The Chicago Bears will host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday before a quick turnaround for their Thanksgiving matchup with the Detroit Lions. The primary objective will be building on their success in Week 11 against Green Bay.
Chicago Bears Keys to Victory Against the Minnesota Vikings
Let’s see Thomas Brown build on his debut as the Bears play-caller this week.
Thomas Brown’s first game as the Chicago Bears play-caller was a success in many ways. The personnel usage and design were better. Caleb Williams’ operation was better. The run game was balanced. All of those things were great.
Still, the offense only scored 19 points, and we’re far from looking at a finished product that can be successful in this league. We saw the offense have some success under Shane Waldron for a three-week stretch this season, but it was against some terrible teams. The issue with Waldron, for my money, is that even in that three-week stretch, it never felt as though the offense was evolving; rather, it was playing a lesser opponent each of those three weeks.
Like I said then, beating up on bad opponents is a must for successful teams in the NFL. Still, all along, the caveat has been that they needed to use those games to evolve as an offense to have success on the back end of the schedule against stiffer competition. That never happened under Waldron; in fact, the unit regressed. Brown had a positive debut, but building on that week-to-week is what I want to see.
Brown’s debut as the play-caller was a success, but he’s facing a much more challenging defense this week in Minnesota. Seeing growth, even against an opponent like the Vikings, is paramount. It’ll be no easy task, but Sunday at Soldier Field will undoubtedly be a litmus test for Brown and his offensive unit.
Build the passing game around DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.
I’ve got plenty of respect for Keenan Allen. He’s a savvy veteran, an elite quick-twitch short-yardage separator, and an impressive ancillary option for Caleb Williams and this offense. With Shane Waldron running the offense, Allen was force-fed the ball in designs that didn’t maximize his skill set.
DJ Moore and Rome Odunze should be the focal point of this offense. Moore, in short-yardage, gets the ball in his hands and lets him work type of designs, and Odunze has Williams’ primary intermediate-to-deep target.
I want to see Brown emphasize that this week against Minnesota, and I would like to see Allen used in very specific ways, much like Brown did with D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson last week, placing them in roles that suited their skillsets and checked situational boxes for the offense.
But don’t forget about Cole Kmet.
DJ Moore and Rome Odunze should be the top targets in their respective levels of the field, and Allen should have a defined role that suits his abilities. However, please don’t forget about Cole Kmet, who was more relevant last week than in the previous month but still nowhere near where he should be.
Stay ahead of the chains!
I say this every week, but it’s true. The Bears are the second-worst third-down unit in the league. Despite having some success on third down last week against the Packers, going back to that well against Minnesota likely doesn’t bode well for Chicago’s offense.
Let’s not test that theory and work toward getting ahead of the sticks. When the third down arrives, let’s hope it’s in the form of a third-and-manageable situation where something quick can get the job done.
I liked that Thomas Brown took some shots on first down, but if he’s going to do that and it doesn’t pan out, second down has to get at least five yards to stay in a manageable spot on third down.