Imagine that before the season someone told you a 4-5 Minnesota Vikings team playing without Adrian Peterson and Matt Cassel was going on the road to face the Chicago Bears ... and that experts were torn over picking a winner.
Vikings vs. Bears 2014 picks and predictions: Slumping Chicago favored, but not by much
This game isn’t as easy to pick as it should be.
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
That’s how far the Bears, losers of five of their last six and fresh off a 55-14 blowout at Lambeau Field, have fallen. To be clear, they’re still favored by the experts. But at least two members on each of the three major pick ‘em panels are going with the Vikings, while the SB Nation crew is evenly split.
ESPN is the group most sure that Chicago will save face (or maybe Mike Ditka was in a grumpy mood and nobody wanted to upset him), with 11 of the 13 picking the Bears. But three of the seven experts at Fox Sports and two of the eight columnists, plus the Prediction Machine, at CBS Sports are siding with Minnesota.
It’s even closer at SB Nation, where our eight panelists are split right down the middle.
| Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | PFT Commenter | Matt Ufford | OddShark Computer | |
| MIN vs. CHI | MIN | MIN | CHI | CHI | CHI | CHI | MIN | MIN |
The Vikings are winners of two consecutive games and have seen improving play from Teddy Bridgewater, but the experts' indecisiveness has a lot more to do with Chicago's ineptitude than Minnesota's success. The Bears, who were thought of before the season as a division title contender, have been outscored 133-51 in their last three games and trailed the Green Bay Packers by 42 points at halftime last Sunday.
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