The Vikings will head on the road for the first time since Week 2 to take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football.
Let's see who the experts pick to win the prime-time matchup.
Going with the kid here, man. Mitch Trubisky could throw a flutter ball that lands at Wrigley and *Bears fans wouldn't care — as long as Mike Glennon isn't starting this week. Everyone has been wondering when the rookie quarterback would play. Now, they got their wish. Fine, but ... Can he go toe-to-toe with Case Keenum?!* Moving along: No *Dalvin Cook means Latavius Murray carries the load for Minnesota. The last time he played in Chicago, Murray had a costly fumble and an even costlier drop. The Bears front seven is going to win this game. Book it. Or, maybe just try to believe. Worth noting: Mike Zimmer's Vikings lost to two rookie quarterbacks last year — Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott — although neither eclipsed 150 passing yards in those games. *#MINvsCHI
Bears 22, Vikings 20— Elliot Harrison,NFL.com
The Minnesota Vikings have one of the top three defenses in the NFL right now. Everything they do on that side of the ball is special. The Vikings are going to make things hard on the Chicago Bears and Mitch Trubisky — who is making his first ever NFL start.
The Bears should try to establish dominance along the offensive line and in the run game to help Trubisky. The problem is that the Vikings have the cover corners to match up with Chicago's weapons one-on-one. Minnesota can leave them on an island and sell out to stop the run and to pressure Trubisky in the pocket.
Not having Dalvin Cook is going to be an issue for the Vikings offensively. However, Case Keenum has been doing positive things in the passing game in the absence of *Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings have enough weapons in the passing game to take advantage of an underwhelming Bears secondary.*
All Keenum needs to do is get the ball to his playmakers and protect the football. If not for turnovers, he and the Vikings probably would have beat the Lions in Week 4, and Detroit certainly has a more talented team and a more experienced quarterback than Chicago does.
Vikings 19, Bears 17 — Chris Simms, Bleacher Report
*The Vikings have been hit bad by the injury bug, and now will be without Dalvin Cook after he suffered a torn ACL last week. The Bears will give rookie Mitch Trubisky his first start, which won't be easy against a good Vikings defense. This will be close, but Minnesota will pull out a close one. *
Vikings 20, Bears 17— Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
The Bears corrected their offseason mistake and benched *Mike Glennon this week, but Mitch Trubisky can't turn the season around all by himself.*
Vikings 20 Bears 16— Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
Last year, one of Chicago's three wins came at home against the Vikings on *Monday Night Football. This year, they may not get more than three wins again, but once again one of them comes on MNF against the Vikings, in the first game played by Mitchell Trubisky.*
Bears 20, Vikings 14 — Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
Welcome to the NFL, No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky … signed, the Vikings defense. They're another bunch that has to hold up its end of the deal extra-high because of the injury devastation on the offense. Playing a rookie in his NFL debut helps everybody on the Vikings defense, including Everson Griffen, whose five sacks are fourth in the league.
Vikings 13, Bears 6* *– David Steele, Sporting News
FiveThirtyEight's NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of winning each week.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 58 percent— FiveThirtyEight.com
8 of 10 experts pick the Vikings,**ESPN**
6 of 8 experts pick the Vikings,**CBS Sports**
3 of 9 experts pick the Vikings,**SB Nation**
