The Vikings have two offensive stars who would be problematic for any team in wide receiver Justin Jefferson and running back Dalvin Cook, but they’re especially concerning for the Bears.
Every defense begins its game plan against the Vikings by zeroing in on Jefferson, and for the Bears, that would mean deciding whether to have top cornerback Jaylon Johnson shadow him the entire game. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams prefers not to do that, but given how good Jefferson is and how unproven the Bears’ cornerbacks are, it would be a smart move.
One snag: Johnson might not be there.
He missed practice Wednesday with a quadriceps injury that kept him out of the last two games, and coach Matt Eberflus gave no indication if it’s realistic to hope he’ll be ready by Sunday.
If he isn’t, that will leave Kindle Vildor or rookie Kyler Gordon to tangle with arguably the most explosive wide receiver in the game.
Jefferson announced himself as a rookie with 88 catches for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns and has only gotten better. Since entering the league, he leads the NFL with 3,409 receiving yards. He topped 100 yards in three of his four matchups against the Bears.
And this season, he already has 28 catches for 393 yards and two touchdowns. He has more receiving yards than everyone on the Bears combined.
Even if he plays, Johnson might need a little help containing Jefferson.
But if it’s up to Vildor and Gordon, the Bears could have issues.
The gap between Johnson and the other cornerbacks was illustrated as clearly as possible by the fact that he didn’t face a pass in the first two games. There’s no need to throw at him when better options present themselves.
While the front office’s projections for Gordon are sky-high, he hasn’t found his footing yet. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers went after him in Week 2, and that has served as a blueprint for subsequent opponents.
Pro Football Reference says he has allowed a 114.9 passer rating, and Vildor, a 2020 fifth-rounder who has yet to establish himself, is at 112.7.
Cook is almost as much of an issue.
The Bears have typically stumped him, but most of the defenders from the teams that held him to 68.9 rushing yards per game and 3.7 per carry over his career are gone.
The current Bears have gotten steamrolled this season. While they’ve allowed the 11th-fewest points, they’ve given up an NFL-worst 183.3 rushing yards per game. They’ve yielded the third-most yards per carry at 5.1.
“We certainly have a lot of work to do,” Eberflus said.
Cook made the last three Pro Bowls — he averaged 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns per season — and is eyeing a defense that let Saquon Barkley rush for 147 yards last week. Off to a slow start at 69.8 rushing yards per game and a career-low 4.4 per carry, Cook surely sees this as a chance to get rolling again.
“I’m sure they won’t stop running the ball,” Bears defensive end Robert Quinn said. “If we don’t slow him down, it sets up the play-action and all that other stuff. You want to stop the run, and that should make everything a little easier.
“It sets up everything else [for an offense] if you can’t stop the run. Then it’s kinda, to be honest, demoralizing.”
The Bears’ defense, despite its obvious flaws, is still their greatest cause for optimism at the moment.
That group has kept the floundering offense in games. If it can’t get a reasonable handle on Jefferson and Cook, this one could get out of hand quickly.
