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After a rough Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears have rebounded with back-to-back wins over the Denver Broncos and the Washington Redskins, with the latter victory coming in a dominant performance.
The Bears are one game behind the Packers for first place in the NFC North, and with Green Bay not showing any signs of slowing down, Chicago needs to keep winning in order to keep pace in the division.
Things won't get any easier this Sunday, as the Bears will play host to the Minnesota Vikings, another 2-1 NFC North club.
But here are four reasons Chicago will beat Minnesota in this Week 4 matchup:
4. Improved Quarterback Play
Mitchell Trubisky had what was by far his best game of the season this past Monday, completing 25 of his 31 passes for 231 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in a 31-15 win.
He didn't rack up a ton of yards, but he was accurate and made some tough, big-time throws that he simply was not converting over the first couple of weeks.
In a game between two rugged defenses, quarterback play may end up deciding the outcome. Of course, it may come down to who makes fewer mistakes, but as pedestrian as Trubisky has been thus far, he has still been better than Kirk Cousins, who has been struggling mightily.
If Trubisky can carry over his Monday night performance over into this weekend, the Bears will be in great shape.
3. Home Field
The Bears have only played one game at home thus far this season. That was the season opener, which they lost to the Packers.
They won two straight road contests after that, and now, Chicago will be back home to host the Vikings at Soldier Field.
I can't see the Bears losing two home games to start the season, especially within their division. To be perfectly honest, back-to-back home losses to NFC North opponents could end up being a death sentence for Chicago as far as the division title is concerned.
The Bears really, really need this game, as it will give them the potential to sweep the Vikings rather than having to fight for their lives to avoid being swept in Minnesota later in the season.
Chicago is surely fully aware of this.
2. Offensive Versatility
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The Bears are known for their defense, but they do have some tricks in the bag when it comes to their offense.
Both Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson are Swiss army knife players who can hurt their opponents in a variety of ways, as Patterson in particular has demonstrated over the first three weeks.
Cohen has been surprisingly quiet thus far, so he is due for a big game soon.
The Vikings, on the other hand, don't really have that type of unpredictability. Their offense thus far has basically just been handing the ball to Dalvin Cook and letting him create.
1. Run Defense
Minnesota's offense, as I just stated, starts and ends with the success of Cook.
The third-year running back has racked up three consecutive 100-yard games and has been an absolute monster over the first three weeks, including an 154-yard outing against a much-improved Green Bay defense.
But Chicago's defense is something special.
If Cook is not able to get going against the Bears' rugged defensive front, the Vikings could be in for a long day, as their success would then largely depend on the right arm of Cousins, which could spell disaster.
On one hand, Cousins seems to be due for a good performance, but man; he has been so bad the first three games that you have to wonder where his confidence is at the moment.
If Chicago is able to stuff Cook, Minnesota will be in big trouble.
