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The bye week for Chicago did not fall at the exact midpoint of the season but it still fell in that realm; week seven, which is nice considering the injury issues the Bears have dealt with.
The Bears will need all the help they can get, sitting in a 2-4 hole and sitting at 0-2 in the division and 0-4 in the conference. Their first crack to get back in the win column is the Minnesota Vikings. Unfortunately for the Bears, these are not the Vikings of years past.
While the Vikings have had a losing record in four of the past five seasons, after defeating the Lions yesterday the VIkings are now 4-2 and it is mostly down to their young playmakers and tough defense.
The Vikings defense is currently eighth in the league in terms of yards per game and is third in the league in terms of points allowed. That defense has plays such as Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith and Sharrif Floyd, among others. On offense Teddy Bridgewater has been steadily improving as he gets more and more comfortable in the NFL.
They have receiving playmakers in Kyle Rudolph, Mike Wallace to go along with Stefon Diggs and Jarius Wright.
All that being said but this is a winnable game for the Bears. It's at home, the Vikings have played poorly at times (see their Week 1 loss to San Francisco) and they've turned the ball over in each of their games so far this season.
This is yet again another tough test for Chicago but if they can't pass it, the schedule takes another tough turn before it gets easier.
Looking ahead after the Vikings the Bears must travel west to face the Chargers, but then go to St. Louis and see the Rams, host the 5-0 Broncos and their No. 1 defense and then travel to Green Bay on a short week.
The Bears could be as bad as 3-8 at the end of November and a case can be made that it could be as bad as 2-9. The December schedule is luckily easier with the 2-5 49ers, 3-4 Washington, 2-4 Bucs and the 1-6 Lions with the aforementioned Vikings in there.
Chicago has a tough road to get to respectability but there are still plenty of winnable games left. Now the the bye over, how do you see the final ten games shaking out?