The Chicago Bears have lost their last 5 games to fall out of the playoff race and under .500. \u00a0Truth be told I never really saw them as a legit contender and if they finish at .500 that seems about right, even though their path to getting there was different than expected. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Minneapolis Metrodome – Minneapolis, MN, Chicago<\/strong><\/p>\n You could make a case that after Peyton Manning, the injury to Jay Cutler was the most significant in the league this season.<\/p>\n That is because the combination of Caleb Hanie and Josh McCown have gotten nothing done – and that might be an understatement. \u00a0Sure it hasn\u2019t helped that running back Matt Forte has also missed time due to injury but a playoff calibre team should have some degree of depth. \u00a0This is a case of the GM letting down the squad as much as anything.<\/p>\n Given what we have seen of both of these teams I was surprised that the number here was so small. \u00a0I am guessing that some thing the Bears will muster some pride as they close the season against the Vikings. \u00a0The problem isn\u2019t really pride though, it is offense. \u00a0They have scored more than 14 points just twice during their second half swoon.<\/p>\n Minnesota<\/strong><\/p>\n It is a lost season on many levels but I like what I saw from the Minnesota Vikings last week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n \u00a0I predicted they would upset Washington last week in part because I thought the Skins would stumble but Minnesota certainly rose to the occasion too. \u00a0It will be interesting to see how they play the finale against the Bears. \u00a0Will they experiment or play to win at all costs?<\/p>\n Last week we may have seen the emergence of QBJoe Webb. \u00a0The mobile QB connected for two touchdowns on just four completions providing a spark to the team. \u00a0Speaking of spark Toby Gerhart has also been filling in admirably for Adrian Peterson and last week gained 109 yards on just 11 carries showing the burst that made him a top pick a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n The Vikings might actually have \u00a0a little momentum heading into their season finale. \u00a0They won last week, are facing a reeling Bears team and have learned that Adrian Peterson\u2019s injury might not be as bad as originally thought. \u00a0That\u2019s about as much good vibes as this team as had all season. \u00a0Look for them to close with another victory.<\/p>\n ATS Pick: \u00a0Minnesota -1 NFL Handicapping – Bears vs Vikings The Chicago Bears have lost their last 5 games to fall out of the playoff race and under .500. \u00a0Truth be told I never really saw them as a legit contender and if they finish at .500 that seems about right, even though their path to getting there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":23352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1141],"tags":[123,5589,1534,1652,41182,466,667,1549,840,844,1303,7010],"class_list":["post-47137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","category-sports","tag-bears","tag-bears-vs-vikings","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicago-bears-vs-minnesota-vikings","tag-free-nfl-predictions","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-nfl-odds","tag-nfl-picks","tag-vikings","tag-week-17"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47143,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47137\/revisions\/47143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSunday January 1 – 1:00PM
\nMoneyline: \u00a0Minnesota -120, Chicago +100
\nSpread (ATS): Minnesota -1
\nOver\/Under: 41
\nOdds courtesy of 5Dimes<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOver\/Under Pick: \u00a0Over
\nScore Prediction: \u00a0Minnesota 28 – Chicago 17<\/p>\nCLICK HERE FOR THE BEST NFL FOOTBALL PICKS ALL SEASON LONG —–><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"