The Minnesota Vikings are the popular pick to win Sunday Night Football at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. It’s not hard to see why. They were the prohibitive Super Bowl favorite this offseason after going to the NFC championship last year. They still have a great defense and signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to bolster the offense. Combine that with their greater winning experience, it’s an easy sell.
Of course one facet that always plays a big part in such games is healthy. The past few years whenever the Vikings and Bears met, the former was always the healthier team. This time around that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Bears have just two players on their injury report in Dion Sims and Javon Wims. Neither can be considered critical to their game plan.
There’s also the fact that Adam Shaheen, their former 2nd round pick could be activated for the game. That is potentially more firepower for their offense. Meanwhile, Minnesota is a bit banged up. Their latest injury report indicates they will be without two unheralded names for the game.
#Vikings rule out TE David Morgan and S Andrew Sendejo. Questionable: LB Anthony Barr, OT Tom Compton and G Mike Remmers
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) November 16, 2018
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Minnesota Vikings will miss Andrew Sendejo especially
Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo spends a lot of time in the shadow of teammate Harrison Smith, but he’s a key part of that secondary. It’s evident in how few times quarterbacks have targeted him in coverage and how little success they’ve had when they do. For the year Sendejo has seen seven passes thrown in his direction. Only four were completed and he knocked away two of them, holding QBs to a pedestrian 83.6 passer rating.
Minnesota has done a good job the past few weeks masking his absence thanks to their pass rush but there have been openings from time to time that can be exploited. Namely when veteran George Iloka is on the field, who is a coverage liability.
As for David Morgan? The big tight end has been a huge part of their pass protection on offense. In 41 pass blocking snaps, he’s allowed just one pressure on the quarterback. With Khalil Mack up next? That’s a problem. It will be interesting to see how the Vikings adjust.
