The Minnesota Vikings defense is trending in the right direction. If there is a way to expose them it could be with Tarik Cohen
The Minnesota Vikings have not been the elite defense that we remember in the past. Of course, they have shuffled Everson Griffen, Anthony Barr, Xavier Rhodes, and Andrew Sendejo in and out of the lineup. Most of them have started to get back into the lineup and it has helped them.
However, if they have had one weakness this year, it is passes to the running back. The Vikings ranked 30th in passes to the running back. They are giving up 7.5 yards per catch to the running backs, which has them at 28th in the NFL. However, they do rank 13th in success rate to running backs.
That could be because they have not faced teams who are strong at passing to running backs. They have only played two teams above average in success rate when passing to running backs. The San Francisco 49ers, in Week One and the New Orleans Saints. However, with Tarik Cohen the Bears do rank higher than both.
The 49ers just lost Jerrick McKinnon and did not discover Matt Breida yet.However, Kyle Juscyk beat the Vikings for 56 yards. The New Orleans Saints used Alvin Kamara as a staple of their offense, getting him seven receptions. You can see from all of the green in his route chart that he was turning up field with space after the catch.
The Chicago Bears should bring this same mentality to their matchup on Sunday night. With some of their key pieces coming back on defense, the big effect has shown in terms of pass rush. The Vikings picked up ten sacks just last week.
They will blitz Trubisky, who has not been strong under those lights before. The easiest way to give Trubisky poise and take pressure away is to dump passes off to the running back.
Look for the Chicago Bears to roll with Tarik Cohen early into the game and throughout the game on Sunday.