The Vikings will face a second straight NFC North opponent on Sunday when the team travels to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in Week 8.
Minnesota has not won a game in Chicago since 2007.
Teddy Bridgewater and the rest of the Vikings are aware of this streak and look to win consecutive games on the road for the first time in three years.
"I think we only have three guys on the roster who were on that team that won at Soldier Field, Chad [Greenway], Adrian [Peterson] and BRob [Brian Robison]," Bridgewater said during the weekly press conference Wednesday. We know it's a challenge ahead of us and we want to hopefully put an end to that streak."
We scoped the web to see what the experts are predicting for the division matchup this weekend.
Something always seems to happen to the Vikings at Soldier Field. Two years ago, it was a late-game meltdown, and last year it was a malfunctioning clock that led Bridgewater to think he needed to heave a last-second pass. The Bears' defense appears toothless enough this year, though, that the Vikings will leave with their first win in Chicago since 2007.
Vikings 34, Bears 14--Ben Goessling, ESPN
The Vikings are a bit like the Falcons: Not as good a team as their record suggests, but consistent enough to beat the bad teams. They should do it again in Chicago on Sunday.
Vikings 21, Bears 20--Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk
The Vikings won at Soldier Field only once since 2000. They last won there when Adrian Peterson was a rookie. With the team's most dynamic offensive rookie since Peterson (Stefon Diggs) stepping up in recent weeks, it could be time for Peterson to get his second career there.
Vikings 24, Bears 20--Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
A team featuring Adrian Peterson normally isn't considered a stealth contender, but that's what the Vikings are: 4-2, hardly in Green Bay's neighborhood in their division, but as of today, the last NFC wild-card team. They've beaten the Lions twice in the North, and the Bears and Lions are practically the same team right now, so there's no reason to believe the Vikings can't take care of this.
Vikings 26, Bears 7--David Steele, Sporting News
For a time last week, it looked like the Minnesota Vikings weren't quite ready to take the step from fringe contender to legitimate playoff threat.
However, after roaring back to down the Detroit Lions on the road, Max DeMara of 247Sports wrote that, in his opinion, the Vikings are the real deal:
Sunday, Minnesota did a great job of staying the course despite some early adversity on the road. Defensively, the Vikings are tough, rushing the quarterback with abandon and offensively, they've got a bruising runner and some speedy young wideouts. Sounds like a recipe for long-term contention this season.
The Vikings have taken on the personality of head coach Mike Zimmer. There isn't a lot of sizzle. There is, however, ample steak.
A punishing defense that sacked Matthew Stafford seven times with young talent from front to back. Tailback Adrian Peterson, who is, you know, Adrian Peterson. And a young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater who earned the praise of his head coach after last week's win, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.
Vikings--Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report
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.*
Win Percentage: 56.4 %, Average Score: Vikings 24.6, Bears 22.6--WhatIfSports.com
FiveThirtyEight's 2015 NFL forecast uses an Elo-based model to calculate each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning Super Bowl 50. Playoff probabilities are based on 20,000 simulations of the season and will update after each game.
Pre-game win probabilities: Vikings 63%--FiveThirtyEight.com
The Vikings are playing consecutive road games inside the division, which is tough. The Bears are coming off a bye. That's a big edge for the Bears. Minnesota has the look of a potential playoff team, but I think Jay Cutler and the offense get it going here. Bears take it in an upset.
Bears 28, Vikings 27--Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
5 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, CBS Sports
5 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, FOX Sports
8 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, Bleacher Report
5 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, SB Nation
