Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings: 5 things to watch in Week 5

LAKE FOREST – After dominating the Vikings early in the Matt Nagy era, the Bears have lost three of the past four matchups with Minnesota. The Vikings swept both games against the Bears last season.

Now the Bears (2-2) and the Vikings (3-1) will square off in what is a new era for both teams. Both have new general managers and new head coaches.

The Bears and Vikings will kick off at noon Sunday from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The game will be aired on Fox. Here’s what to watch for.

1. The NFC’s new head coaches

Sunday’s game will feature the NFC North’s newest head coaches. Matt Eberflus will lead the Bears into Minneapolis to face Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings. Matt LaFleur, who is in his fourth year in Green Bay, now is the NFC North’s longest-tenured head coach.

O’Connell seems to have the Vikings trending in the right direction. At 3-1 through four weeks, the Vikings are tied with the Packers for the lead in the division.

O’Connell previously was the offensive coordinator with the Rams. He comes from the same coaching tree as LaFleur, Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. All four of those current head coaches were on the same Washington coaching staff under Mike Shanahan in 2013.

Those are all offensive-minded head coaches. Eberflus is their opposite. His first Bears team has shown an affinity for running the football and leaning on its defense.

2. Bears secondary vs. Justin Jefferson

Sunday will be a major test for the Bears’ secondary. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is one of the most dangerous targets in the game. Teams have attacked Jefferson differently.

In Week 1, the Packers stayed in their zones and Jefferson went off – 184 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 3, the Lions had cornerback Jeff Okudah followed Jefferson all over the field in man-to-man coverage and limited him to three catches for 14 yards.

Jefferson is one of those dangerous receivers who warrants being followed by a No. 1 cornerback. For the Bears, there’s two questions. No. 1, would they allow top cornerback Jaylon Johnson to shadow Jefferson? And, No. 2, will Johnson even be available?

Johnson missed the past two games because of a quad injury. His status moving forward will be key, but he is listed as doubtful for Sunday.

“Anytime you can get a good player like that back that can cover really well, that would be good if we can get that done,” Eberflus said.

3. Pressuring Cousins

Historically, the Bears have done a great job of pressuring Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. No opponent has sacked Cousins more than the Bears throughout his career.

The Bears, however, are not creating much pressure in 2022. They have seven total sacks in four games. There are eight NFL teams tied for 22nd in the league with seven sacks. Only three teams have fewer.

Looking a little deeper, however, the Bears rank 13th in sack rate at 6.9%, which would seem to indicate that more sacks will come for this defensive line. The problem has been that teams don’t really need to throw the ball against the Bears because running backs can run so well against this defensive front.

Still, Cousins has attempted 32 passes or more in every game this season. The Bears should have ample chances to reach the QB.

4. Time to cook?

Vikings stud running back Dalvin Cook has had few big games against the Bears. The 27-year-old Cook is averaging 68.9 yards per game against the Bears. The Bears have slowed him down better than his other NFC North opponents in Green Bay or Detroit.

But things have changed. The Bears no longer are using the 3-4 scheme that Cook grew used to seeing from Bears defenses led by Vic Fangio, Chuck Pagano and Sean Desai. Instead, coordinator Alan Williams’ 4-3 scheme has been destroyed by opposing run games through the first four weeks.

The Bears rank dead last in the league, allowing 183.3 rushing yards per game. Opponents are averaging 5.1 yards per carry (30th in the league). Cook has had both good and bad games early on with this new scheme, and he’s nursing a shoulder injury. That said, this would be a great time for O’Connell to feed his running back.

5. Red-zone focus

The Bears did not score a touchdown last week against the Giants. They failed to find the end zone on three trips to the red zone.

The Vikings’ defense has been among the worst in the red zone so far this season. They are allowing opponents to score touchdowns on 73% of red zone trips. That ranks tied for 27th in the league. The Bears have a chance to get back on track in the red zone this week.

“This past week was the only week we really didn’t do what we wanted to do in the red zone,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “Just execution from everybody on the offense. And that’s basically it. Once we get that, then we’ll be good.”

Fields has a point. The Bears were five of seven in the red zone before the Giants game. They are now 5 for 10 on the season. Still, a shutout in three tries against the Giants should be concerning.

Look for better results this week.