Vikings - Bears

Last Saturday I was surfing on the YouTube site when I stumbled upon a series of videos that showed the 1987 NFC divisional playoff game where the Vikings beat San Francisco 36-24.

That game, almost 23 years on, is still my favourite Vikings victory.

So after a depressing week due to the loss to the Patriots coupled with the Randy Moss business, I watched all 14 videos showing the game and revelled in the memory of the rarest of Vikings victories ─ on the road, on grass, outdoors and against a quality opponent.

The 2010 Minnesota Vikings should probably put that tape on and watch it a few hundred times before Sunday’s game against the Bears. Because if there’s anything rarer than a Vikings road win against a quality opponent, it’s a road win at Soldier Field (the Vikings are 2-8 there the past 10 games). Maybe by watching that game the Vikings would learn something – like how to rise to the occasion and do the unexpected.

The Vikings must do that on Sunday. At 3-5, they can probably only afford one more loss and the Bears are not the most difficult opponent on that second half schedule.

Chicago Bears have a 5-3 record, but my suspicion is they aren’t a good team. Football Outsiders even has them ranked below the Vikings in terms of its DVOA rankings.

Chicago’s offence has struggled. Jay Cutler has been sacked a lot (28 times) and the running game has been ordinary. The Bears have beaten the Packers. But their other wins are against Detroit (2-6), Dallas (1-7), Carolina (1-7) and Buffalo (0-8). They also lost to Seattle and Washington at home.

The Bears haven’t been giving up a lot of points this season. And as the Vikings offensive struggles continue, you have to figure the Vikes will find it difficult to get to the 20 point plateau in this one - especially if Percy Harvin can't play.

Maybe the Bears defensive success so far has something to do with the weak teams they have faced. However you look at it, Chicago is a team with some holes. They are certainly a club the Vikings are capable of beating – even on the road, even at Soldier Field.

But if it is going to happen, the Vikings have to play solid football. That means they will have to avoid doing things they’ve been doing all season. So no crippling false start penalties. No silly challenges by Brad Childress. No dropping interceptions that hit them in the hands. No problems by the offensive line and running backs picking up Bear blitzers.

And no turnovers. The Vikings turnover differential is currently a horrid minus 9, second worst in the league. They’ve committed three or more turnovers five times this season. Brett Favre has four games with two or more interceptions. Several of those interceptions have come with the Vikings deep in their opponents territory. It’s hard to win that way.

But if the Vikings – and especially Favre – don’t give the ball to the team in the black jerseys on Sunday, they could walk away with their first road victory in over a year. They haven’t been able to do it all year, so why would we expect them to do it now?

I guess I think they’re due.

Vikings 21 Bears 17

After eight games, some other observations

* The Vikings are getting nothing from their 2010 rookie class. It’s way too early to be labelling any of them as busts, but it’s also obvious no Viking rookie is going to emerge as a key contributor to the team like Adrian Peterson did in 2007 and Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt did in 2009.

* Do the Vikings defenders have the worst hands in football? I can probably name six instances this year where a Vikings defender should have picked off a pass and didn’t. Chad Greenway’s drop last week was the latest example. And this has been going on for the past three seasons – at least.

* If you are looking for another reason why it might be wise for Vikings owner Zygi Wilf to fire Brad Childress, please consider the issue of how the handling of the Moss situation and other issues will affect player recruitment in 2011 and beyond if Childress sticks around.

You can complain about Childress’ coaching abilities, but when it comes to convincing players to come to Minnesota, he’s been pretty successful up until now. Some of the moves have worked out better than others (like the signing of Steve Hutchinson as opposed to the signing of Madieu Williams), but he’s been able to get guys in here who were viewed as upgrades over what the Vikings already had.

But will players continue to come here after seeing how the Moss situation went down and when they hear stories about Childress arguing with hurt stars like Harvin? I think it's something Wilf has to consider if he's still thinking about the future of Childress and the Vikings.