STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
NFL Team Report - Chicago Bears</h2><br>PLAYER NOTES<p></p> --TE Dion Sims (concussion) did not practice Wednesday and his status for Sunday's game is in question.<p></p> --TE Adam Shaheen continues to practice but the Bears have not yet indicated whether he'll be activated this week from injured reserve. Shaheen said the foot injury is now a matter of regaining full mobility after the surgery he had.<p></p> PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: CB Prince Amukamara. Amukamara made his second interception of the year last week and is one away from his career high. Amuakamara, an eight-year veteran, is known for his ability to play tight press coverage despite lacking great size. He's not necessarily a great fielder of the ball and had his first Bears interception in Week 2 this season against Seattle, but was adept enough in coverage last year without making a pick that the Bears gave him a three-year, $27 million deal, including $18 guaranteed. He'd played in Chicago in 2017 on a one-year contract. Amukamara has five passes deflected this season, two less than all last season, and last week against the Lions had not only his interception but also a season-high eight tackles.<p></p> GAME PLAN: The Bears defense should recognize what they're seeing when they see Minnesota's offense, since Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo was with the Eagles in their Super Bowl run under Doug Pederson, and the Bears use a similar-styled approach on offense with Matt Nagy. The run portion of the RPO is more pronounced for the Bears, and the Bears will do more power-style running than they use because of Mike Zimmer's preferences, but essentially the idea is to spread out defenses and get upfield in the gaps. Playing man-to-man coverage will be very difficult for defensive backs because of matchup problems with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. They'll need a varied approach in coverage with disguises, which could be effective because quarterback Kirk Cousins has faced Vic Fangio's Bears defense only twice and never when they had the type of personnel they now have. The Bears are becoming adept at using the slot defender blitz with Bryce Callahan, and could find this effective as the Packers used it against the Vikings.<p></p> Minnesota's defensive approach is one familiar to Chicago, although not necessarily to Nagy. It's likely the Vikings will want to put as much pressure on Mitchell Trubisky as possible with A-gap blitzes. They did it successfully last season. Drag routes to Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen or even tight end Trey Burton can be successful when the Vikings blitz and leave open areas over the middle. Shorter, quicker receivers can give the Vikings fits. The Rams' shorter receivers had strong days against them. The deeper sideline routes and back-shoulder throws should be considerations, but the Vikings' defenders are taller in the secondary and defend these well. Moving Trubisky in the pocket and out of it to vary launch points is essential to keeping him from being sacked as often as Matthew Stafford was by the Vikings (10 times).<p></p>MATCHUPS TO WATCH<p></p> --Bears S Adrian Amos, who has a fumble recovery and interception, vs. Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph, who has 34 receptions and two touchdowns. The Bears have tried for years to get all the Vikings wide receivers covered and also keep an eye on Rudolph. Usually they did a fair job on the receivers, and Rudolph torched them. His career game came against them in 2016, 11 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Rudolph has 40 catches for 371 yards and four TDs against the Bears. Amos is probably not enjoying the same type of season as last year when he made it among Pro Football Focus' best safeties in the NFL, but hasn't been consistently beaten in coverage.<p></p> --Bears WR Anthony Miller, who is coming off his career highs in receptions in back-to-back weeks, vs. Vikings CB Trae Waynes, who has seven passes deflected. The battle on the other side between Allen Robinson II and Xavier Rhodes will be physical and it's likely Robinson will be negated or at least diminished in effectiveness compared to last week. So Miller will need to have another week like against the Lions, when he had five catches for a career-best 122 yards and a TD.<p></p> --Bears LB Roquan Smith, who has double figures in tackles for three of his last five games, vs. Vikings RB Dalvin Cook, who fan for 89 yards and had 20 yards receiving against Detroit in his last game. Cook came back from injury in his last game and after another week off for the bye, should be as healthy as he was opening day. His combination of speed and athleticism make him a matchup problem for any defense trying to find a way to cope with the Vikings' other receivers. And Minnesota would love to dump the ball off to him five times or more in the passing game. Smith is coming on strong and overwhelmed backs in the last two games an both the running game and passing game. The Bears want to match him on Cook because of his great speed.
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