a whole bunch of games since their previous matchup with Chicago
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Jersey , a steady march to become NFC North champions that has put plenty of distance between the playoffs they’re about to enter and that ugly first half they played against the Bears. That’s precisely where their path to the postseason began to straighten out. When Case Keenum replaced the ailing Sam Bradford again at quarterback, the Vikings steered themselves back on course that night of Oct. 9 for a 20-17 victory that was the first of eight straight. For as much as coaches and players speak about the clich�d one-game-at-a-time focus, momentum can be an undeniable force. ”It was big,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who hobbled through that game with a groin injury. ”I wouldn’t say really like a turning point, but definitely some momentum moving into the rest of the season that no matter how we’ve got to do it, we can get a `W’ and finish.” The Vikings had fallen to 2-2 at the quarter point of the season, stinging from a 14-7 defeat at home by Detroit made possible by three lost fumbles and made worse by the season-ending ACL tear to running back Dalvin Cook’s knee suffered that afternoon. After missing the three previous games with knee trouble, Bradford was cleared to return against the Bears. He clearly wasn’t right. Bradford was sacked four times, and the Vikings totaled 34 yards on six possessions while he was in the game. Keenum took over again late in the second quarter and, 10 wins later, has the Vikings on a Super Bowl track that could’ve been wrecked by the absence of two of the team’s most vital players. ”It was that stretch that we talk about,” wide receiver Adam Thielen said. ”Every game seemed like a bigger game.” This rematch with the Bears (5-10) on Sunday has proven to be just as important for the Vikings (12-3). With a win in this final regular-season game, they’ll secure the No. 2 seed for the NFC playoffs that comes with a first-round bye. That’s basically a bonus victory, and the Vikings have been treating this scenario accordingly. ”The biggest thing is the confidence that this team is playing with
http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-allen-robinson-jersey ,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. ”We feel like if we take care of our business and we play the style of football that we’re accustomed to, it doesn’t matter who we play, when we play, where we play. It’s just how we play.” The Vikings can also get the coveted bye with an assist from any of three other teams: New Orleans beating Tampa Bay on the road, Atlanta beating Carolina at home or Los Angeles beating San Francisco at home. Just one of those would need to happen. That’s quite the safety net the Vikings have no desire to use. ”We don’t want to get any help from anyone. We want to go out and take care of our business, play well, continue to ride this momentum into the playoffs,” Rudolph said. ”The last thing you want to do is limp into the playoffs coming off of a loss. We want to go out and play well and end this season the right way.” Here are some other key angles to follow during the game on Sunday: FOX WATCH: With a 14-33 record in three years, this could be John Fox’s final game coaching the Bears. If so, it’ll be the end of one of the least successful tenures in the franchise history. Only Abe Gibron has a lower winning percentage as a Bears head coach, going 11-30-1 (.274) from 1972-74. Fox helped orchestrate quick turnarounds with Carolina and Denver, joining Don Shula, Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Dick Vermeil and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to lead two franchises to Super Bowl appearances
Womens Chase Daniel Jersey , but he hasn’t experienced similar success in Chicago. ”I’ve never had trouble getting employment in this league,” Fox said this week, ”and I’m not going to start worrying about it now.” YOU AGAIN?: This is the fifth time in 13 years that the Bears will wrap up the regular season in Minnesota, including three of the past four, but this is the first of these finales that features any kind of postseason impact. Both teams were eliminated in 2016, 2014 and 2011. The Bears already had the division title clinched in 2005. ”It’s still a game. Everybody has to play it. And you have to approach it that way,” Fox said. ”It will be no different for us.” LONG WAY: Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has come a long way since he debuted against the Vikings in that matchup in Chicago nearly three months ago, and the second overall pick in the draft would love to show it. Trubisky completed 12 of 25 passes for 128 yards on Oct. 9, and his interception in the closing minutes set up the winning field goal by the Vikings. Though his passer rating is a paltry 78.5, Trubisky already holds the franchise rookie passing record with 2,015 yards. With the Bears expanding the playbook for him, Trubisky has gone from completing 53 percent of his passes through his first seven games to 71 percent over the past four games while throwing for 880 yards. ”Hopefully the game will slow down for me a little bit, and I’ll be able to see things a little better,” Trubisky said. STANDING PAT? If the Bears fire Fox, Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur could find himself a candidate for the vacancy. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said this week he believes Shurmur deserves another opportunity
Bennie Fowler III Jersey , five years after his tenure with Cleveland ended at two seasons. ”He’s done a really good job. He’s a good guy to work with. He’s smart. He’s respectful,” Zimmer said. Shurmur has bigger priorities for now. ”At some point, if somebody wants to sit down and visit about being the head coach, I can talk about a job that I’ve already done and about how I’m better since I did that job,” he said. — The dream reunion for many will not be happening."Ever since Cody Parkey’s now infamous “double doink” field goal miss against the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Game, hype was built up around a potential Bears and Robbie Gould reunion. Chicago’s all-time leading scorer was set to be a free agent, has his family reside in the Chicagoland area, and by all accounts wanted to come back to the Bears. The math added up and made perfect sense for an otherwise complete Bears roster with a glaring hole at kicker. Unfortunately, the reunion won’t be happening as Gould’s incumbent team in the 49ers placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on the stalwart kicker, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Gould is the first player of the 2019 NFL off-season to receive a franchise tag; exemplifying his importance in an ongoing rebuild in San Francisco and pushing away other teams like the Bears with a gaping hole at his position. Ah, memories to last forever:The Bears could technically still place an offer in for Gould in this event. As a non-exclusively tagged player, the 36-year-old is free to negotiate with prospective organizations interested in his services. However, the 49ers can match any and all offers the Bears give him. In the event that they don’t match a Chicago contract for Gould, the 49ers would be entitled to receive two first-round picks as compensation for losing him. In other words, Bears general manager Ryan Pace would be crazy to risk losing that much draft capital for a kicker. It’s not happening so it’s time for the Bears to look elsewhere. As the Bears don’t get to rectify what now looks like a gigantic mistake when they originally released Gould in 2016
http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-taylor-gabriel-jersey , their search for the proverbial answer at kicker must start elsewhere. There are options on the free agent market as the Falcons recently released 43-year-old Matt Bryant. The Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski — who may yet to return to New England on his own franchise tag — could also be in consideration. Both would be sizable and reliable upgrades; especially in comparison to Connor Barth and Cody Parkey, among others. The far more likely route the Bears elect to travel at fixing kicker is in playing the undrafted free agent game. If that means bringing in someone from this year’s class, so be it. If that means giving someone like Andy Phillips a second chance, it’s not an awful idea either. Some of pro football’s best active kickers like the Ravens’ Justin Tucker and Saints’ Wil Lutz both went undrafted. Investing a late round draft selection also could be in play as a guy like the mega-legged Rams’ Greg Zuerlein is a former sixth-round pick.Whatever choice the Bears and general manager Ryan Pace do end up making they better at least have some competition in place, and they better be prepared to get creative. Losing a chance at a Super Bowl with an otherwise well-rounded roster because of deficiencies at kicker won’t be tolerated again. If it wasn’t fine when Pace’s Bears weren’t relevant, the heat will only grow for a contending team. Look at the reaction to Parkey’s misses. Magnify it ten-fold if another failure of a postseason miss or two happens. Why the Bears don’t elect to follow my sound advice and make a motion toward banning all relevant kicking is beyond me. That they would allow their fate and success of their quality roster to ever rest in the hands off of one of the flukiest of football plays is beyond me. Their real and most justifiable solution is to ban kicking with the NFL’s competition committee and I say that earnestly. I’ve said it long before the Bears had issues at kicker, too. Look at the Vikings as an example. NFL football would be so much better without placekicking and you won’t convince me otherwise. Until that sensible move happens in pro football (if it ever happens), the Bears’ search for The Answer at kicker unmercifully continues. Robert is the Editor-in-chief of The Blitz Network (subscribe here!), the managing editor of Windy City Gridiron, and writes for many fine publications. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.