The season finale is here. The Vikings will host the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium today to wrap up the 2016 regular season. Here are a few final thoughts on the final game of the season.
Record Watch
A few Vikings are poised to set NFL and team records today. QB Sam Bradford has completed 71.3% of his passes this season; the NFL record is 71.2% by Drew Brees. Bradford is also 10 completions away from the Vikings single-season record of 379, set by Daunte Culpepper in 2004. WR Adam Thielen is 40 receiving yards shy of 1,000 for the season; it would be Thielen's first 1,000-yard receiving season. TE Kyle Rudolph is eight receptions shy of breaking Joe Senser's franchise record for receptions in a season by a TE. Lastly, Cordarrelle Patterson is leading the NFL with a 31.5 kickoff return average and is on pace to lead the NFL in KRR average for a NFL-record third time in his career.
View images of the key contributors for Chicago Bears on offense, defense and special teams this season.
Barkley was teammates at Southern California with Vikings DE Everson Griffen in 2009.
2016 is Fox's 15th consecutive season as a head coach in the NFL. Fox is 128-111 overall and 9-22 in his two seasons with the Bears.
Jeffery is one of the Bears leading targets this season with 811 receiving yards.
The Bears drafted Whitehair out of Kansas State as a guard in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Whitehair has been filling in at center since the Bears offensive line lost Hroniss Grasu.
McPhee underwent left knee surgery in the offseason and returned for his first game of the season against the Packers Week 7. He has 4.0 sacks in nine games this season.
The former Detroit Lions defensive end leads the Bears in sacks this season (7.5) as an outside linebacker.
The Bears 2016 first-round draft pick has 7.0 sacks and 33 cobined tackles this season.
In his first season with the Bears, Barth is 17-of-22 in field goal attempts so far and 30-of-31 on extra point attempts.
Langford played at Michigan State with Vikings CB Trae Waynes from 2012-14. Langford is another option for the Bears out of the backfield behind Jordan Howard.
Meredith leads the Bears in receptions (62), and receiving yards (827).
Royal is tied with Meredith for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (4) and is 10 in the NFL in punt return average this season (8.7).
Jeffery's last game as a Chicago Bear?
Vikings fans have grown accustomed to watching Bears WR Alshon Jeffery over the past five seasons. Jeffery has seven touchdowns, three triple-digit receiving yard games and three double-digit reception games against the Vikings, including a 10-catch, 116-yard, one touchdown performance last season and a 12-catch, 249-yard, two-touchdown outing in 2013. Jeffery played this season under the franchise tag and will become an unrestricted free agent on March 9 if he and the Bears don't agree to a new contract before then.
Appreciating Greenway
Speaking of potential final games with a team, this could be it for LB Chad Greenway. The 11-year veteran hasn't said anything definitive about his future, but he's in the stage of his career when it's a question annually. If Greenway opts to call it career, is has been a remarkable career both on and off the field for him.
