The Vikings are officially eliminated from the playoffs in Week 17, but the team looks to end on a positive note in the season finale at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Chicago Bears.
Chicago (3-12) has lost the past three games in a row.
Let's see who the experts pick to win Week 17's Saturday matchup.
Minnesota's assignment vigilantes messed with the wrong dude.
Mike Zimmer is as old-school as any active coach in the game. Something tells me he'll use Week 17 as his proving ground for the Vikings who can fall in line...and the ones who'll be shown the door this offseason.
With jobs on the line, Zimmer's secondary will show up in a way we haven't seen since Minnesota's 5-0 run. Matt Barkley will throw up his usual gimmes, and don't be shocked if one is taken back for points.
Vikings 19, Bears 16— Chris Simms, Bleacher Report
*The Vikings have imploded in the past few weeks and have players going rogue. That's not a good thing. The Bears were terrible last week at home to the Redskins. Look for the Vikings to find a way to win this meaningless game. *
Vikings 21, Bears 13— Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
The Vikings have been a major disappointment down the stretch after starting 5-0, but they'll close with a win against an overmatched Bears team.
*Vikings 28, Bears 17 *— Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
Has-Beens versus Never-Weres in a game that will determine only whether the Vikings finish with a losing record.
Vikings 17, Bears 14— Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
It's been a trying year for the Vikings, and I'm sure no head coach can use a vacation more than Mike Zimmer at this point. But this squad is made up of some veterans with a whole lot of pride. They're not going out as losers. Not at home, anyway. Vikings rally and win.
Vikings 23, Bears 16— Peter Schrager, FOX Sports
Each Tuesday, WhatIfSports.com's NFL simulation engine generates predictions and box scores for every NFL game for the coming week. The highly sophisticated algorithms simulate every play of every game to produce each team's likelihood to win. Each matchup is simulated 501 times.
Vikings Win Likelihood Percentage: 67.7 percent
Average Score:Vikings 25.2, Bears 20.1— WhatIfSports
FiveThirtyEight's 2016 NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning Super Bowl LI. Playoff probabilities are based on 20,000 simulations of the season and will update after each game.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 77 percent— FiveThirtyEight.com
5 of 5 experts pick the Vikings,USA Today
6 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, SB Nation
9 of 10 experts pick the Vikings, ESPN
6 of 6 experts pick the Vikings, FOX Sports
5 of 8 experts pick the Vikings,CBS Sports
