikings should win. Recent form says the Vikings should win; simply put, the Vikings have to win. Green Bay’s win over Detroit on Thanksgiving kept the race for the division title alive, bringing the Packers firmly back into the wild card race. The equation right now for the Vikings is simple: if they win all six of their remaining games, Minnesota wins the NFC North division.
We can’t be sure of the magic number for a wild card place, but it probably needs four wins to reach double figures for the season, to be certain. Starting the run-in with a home defeat to Chicago wouldn’t be terminal, but it would certainly damage both the Vikings’ position and confidence. No matter what’s been thrown at this team, they have shown no quit in them. Coach O’Connell will continue to have his guys ready to battle, starting with Chicago.
The Vikings must continue their hot streak against the Bears and maintain their strong position in the NFC playoff race.
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