EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The Vikings and Bears have each won and lost three games since the teams met in Week 8 when Minnesota notched a 23-20 comeback victory in Chicago.
The Vikings first win at Soldier Field since 2007 was sparked by a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Stefon Diggs, a 35-yard reception by Charles Johnson in the final minute and a 36-yard field goal by Blair Walsh on the game's final play.
View images of the key contributors for Chicago Bears this season.
Cutler's quarterback rating of 92.2 this season is the highest rating in his 10 seasons in the NFL. The Bears quarterback has thrown for 16 touchdowns and has seven interceptions this season.
Forte turned 30 on Thursday, but the veteran is still the Bears leading rusher in the backfield. Forte has rushed for 72.1 yards per game this season and has four rushing touchdowns.
Langford filled in as a starter when Forte missed three games with a knee injury. The rookie was drafted in the fourth round out of Michigan State. He leads the team with six rushing touchdowns.
Jeffery has been Cutler's top target this season, leading the Bears with 797 yards. He's a big-play threat at wide out and averages 15 yards-per-reception this season.
Gould has missed six of his past 15 kicks for the Bears including a potential game-tying kick in the Week 14 game against the Redskins from 50 yards out.
McPhee was inactive last week with a knee injury. The Bears will make a decision on McPhee in this week's injury report. McPhee has 5.0 sacks this season.
The first-round draft pick in 2014 had his second interception of the season last week against Washington. Fuller has 43 tackles this season.
The Bears initial starting TE Martellus Bennett was placed on the IR with a rib injury. Miller had five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown last week against Washington and has five receiving touchdowns on the season.
Jones leads the Bears with 75 tackles this season. The LB is in his second season out of Florida State where he played with Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes.
"When it's a close contest it comes down to making plays," Bears Head Coach John Fox said. "They made a couple of plays late that we were in position to make and didn't. I think the Vikings team has changed some since then and so has ours. "
This week, the Vikings (8-5) host the Bears (5-8), so we'll take a look back at how the Bears have been played since the teams met on Nov. 1.
The Bears are 3-3 since the Vikings saw them last and .500 since opening the season with three consecutive losses.
Keeping games close
In each of their three previous losses to the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins Chicago has lost by two, six and three points, respectively. The Bears have not lost a game by more than one possession since the Sept. 27 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler reacted after the latest one-possession loss to Washington.
"I feel like we've had so many of these," Cutler told Larry Mayer of Bears.com Sunday. "In the games we win, we figure out a way. In the games we don't, we don't figure out a way. So it's a tough feeling. We haven't been very good at home. We've lost some tight games — three points or less, overtime. These have been some pretty tough games to swallow at this point."
Winning on the road
The Bears have shown the ability to win games on the road as of late.
The team has won every game on the road since taking on the Vikings at Soldier Field. While the Bears are 1-6 at Soldier Field this season.
"I've always looked at who you play or really kind of how you execute or how you play," Fox said. "I don't think I pinpoint it other than four of our home losses have been against division leaders."
Each of the last three victories (Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers) have come away from home.
The most notable victory of the three was the 17-13 win at Lambeau Field against the Packers. The Bears defense had an impressive red zone stand against Aaron Rodgers to seal the victory on Thanksgiving night.
Falling in crunch time
K Robbie Gould has missed six of his past 15 kicks for the Bears, including a potential game-tying kick against the Redskins from 50 yards out.
In the past two weeks, the Bears have lost each game on the final play.
Coming off of a 24-21 loss to the Redskins, Chicago will be ready to rebound against a divisional foe.
"You know I think it's just a matter of finishing," Fox said. "We had a little bit of a slow start to the season. You build a hole at (0-3) I think we've been fairly competitive ever since. Whether it's been a missed kick, or even our first game here (in Chicago) with the Vikings we found ways not to close it out."
