Andrew Ortenberg
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Monday Night Football has come and gone, but Week 15 isn’t quite over yet. There are still a couple of games left, and make sure to check out our free picks on the side and total for both of those. But first let’s talk MNF. The Minnesota Vikings emerged with a 17-9 victory in what just about everybody would describe as an ugly win.
Minnesota stayed alive in the NFC playoff hunt, while Chicago just couldn’t manage to stay out of its own way. Let’s break down everything we just saw.
Vikings stay alive
It wasn’t pretty, but the Vikings got what they needed. Minnesota improved to 7-7, moving it into a tie with the Saints for the last wild-card spot in the NFC. They were mostly just beneficiaries of the Bears throwing up on themselves repeatedly, but head coach Mike Zimmer’s squad will take it nonetheless.
If you’ve read much of my work, you know that I feel like this Vikings team has a ton of potential. Both their offense and defense are capable of playing at an elite level on any given night; they can just never seem to put it all together. But when Adam Thielen comes back healthy, if they can sneak in this is a team nobody will want to face in the playoffs.
That being said, the schedule ahead is brutal. The Vikes host the Rams this coming weekend, travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers in Week 17, and then finish things up with the Bears again in Week 18. With the Saints showing signs of life and a bunch of other teams right on their tail, it might be difficult to get in. If they do the, Vikings could make some noise.
"After further review we suck" – A random Bears fan 😂
(via @JordanDajani) pic.twitter.com/OcvQaaBIRG
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) December 21, 2021
Nice knowing ya, Matt Nagy
Put it in pen. Set it in stone. The nail is officially in the coffin. Barring some sort of miracle, Matt Nagy will be coaching his final games with the Bears the next few weeks. The Monday Night Football loss to the Vikings sealed the deal. Chicago had chances for a last stand in back-to-back weeks with consecutive primetime divisional games, and it failed both tests.
It would be hard to pin Monday’s struggles just on Nagy. Justin Fields and the offense actually moved the ball well much of the night; the Bears just kept committing backbreaking mistakes when it mattered most. But at the end of the day, all the penalties, drops and miscues fall at the feet of the head coach.
Someone has to take responsibility. It was a yet another unmitigated disaster in front of a primetime audience. The good news for Bears fans is that Fields once again showed flashes of major star potential. With very limited weapons and a poor offensive line, he still made a ton of exciting plays against a solid Vikings defense. It might seem bleak for now, but there are plenty of reasons to believe the future is still bright…
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