Vikings-Bears game scout

Get the Sunday slate of games, along with the series history, keys to the game and fast facts for the Vikings and Bears’ Sunday night matchup.

Sunday
Carolina Panthers (8-3) at Green Bay Packers (5-6)
Indianapolis Colts (7-4) at Cleveland Browns (4-7)
Baltimore Ravens (7-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-9-1)
San Francisco 49ers (3-8) at Buffalo Bills (6-5)
Denver Broncos (6-5) at New York Jets (8-3)
New York Giants (10-1) at Washington Redskins (7-4)
New Orleans Saints (6-5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-3)
Miami Dolphins (6-5) at St. Louis Rams (2-9)
Atlanta Falcons (7-4) at San Diego Chargers (4-7)
Kansas City Chiefs (1-10) at Oakland Raiders (3-8)
Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) at New England Patriots (7-4)
Chicago Bears (6-5) at Minnesota Vikings (6-5)
Monday
Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7) at Houston Texans (4-7)

Chicago Bears (6-5) at Minnesota Vikings (6-5)
KICKOFF: Sunday, 8:15 ET
GAMEDATE: 11/30/08
SURFACE: FieldTurf
TV: NBC (Al Michaels, John Madden, Andrea Kremer)

SERIES

95th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead 50-42-2. Bears won first meeting this season 48-41 on Oct. 19 at Soldier Field. The Bears allowed 439 yards but intercepted Gus Frerotte four times.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Bears QB Kyle Orton has been efficient, but he needs to start pushing the ball down the field more. Bears receivers haven’t topped 70 receiving yards or caught a touchdown in three consecutive games. That has to change against a Vikings team ranked second in stopping the run. Chicago managed just 53 yards on the ground in the first meeting, and RB Matt Forte could be more effective as a receiver out of the backfield than as a running threat.

Vikings QB Gus Frerotte’s passing yards have decreased every game since a season-high 298 yards at Chicago in Week 7. The Bears’ defense presents a good opportunity for Frerotte to step up the production again as Chicago’s secondary gives up too many underneath passes. The Bears spend a lot of resources on attacking the run, which will be no different against Vikings RBs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. That puts increased stress on the secondary and leaves the Bears vulnerable to play-action.

FAST FACTS

Forte is on pace to join Walter Payton (1978, 1983) and Neal Anderson (1989) as the only Bears with 1,000 rushing yards and 50 catches in a season.

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson has at least two touchdowns runs in three consecutive meetings.

The Vikings and Bears have met once in the postseason. After the Vikings had swept the regular-season series in 1994, the Bears rebounded to upset Minnesota 35-18 in a wild-card game. The Bears went on to lose to eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco. This will be the 96th meeting, including postseason, between the Vikings and Bears, tying Minnesota’s series with the Packers for the most games against any opponent.

The 89 points the Vikings and Bears combined for in their first meeting this season made it the highest-scoring game in Minnesota history.

Minnesota’s first regular-season game and first-ever victory came against Chicago, when the expansion Vikings upset the Bears, 37-13, on Sept. 17, 1961 at Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings’ first shutout was 31-0 against Chicago on Oct. 12, 1969.

In the past 20 meetings between these teams, each club has won 10 times and both have gone 7-3 at home.

RB Adrian Peterson set a then-franchise record at Chicago on Oct. 14, 2007, when he rushed for 224 yards and tied a team record with three rushing touchdowns. Peterson also set a team record with 361 combined yards (224 rushing, 9 receiving, 128 kickoff returns). Three weeks after that game, Peterson rushed for an NFL-record 296 yards against San Diego.

S Darren Sharper does not have an interception this season, but he has eight in his career against Chicago.

CB Antoine Winfield scored the first touchdown of his career when he picked off the Bears’ Rex Grossman and returned it for a 7-yard touchdown against Chicago on Sept. 24, 2006.

LB Ben Leber posted his first game in which he recorded both an interception and a sack on Oct. 14, 2007, at Chicago when he picked off Brian Griese and also sacked him.