Bears Vs. Vikings: NFL Week 2 Pre-Party Open Thread

The last time these two teams had any interaction, the Bears were fervently hoping for the Packers to knock off the Vikings to allow the Bears into the playoffs. We know how that turned out - the Vikings beat the Packers only to then lose to the Packers in the playoffs the next week. The Bears ended up the lone ten-win team not in the playoffs, and Lovie Smith was fired.

This week, the circumstances are completely different and unrelated, but let's say the Bears would like to exact a little punishment on the Vikings - or, Marc Trestman would like to thank the Vikings by handing them a beatdown. Either way.

The Vikings fell to the Lions to start their season at 0-1, while the Bears beat the Bengals to start off going the other direction, at 1-0. The Vikings need Christian Ponder to be the first-round pick they drafted him to be, behind the ever-consistently-kick-ass Adrian Peterson and what's become a pretty solid offensive line behind Matt Kalil and Phil Loadholt (who is probable for today's game). The Vikings have weapons, but Ponder has to get the ball to those weapons.

Meanwhile, the Bears didn't get off to a hot start last week against the Bengals, and went into halftime down 14-10 before coming alive in the second half. Ideally, you'd like to see the Bears get going a little sooner than that. And you'd also like to see a little more from the running game - Matt Forte picked up a touchdown, but didn't get much in the way of yardage, and Michael Bush didn't fare much better. At least Martellus Bennett looks like a tight end this year.

Week 2. Bears. Vikings. Let's do this.

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From the Windy City Gridiron and Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. Self-Promotions Department:

Dane exchanged questions with Ted Glover of the Daily Norseman. And Kev's got you covered for TV and stuff here.

I've got my six keys to victory over here along with the Injury Report.

And Spongie's updated the always-outstanding, often-imitated, never-duplicated and always bursting and busting with over-the-top amounts of Bears goodness (and maybe praise) Bears Den.

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Here's the ESPN Chicago Game Preview.

Something about the Illini playing against Washington last night. I dunno, I was out and about yesterday hunting for a new TV stand, but something tells me the Illini offense didn't exactly tear up the field. Maybe the players' feet did. Hope not.

Moon Mullin says Adrian Peterson's going to get his, but the Bears can still take control of the North.

Hey, did you guys know not getting your quarterback sacked is conducive to winning? And that Cutler wasn't sacked last week? Le gasp!

The Propers: Game time is noon, so the first game-thread will drop exactly then, with subsequent period threads popping up as the game progresses. Immediately following the game we'll have the quick recap as well as your Late and Sunday Night Football threads with Notes in the morning.

With that out of the way, Bear Down!

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Like last week, we'll do the pregame-stream as well - this window will light up about 9:30 AM CT (Right now, looks like myself and Spongie). We'll break down the upcoming game, the NFL week in general, and probably a few surprises that just come up in conversation. Added bonus - this week, we've got the sound properly balanced so you should hear us just fine!

If you have any questions, comments, anything that you'd like to direct to us, make it apparent in the comments, and we'll read it and respond.