The Bears got punished 36-7 at home last week at the hands of the Patriots in snowy Soldier Field.  They are still one game up in the NFC North over the Packers so they need this game.  The Vikings are 2-1 under Leslie Frazier as the head coach but they got punished last weekend at Detroit, 21-3 by the Giants.  The Vikings will be starting rookie 6th round pick Joe Webb at QB on Monday Night due to the injuries to Tarvaris Jackson & Brett Favre.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  Hopefully the Bears have been practicing outside because it’s going to be a cold one in Minnesota on Monday Night.  That usually calls for the running game to be the preferred choice on offense.  The Bears might have a hard time running the ball against the Vikings who are only allowing 101.3 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry.  The Bears will likely take some chances through the air as long as it’s not too windy as Jay Cutler should be able to make some plays against a Vikings’ D that is allowing 208 yards passing per game.

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are likely going to be very run heavy in this game.  In the first meeting the Bears held Peterson to only 51 yards rushing.  If they can hold Peterson to under 100 yards rushing, I just don’t see any way they can lose this game.  The Vikings drafted rookie QB Joe Webb in the sixth round last April with the idea of switching him to WR.  I have a feeling that Webb is going to make some big mistakes in this game.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 20, VIKINGS 7

These two teams are as hot as can be right now.  The Bears have won five games in a row to rise to the top of the NFC North, 1 game ahead of the Packers.  The Patriots have won 4 games in a row and they are now tied with the Falcons at 10-2 for the best record in the NFL.  The weather is likely to be yucky this Sunday at Soldier Field and with that in mind, here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Patriots are allowing 114.1 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  With that in mind and the weather going to be bad, I look for the Bears to feed the ball to Matt Forte and Chester Taylor.  The Bears are also likely going to keep the passing game of the shorter variety as Jay Cutler likely isn’t going to have a lot of time to throw the ball.  That shouldn’t be a problem though as the Bears have been throwing a lot of shorter passes as of late.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots have been throwing the ball a lot in this game and that might not change at least early in this game.  The Bears have to be ready to take away the short stuff as that is Tom Brady’s bread and butter.  The Bears also have to make Brady pay for any mistakes he might make as they have 16 interceptions so far this year.  The front seven will be in charge of stopping RBs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 23, PATRIOTS 20

The Bears have won 4 games in a row to take a 1 game lead over the Packers in the NFC North.  The Lions gave them a battle in Chicago in Week #1 of this year as the Bears won 19-14 but the Lions had Matthew Stafford and Shaun Hill at QB in that game.  Drew Stanton will be getting the start this Sunday.  The Lions have lost four games in a row now but they have played decent at home this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  I look for the Bears to mix up the play calling in an attempt to stay balanced this Sunday.  Matt Forte caught 7 passes for 151 yards with 2 TD grabs in the first meeting of these two teams so I look for him to be heavily involved in the offense.  The Lions are giving up 128.6 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry so Forte should have a good game.  The Lions have 28 sacks and the Bears’ O-Line has had issues with pass blocking.  But if Cutler has time to throw the ball he’s likely going to shred a Lions’ pass D that is allowing 224.9 yards passing per game.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Bears D will likely try to take Calvin Johnson away from the Lions’ offense forcing them to win this game with someone else.  With Drew Stanton starting at QB the Lions will likely try to run the ball more than usual.  That means that Maurice Morris and Aaron Brown could get a lot of work against a Bears’ D that is allowing 80.5 yards rushing per game and 3.6  yards per carry.  The Bears have 16 interceptions this year and they will likely be ballhawking against the Lions this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 27, LIONS 6

The Bears and Eagles are both hot right now.   The Bears have won three games in a row by a combined score of 65-32!  The Eagles have also won three games in a row by a combined score of 112-69.  Something has to give this Sunday and here’s a look at the matchups:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears have been sticking with the running game whether it’s been working or not.  I see them doing the same thing this weekend with Matt Forte and Chester Taylor as the Bears will be attempting to control the clock.  The Eagles are allowing on 99.7 yards rushing per game but 4.0 yards per carry.  Also look for Taylor & Forte to be used a lot in the passing game as the Eagles have 26 sacks so far this year.  Jay Cutler isn’t likely to have a lot of time to throw the ball so he’s going to be depending on his WRs and TEs to catch short passes and make something happen after the catch.  Johnny Knox could have a big game with Asante Samuel out do to injury this Sunday.

When the Eagles have the ball:  The Eagles are likely to come out passing in this game.  It will be up to Julius Peppers & Israel Idonije to put pressure on Vick while keeping him in the pocket.  The Bears have only allowed 6 TD passes this season and they have 15 INTs so they aren’t scared of Vick and his explosive WRs.  To me, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs are big keys to this game.  If they can hold Lesean McCoy and Michael Vick’s rushing yards down the Bears are going to win this game.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 20, EAGLES 17

The Bears have won two games in a row while the Dolphins have won 3 of their last three games.  This is a huge game tonight for both teams as the Dolphins need it to keep in the AFC Wildcard hunt while the Bears still have their sites on winning the NFC North.  Here is a look at the matchups tonight:

When the Bears have the ball:  The O-Line has been pass blocking better lately but that is the direct result of playing the Vikings & Bills who have not even breathed hard on a QB this year.  The Dolphins have 23 sacks this year and Fins’ OLB Cameron Wake (8.5 sacks) is likely going to meet up with Jay Cutler a couple of times tonight.  The Bears would be smart to run the ball and throw short passes.  That means another week of watching Matt Forte and Chester Taylor trying to help out and that’s a scary proposition.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  Tyler Thigpen is going to start at QB tonight for the Fins and he’s a gunslinger just like Cutler.  He will throw the ball where he shouldn’t making either a big play for his team or the Bears tonight.  The Bears’ linebackers are going to be challenged tonight with the Fins likely running a lot of Wildcat Formation with Ronnie Brown under center.  Ricky Williams will also likely have a decent workload also.  The Dolphins have a talented trio of WRs in Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess and Brian Hartline so the secondary is going to be challenged.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 20, DOLPHINS 17

The Bears can tie the Packers for the lead in the NFC North with a win tomorrow while the Vikings are just trying to stay alive in the playoff hunt.  The Bears are 2-2 at home this year but they have only outscored their opponents 73-71.  The Vikings have been a horrible road team where they are 0-4.  They have been outscored 99-71 on the road this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the football:  The Bears are likely going to have to run the ball and throw short passes this week.  The Vikings D-Line woke up last weekend and they will be coming after Jay Cutler who has been sacked 28 times already this year.  Matt Forte & Chester Taylor will be heavily involved in both the running & passing games this Sunday as the Bears will need to throw to the backs a lot to slow the Vikings’ pass rush.  Johnny Knox, Greg Olsen, Earl Bennett and Devin Hester are going to have to step up if the Bears are going to win this game.

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings are likely going to throw the ball more on first down in this game so that they can open up running lanes for Adrian Peterson.  Make no mistake though, the Vikings are going to get the ball in Peterson’s hands a lot in this game as he is by far the best weapon they have on offense.  The Bears need to get after Brett Favre because he’s starting to rev things up a bit.  Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, Visanthe Shiancoe and Percy Harvin give the Bears’ DBs a lot to worry about tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 20, BEARS 17

The Chicago Bears lost two tough home games before their bye last weekend.  They have had two weeks to get ready for the Bills and they better have been looking at a lot of game film as the Bills keep getting closer to winning a football game.  The Bills have lost their last two games by field goals in overtime against the Chiefs & Ravens who both have better teams than the Bears.  The Bears are 2-1 on the road this yaer and they have outscored the oppostion 53-43.  This is a “home game” for the Bills despite the fact that it’s being played in Toronto.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bills’ D might just be the perfect tonic for a Bears’ offense that has struggled this year.  The Bills are allowing 188.7 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry so look for the Bears to hand off to Matt Forte & Chester Taylor a lot more than usual tomorrow.  The Bills only have 11 sacks so far this year so Jay Cutler might actually have time to throw the ball this Sunday.  If Cutler does indeed have time to throw the ball he should have some success against a Bills’ D which has allowed opposing QBs to have a Rating of 110.0! 

When the Bills have the ball:  The Bills are likely going to come out throwing the ball tomorrow against the Bears.  Ryan Fitzpatrick has been outstanding since taking over as the starting QB of the Bills but he will still make mistakes.  The pass defense has been outstanding for the Bears this season as they already have 9 INTs while only allowing 4 TD passes so far this year.  Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller and Ryan Fitzpatrick have given the Bills a decent running game this year but they aren’t likely going to do much against the front seven of the Bears.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 24, BILLS 17

Both of these teams suffered tough losses last weekend and need to win this week to get back on track.  It will be interesting to see which team wants it more this Sunday as that is the team that will likely win.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears would be smart to be more balanced than usual in this game.  The Redskins are giving up 121.8 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry so this could be the week to feed the ball to Matt Forte & Chester Taylor on the ground.  That would help slow the pass rush when the Bears want to chuck it down the field.  The Redskins are giving up 298.2 yards passing per game this year but you can’t pass the ball when the QB is on his back.  Bears’ QBs have been sacked 27 times already this season so Jay Cutler will likely have to have a fast trigger on Sunday.

When the Redskins have the ball:  The Redskins were much more balanced than usual against the Colts last Sunday Night and they will try to repeat that this weekend.  Ryan Torain will get most of the carries for the Skins so the Bears’ LBs better tighten up the chinstrap because he’s a downhill runner.  The Bears only have 9 sacks this year so unless Julius Peppers gets to the QB, Donovan McNabb is going to have time to throw the ball.  He will likely keep the passing game short when going to TE Chris Cooley while throwing the deeper passes to WRs Anthony Armstrong and Santana Moss.

PREDICTION:  REDSKINS 23, BEARS 20

The Seahawks have been a terrible road team this year as they are 0-2 having been crushed by the Rams & Broncos by a combined score of 51-17!  The Bears are 2-0 at home but there has been quite a bit of luck involved in those wins over the Lions & Packers.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  Jay Cutler is back at QB for the Bears and just in time to face a Seahawks’ D that is allowing 302.0 yards passing per game.  I look for the Bears to get back to an air raid type of attack against a Seahawks’ D that will have a hard time dealing with it.  The Bears’ O-Line is going to have to keep Seahawks’ DE Chris Clemons (4 sacks) out of the backfield so that Cutler can have time to throw the ball.  Cutler will have to keep tabs on where rookie safety Earl Thomas is at all times as he already has 3 pickoffs this year.  Matt Forte will continue to be a big part of the offense even though the Seahawks have a outstanding run D (72.8 yards rushing per game, 2.8 ypc).

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Seahawks will likely bust out their brand new, shiny toy (Marshawn Lynch) this Sunday against the Bears.  He will have to fit for every yard against Brian Urlacher and the rest of the Bears’ D which is allowing only 78.6 yards rushing and 3.5 ypc so far this year.  The Seahawks have a really inexperienced WR corps so the Bears will try to blitz Matt Hasselbeck and put pressure on the kids to make plays.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 27, SEAHAWKS 13

Both of these teams suffered major injuries last weekend as Jay Cutler (concussion) of the Bears and Steve Smith (high left ankle sprain) of the Panthers will be sitting out this weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears are starting Todd Collins at QB in this game but I don’t look for them to change the offense too much.  Luckily for the Bears, Julius Peppers plays for them now.  The Panthers only have 4 sacks this year so I don’t see the Bears’ O-Line having the same issues they had against the Giants last weekend.  That being said I wouldn’t be surprised if Matt Forte & Chester Taylor got the ball alot this week both running the ball and catching it out of the backfield. 

When the Panthers have the ball:  With Steve Smith out of action the Panthers are going to run the ball all day long.  That means that Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher and the rest of the Bears’ front seven will have to be ready to deal with DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart.  The Bears are only giving up 77.0 yards rushing and 3.5 yards rushing per carry so far this year so I think they will be up to the challenge.  The Bears give up 255.3 yards passing per game but the Panthers don’t have the receivers or the QB to move the ball through the air in this game especially with Julius Peppers chasing Jimmy Clausen around.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 17, PANTHERS 3