Vikings-Bears By The Numbers

The Minnesota Vikings visit the Chicago Bears tonight. Hopefully this Monday night visit goes better than the one that they had last year. That was a 20-10 nightmare on Halloween night.

Some Vikings-Bears Numbers

The Vikings lead the all-time series 58-52-2
@Minnesota: 36-21
@Chicago: 22-31-2
@Champaign, IL: 0-1

The Vikings upset the Bears in the first game in franchise history on 9/17/61. Future Hall of Fame and then rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton came off the bench to stun George Halas and his Bears 37-13. It was one the greatest wins in Vikings history and arguably one of the worst losses in Bears history.

Since 2001 the Vikings have won only twice on the road against the Bears.
2007: 34-31-thanks to a ridiculous rookie statement by Adrian Peterson
2015: 23-20

Bears running back Jordan Howard burst on the NFL scene as a rookie last season. 252 carries for 1,313 yards and six touchdowns. The best games of his great season were against the Vikings.

10/31/16: 26 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown
1/1/17: 23 carries for 135 yards

Perhaps tonight not being a holiday will benefit the Vikings. Wait? It's Columbus Day. Does that qualify?

21.9% of Howard's total rushing yardage came against the Vikings. That's a significant chunk and has to change tonight and moving forward against this talented runner.

The Vikings defense has been a strength since Mike Zimmer was hired as head coach in 2014. Rushing defense wasn't a strength last season. They ranked 20th in the league, allowing 106.9 yards per game. Howard took advantage of that softness against the run. Twice. Through four games this season the Vikings are allowing 71.2 yards per game. That's a clear improvement but Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah found some running room last week. Rushing defense is a concern and a real concern tonight.

***

Here are some Vikings-Bears numbers compiled by the fine people at Vikings.com.

11 — Number of third-down conversions, in 43 attempts, allowed by the Vikings defense through four games; Minnesota ranks first in the NFL with a 25.6 third-down percentage. Chicago’s defense is 30th at 47.1 percent (allowed 24 conversions of 51 third downs).

35 — Number of carries this season by Vikings players other than running back Dalvin Cook, who has 74 rushing attempts; Cook is out for the season with a torn ACL. Latavius Murray has the next-highest total with 14 carries.

391 — Number of receiving yards for Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, which leads the NFL; Wide receiver Adam Thielen is third with 358 yards. Chicago’s top three wide receivers have 393 combined receiving yards.

5 — Rank of Minnesota’s offense in third down percentage; The Vikings have converted 24 of 52 attempts (46.2 percent). The Bears offense ranks 12th at 41.2 percent (21 of 51).

0 — Number of career starts for Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky; The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft is scheduled to make his professional debut Monday night against the Vikings.

2 — Number of wins for the Vikings at Soldier Field in the past 15 seasons;  Minnesota’s win percentage in Chicago over the past 15 years is lower than at Detroit or at Green Bay.

71.3 — Number of rushing yards per game allowed by the Vikings defense; which ranks third in the NFL; The Bears rank sixth in that category by allowing 85.5 rushing yards per game.

 60 — Number of total games the Vikings have played on Monday Night Football in franchise history; Minnesota is 28-32 in the prime-time spotlight.

16 — Number of times the Vikings have beaten the Bears twice in a season since 1961; Chicago has swept the season series a dozen times against Minnesota.

5 — Number of sacks allowed by the Vikings offensive line in 2017, the third-fewest total in the NFL; Chicago has allowed 8.0 sacks through four games in 2017.

***

Some Vikings-Bears series numbers from the Daily Norseman via Pro Football Reference:

Total Vikings points scored, head-to-head: 2,341 (21.1 pts/game)

Total Bears points scored, head-to-head: 2,154 (19.4 pts/game)

Longest Vikings winning streak vs Bears: 8 games (12/3/72-10/10/76)

Longest Bears winning streak vs Vikings: 6 games (twice, most recently 12/28/09-11/25/12)

Biggest Vikings road win in series: 31 points, 10/12/69, final: 31-0

Biggest Bears home win in series: 31 points, 9/17/89, final 38-7

Go Vikings!