Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings: 5 storylines to watch in Week 15

LAKE FOREST – The Chicago Bears are looking to brush off a demoralizing beatdown in San Francisco last week. They will have to do so during a prime-time matchup against the rival Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

There aren’t any obvious rebound opportunities for Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown and his team. The Bears have four games remaining, and all four come against teams that are projected for playoff spots in the NFC.

The Vikings beat the Bears 30-27 less than a month ago at Soldier Field. This time, the Bears have to travel to U.S. Bank Stadium, one of the loudest venues in the NFL.

The Bears (4-9) and Vikings (11-2) will kick off at 7 p.m. Monday as part of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” doubleheader. The game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN+ with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call.

Here are the top storylines to watch in Week 15.

1. Can Thomas Brown’s team rebound?

The Bears had hoped changing head coaches would provide a boost. Brown’s vibes were positive, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off Halas Hall.

Then the team played probably its worst game of the season in Brown’s head coaching debut. At halftime, the 49ers led by 24 points, and the Bears offense had 4 total yards.

This group is in desperate need of a reset.

“I am always reflective every single day, not just after games,” Brown said. “It’s about how can I improve to be the best I can for this entire unit. The ultimate grade is having success during the football game, so that’s still not where we need to be for sure.”

The Bears fared well against the Vikings last month, taking them to overtime after a furious comeback effort.

But Brown has to galvanize a team that doesn’t have much left to play for.

2. Will the Vikings blitz more?

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is the king of the blitz. His defense blitzes at the highest rate in the NFL, sending a fifth pass rusher at the quarterback on 38% of plays.

Last time, the Vikings blitzed Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on 28% of plays. Flores showed some respect for the rookie No. 1 overall draft pick. Williams has fared well when the opposing defense blitzes. His passer rating is actually higher against the blitz (89.9) than when the opponent doesn’t blitz (86.9).

But after Williams threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota the first time, it might be worthwhile for Flores to send a few extra defenders at Williams.

Although Williams played well in that first matchup, he’s still thinking about the sack he took in overtime, which torpedoed the Bears' first possession of the OT period.

“A stupid sack,” Williams said.

3. Stopping Jefferson and Addison

Williams knows just how good Vikings receiver Jordan Addison can be. Addison was Williams' top weapon during his Heisman Trophy season at USC in 2022.

“He’s probably going to hate that I say this, but he’s not the largest human,” Williams said. “He still plays like he’s 6-5. He’ll go up and get the ball in traffic.”

Addison is listed at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds. A few weeks ago, he went for 162 yards and a touchdown on eight catches against the Bears. The Bears' defense did a nice job of limiting Justin Jefferson in that game. Jefferson had only two catches for 27 yards.

That duo might be the best wide receiver pair in football. Both of them went for more than 130 yards with multiple touchdowns last week against Atlanta.

Jefferson will continue to be the focal point, but the Vikings can beat a defense in multiple ways.

“Clearly he’s a person that can take the roof off, that can blow the top off the coverage, that can work in the underneath area,” Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “But at the same time, you can’t sell out everything that you’re doing to try and affect one player and then compromise what you have to do to actually get off the field and win a football game.”

4. Can the Bears' defense rebound?

During his news conference Friday, Washington made it clear that the defensive effort against San Francisco was unacceptable.

“We failed to meet the mark in terms of anything that could be considered an acceptable performance,” Washington said.

The Bears’ defense was among the best in football during the first half of the season. It didn’t allow a single 400-yard effort before the Week 7 bye and created multiple turnovers in five of those first six games.

We failed to meet the mark in terms of anything that could be considered an acceptable performance."

—  Eric Washington, Bears defensive coordinator

In the seven consecutive losses following the bye, the Bears have allowed four 400-yard games and have created multiple turnovers only once.

The Bears were the NFL’s No. 1 defense in the red zone before the 49ers game, but they allowed touchdowns on five of six red zone trips against San Francisco.

In the first game without Matt Eberflus running the defense, this group did not look like itself.

“The players in that locker room have a lot of pride,” Washington said. “They invest a lot, as do I and the rest of our coaching staff, and so we’ve got to move forward and clearly come out ready to play.”

5. Who steps up at WR?

Bears receiver Keenan Allen had been having a quiet season before the Nov. 24 matchup with Minnesota. Then he caught nine passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.

The Bears' passing attack has been like that this season. It could be any one of Allen, DJ Moore or Rome Odunze stepping up for a big game in a given week. Last week, Odunze caught a pair of touchdown passes. Moore leads the team with 712 receiving yards. He and Allen have both caught five touchdowns.

But Allen has owned the Vikings in his career. In five matchups against Minnesota over his 12-year career, Allen has averaged 126.2 receiving yards per game.

Offensive coordinator Chris Beatty believes that Allen’s experience helps him against a heavy-blitz defense.

“Keenan just has a knack for being able to see those things before they happen,” Beatty said. “Like a lot of receivers see them as they happen. He can sit back and tell you what’s happening before it happens.”

Despite the high blitz rate, the Vikings defense ranks 29th among defenses in passing yards allowed. If the quarterback can beat the blitz, an offense can move the ball against this team.