Vikings at Bears Week 11 Depth Chart Preview
Nov 16, 2018 21:02:19 GMT -6
AlexM, riczaj01, and 6 more like this
Post by danchat on Nov 16, 2018 21:02:19 GMT -6
A climactic battle will happen on Sunday Night - the Vikings and Bears will tussle for the NFC North, and the winner's odds of hosting a playoff game at home will be much greater with a win here.
As you can probably guess, I'm from the Purple Pain forum and for this Vikings-Bears matchup, I've prepared a Depth Chart Preview of the Vikings Depth Chart. Every week at Purple Pain I prepare a Depth Chart for the Vikings' competition, but now that Chi-Town has partnered up with Purple Pain, I thought I'd make a Depth Chart for you guys.
Here's the setup: the ratings are based off of Pro Football Focus' system of ratings. However, I'm not just plastering the ratings on top of the names, the ratings are a reflection of the player's history. These ratings cover snaps from 2017 and 2018 about evenly. PFF has also severely lowered their ratings the past year, so the "Elite, Great, Good..." ratings are more based on rank rather than how the old system worked.
Oh, and be sure to check out how the Bears Depth Chart stacks up over on Purple Pain!
*My thoughts*
The Vikings will face the Bears for the first time with new QB, Kirk Cousins. Cousins has brought the Vikings passing game to another level with his ability to consistently put footballs in spots where most QBs can't with his accuracy. Top WRs Diggs and Thielen have thrived, and the Bears will be hard-pressed to cover both of them at all times. However, the Vikings offense is more splashy and less substance - despite the loads of passing yards, they don't score as many points as they should. With fumbles from Cousins a concern (and Dalvin Cook too, with 2 fumbles in 4 games), the Vikings will heavily rely on the short passing game. 3rd WR Laquon Treadwell will play a lot of snaps, but the sluggish WR will rarely get open and doesn't have great hands. TE Kyle Rudolph has improved as a blocker, but he's more name than game at this point. He's only dangerous in the redzone.
The Vikings' O-line has been their primary weakness, but they've taken strides since the first few weeks. First was getting T Rashod Hill out of the lineup. Hill was getting consistently whipped in pass protection, and now raw 2nd round rookie Brian O'Neill has seized the RT job. He's probably not ready to take on the Bears' dynamic front seven, but he should become a good O-lineman in the future. LT Riley Reiff has been the best member of the group, despite a massive beatdown against the Bills' Jerry Hughes. Tom Compton might play after recovering from a sprained MCL... but he's not that great. PFF loves him for some reason. RG Mike Remmers is much better at RT, but has played a little better recently (he should play through his minor injury). Center Pat Elflein is underrated by PFF, as the run game drastically improved once he returned from an injury. Finally, the Vikings have a 100% healthy Dalvin Cook at their disposal. He's struggled to run in between the tackles, but if the Vikings play their cards right, they should use him as a weapon in the passing game. Murray is an overachiever who has shown great vision when making cuts and is a superb pass protector.
On defense, Mike Zimmer has righted the ship after a Thursday Night disaster against the Rams. It's also helped to have Everson Griffen back from his mental health problems, as his presence was felt by the Lions last week. So was Danielle Hunter's, as he's gone on an absolute tear since signing a big deal. HC Nagy will need to run at these two and keep Trubisky safe from them. Watch out for rotational DE Stephen Weatherly, who's played at an average NFL starter level as a 3rd year 7th round pick. Linval Joseph hasn't been quite as dominant as years past, but the Vikings are a good run-stuffing team. Sheldon Richardson brings pressure but is bad at converted it into sacks.
The Vikings' LB group is hard to evaluate as Anthony Barr has a 50-50 chance to play. He's a good run stopper and pass rusher (but rarely does that), but struggles in coverage and wouldn't match up well against Tarik Cohen. Eric Kendricks is the Vikings' best cover LB, and he's had his ups and downs. He had a bad game against Alvin Kamara but was able to totally shut Theo Riddick down. Eric Wilson will get most of Barr's snaps if he sits, and he's a better cover LB but still raw as a 2nd year UDFA, but has had two great preseasons. Ben Gedeon only plays in base packages, which is only 20% of the time. He's a good player when on the field, though.
Finally, the Vikings secondary isn't quite what it was before. Xavier Rhodes has struggled with injuries, but is a good cover CB when healthy, which he should be on Sunday. He's a serious risk to leave the game with a minor injury at any point. Trae Waynes is a middling CB who can shut down average to poor WRs, but can't run with the big boys. He should be able to cover Taylor Gabriel. Mack Alexander has been a disappointing nickel CB with 1st rounder Mike Hughes on the IR, but UDFA Holton Hill will pick up some of those snaps, and he's been the Vikings best cover CB according to PFF (on a small sample size, admittedly). Harrison Smith has been torched deep a few times this year, but he's a scary tackler and blitzer. With Sendejo out, Anthony Harris will net the start. He's been a fantastic cover safety, better than Sendejo, actually. Iloka is just a backup at this point, which is odd because he's Zimmer's guy.
The Vikings should have the edge in the kicking matchup with Cody Parkey coming down with a case of the yips. Dan Bailey hasn't been quite as good compared to his Dallas days, but he's still a quality kicker. Regardless, if these teams want to win, they should be scoring touchdowns, not by trying to kick FGs at Soldier Field.
Prediction: Bears 27, Vikings 23
The Vikings don't play as well at Soldier Field, and the Bears will be fielding a far superior team compared to the one they faced last year. Adding Mack and a good head coach should put them over the hump to beat the Vikings.
Any thoughts? Also, make sure to check out the Depth Chart Preview over at Purple Pain! Oh, and I'll be posting another special article tomorrow as well, so stay tuned for that!
As you can probably guess, I'm from the Purple Pain forum and for this Vikings-Bears matchup, I've prepared a Depth Chart Preview of the Vikings Depth Chart. Every week at Purple Pain I prepare a Depth Chart for the Vikings' competition, but now that Chi-Town has partnered up with Purple Pain, I thought I'd make a Depth Chart for you guys.
Here's the setup: the ratings are based off of Pro Football Focus' system of ratings. However, I'm not just plastering the ratings on top of the names, the ratings are a reflection of the player's history. These ratings cover snaps from 2017 and 2018 about evenly. PFF has also severely lowered their ratings the past year, so the "Elite, Great, Good..." ratings are more based on rank rather than how the old system worked.
Oh, and be sure to check out how the Bears Depth Chart stacks up over on Purple Pain!
Injury Report:
Vikings
LB Barr - Questionable
LG Compton - Questionable
TE Morgan - Out
RG Remmers - Questionable
SS Sendejo - Out
Bears
DT Bilal Nichols - Questionable
TE Dion Sims - Out
WR Javon Wims - Questionable
Vikings
LB Barr - Questionable
LG Compton - Questionable
TE Morgan - Out
RG Remmers - Questionable
SS Sendejo - Out
Bears
DT Bilal Nichols - Questionable
TE Dion Sims - Out
WR Javon Wims - Questionable
*My thoughts*
The Vikings will face the Bears for the first time with new QB, Kirk Cousins. Cousins has brought the Vikings passing game to another level with his ability to consistently put footballs in spots where most QBs can't with his accuracy. Top WRs Diggs and Thielen have thrived, and the Bears will be hard-pressed to cover both of them at all times. However, the Vikings offense is more splashy and less substance - despite the loads of passing yards, they don't score as many points as they should. With fumbles from Cousins a concern (and Dalvin Cook too, with 2 fumbles in 4 games), the Vikings will heavily rely on the short passing game. 3rd WR Laquon Treadwell will play a lot of snaps, but the sluggish WR will rarely get open and doesn't have great hands. TE Kyle Rudolph has improved as a blocker, but he's more name than game at this point. He's only dangerous in the redzone.
The Vikings' O-line has been their primary weakness, but they've taken strides since the first few weeks. First was getting T Rashod Hill out of the lineup. Hill was getting consistently whipped in pass protection, and now raw 2nd round rookie Brian O'Neill has seized the RT job. He's probably not ready to take on the Bears' dynamic front seven, but he should become a good O-lineman in the future. LT Riley Reiff has been the best member of the group, despite a massive beatdown against the Bills' Jerry Hughes. Tom Compton might play after recovering from a sprained MCL... but he's not that great. PFF loves him for some reason. RG Mike Remmers is much better at RT, but has played a little better recently (he should play through his minor injury). Center Pat Elflein is underrated by PFF, as the run game drastically improved once he returned from an injury. Finally, the Vikings have a 100% healthy Dalvin Cook at their disposal. He's struggled to run in between the tackles, but if the Vikings play their cards right, they should use him as a weapon in the passing game. Murray is an overachiever who has shown great vision when making cuts and is a superb pass protector.
On defense, Mike Zimmer has righted the ship after a Thursday Night disaster against the Rams. It's also helped to have Everson Griffen back from his mental health problems, as his presence was felt by the Lions last week. So was Danielle Hunter's, as he's gone on an absolute tear since signing a big deal. HC Nagy will need to run at these two and keep Trubisky safe from them. Watch out for rotational DE Stephen Weatherly, who's played at an average NFL starter level as a 3rd year 7th round pick. Linval Joseph hasn't been quite as dominant as years past, but the Vikings are a good run-stuffing team. Sheldon Richardson brings pressure but is bad at converted it into sacks.
The Vikings' LB group is hard to evaluate as Anthony Barr has a 50-50 chance to play. He's a good run stopper and pass rusher (but rarely does that), but struggles in coverage and wouldn't match up well against Tarik Cohen. Eric Kendricks is the Vikings' best cover LB, and he's had his ups and downs. He had a bad game against Alvin Kamara but was able to totally shut Theo Riddick down. Eric Wilson will get most of Barr's snaps if he sits, and he's a better cover LB but still raw as a 2nd year UDFA, but has had two great preseasons. Ben Gedeon only plays in base packages, which is only 20% of the time. He's a good player when on the field, though.
Finally, the Vikings secondary isn't quite what it was before. Xavier Rhodes has struggled with injuries, but is a good cover CB when healthy, which he should be on Sunday. He's a serious risk to leave the game with a minor injury at any point. Trae Waynes is a middling CB who can shut down average to poor WRs, but can't run with the big boys. He should be able to cover Taylor Gabriel. Mack Alexander has been a disappointing nickel CB with 1st rounder Mike Hughes on the IR, but UDFA Holton Hill will pick up some of those snaps, and he's been the Vikings best cover CB according to PFF (on a small sample size, admittedly). Harrison Smith has been torched deep a few times this year, but he's a scary tackler and blitzer. With Sendejo out, Anthony Harris will net the start. He's been a fantastic cover safety, better than Sendejo, actually. Iloka is just a backup at this point, which is odd because he's Zimmer's guy.
The Vikings should have the edge in the kicking matchup with Cody Parkey coming down with a case of the yips. Dan Bailey hasn't been quite as good compared to his Dallas days, but he's still a quality kicker. Regardless, if these teams want to win, they should be scoring touchdowns, not by trying to kick FGs at Soldier Field.
Prediction: Bears 27, Vikings 23
The Vikings don't play as well at Soldier Field, and the Bears will be fielding a far superior team compared to the one they faced last year. Adding Mack and a good head coach should put them over the hump to beat the Vikings.
Any thoughts? Also, make sure to check out the Depth Chart Preview over at Purple Pain! Oh, and I'll be posting another special article tomorrow as well, so stay tuned for that!
