The Minnesota Vikings Week 18 matchup at the Chicago Bears presents a great opportunity for the road team to get back on track. The Vikings are coming off a highly disappointing throttling by their division rival, the Green Bay Packers, 41-17. The game shockingly was not even as close as that score indicated, leading to some of our Vikings Week 18 predictions.
Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson was completely shut down. Minnesota's defense was once again shredded, both on the ground and through the air. Even special teams was a disaster last week. Alas, they will stare across the field this week against a tanking Bears team.
Not only has Chicago lost nine straight games, but they have been outscored 76-23 the last two games. The Bears still have a shot at landing the number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. If they lose and the Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago will land the coveted top prize this spring.
With that in mind, let's dive into our Vikings Week 18 predictions vs. the Bears.
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4. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins finds his rhythm again
For most of this season, Kirk Cousins has been having a phenomenal season. Statistically, he's been one of the more productive quarterbacks in the NFL. He has thrown for 4,322 yards this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL. He also has thrown the sixth most touchdown passes with 28.
But last week he had a miserable time against an average Packers defense. He tossed a season-high three interceptions and completed just 18 of 31 passes for 205 yards.
On Sunday, he gets to face a Bears defense that just allowed Jared Goff and the Lions to drop 41 on them. Goff threw for just under 300 yards and three scores. A few weeks prior, they let Mike White of the New York Jets do the same. Now it's not going to like hot knife through butter. After all, Cousins lost his best pass protector for the season due to injury last week.
Nevertheless, this is a get-right game for Cousins and I would expect him to have a strong showing. Look for 250+ passing yards and two or more touchdown passes.
3. Vikings defense creates 2+ Bears turnovers
One aspect entering the Vikings Week 18 game with the Bears working in their favor is the fact that they will not have to face Justin Fields. The Bears quarterback has already been ruled out after picking up a hip injury in the loss to the Lions. He did not take the news of his season being finished lightly.
That leaves Nathan Peterman to lead the team under center. Peterman, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, has not started an NFL game since 2018. He has played sparingly in mop up duty with the Las Vegas Raiders and Bears. He has played in 12 games during his career, completing just 52 percent of his passes with three touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.
The Vikings defense gives up a ton of yards, and points, honestly. But they are much weaker against the pass than they are against the run. I don't expect Peterman to do much through the air, putting all of the pressure on the ground game. The Vikings should not struggle to score, which eventually will force Peterman to throw the ball.
I believe Minnesota will come away with at least two turnovers Sunday.
2. Justin Jefferson has over 175 receiving yards
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the front runner for the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. He leads the league with 124 catches and 1,771 yards. There has even been some chatter about Jefferson being deserving of the NFL MVP Award. That's obviously highly unlikely though, as that has become a trophy given out to the annual best quarterback, sadly.
In this matchup, Jefferson will line up against a struggling Bears secondary. To make things easier, Bears starting cornerback Jaylon Jones has been ruled out and the other CB, Kyler Gordon, is questionable. They are already ranked near the bottom of the league.
Jefferson has already gone over 150 yards receiving three times this year. He had a career high 223 yards against the Lions last month. If he hit that exact mark again, he would reach 2,000 yards this season. I believe he's going to go for it. I don't think he'll quite get there, but he won't be far off.
1. Vikings win going away, still finish as #3 seed
Minnesota still has a chance at jumping up to the #2 seed in the NFC. They need to win and have the San Francisco 49ers lose for that to happen. The Vikings start at 1pm ET, with the 49ers starting in the late window. That's an advantage for Minnesota.
Look for them to score early and often, and pull away for a resounding victory. Unfortunately, the 49ers are very likely to beat the Arizona Cardinals in the afternoon, so it'll be a 3-seed where Minnesota sits when the dust settles.
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