The Minnesota Vikings have little to play for in their regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears on Sunday in Minneapolis.
The Vikings, after all, are locked into the NFC’s sixth seed. A win, loss or tie on Sunday does nothing to alter their standing going forward.
With that in mind, does that mean coach Mike Zimmer will opt to rest his starters before the Vikings take their show on the road for the playoffs?
Or will Zimmer elect to play his starters in some — if not all — of the regular-season finale as a means to distance themselves from last Monday’s 23-10 clunker against Green Bay?
“I haven’t really decided yet. So I don’t know the answer to that,” Zimmer told reporters earlier this week.
Minnesota’s ailing backfield may benefit from an additional week of rest, with Dalvin Cook (shoulder, chest) and rookie Alexander Mattison (high ankle sprain) nursing injuries. Both backs were limited during Wednesday’s walkthrough practice after missing the game Monday.
Linebackers Eric Kendricks (quadriceps) and Anthony Barr (hamstring) could also be on the sideline for Sunday’s game after sustaining their injuries against the Packers. Kendricks was the lone member of the team that did not participate in Wednesday’s walkthrough.
The injury-depleted Vikings mustered just 139 yards of offense and were limited to 22:28 of time of possession against the Packers on Monday, a loss which allowed Green Bay to secure the NFC North title.
“Winning the division is great and everything because you get a home playoff game, but we weren’t good enough to do that so we’ll just keep trying to do something better,” Zimmer said.
While Adam Thielen’s troublesome hamstring may benefit from another week of rest, fellow wideout Stefon Diggs looks to cap his career season in style. The 26-year-old Diggs, who has recorded a personal-best 1,130 receiving yards this season, has seven touchdown catches in eight career games against Chicago.
Diggs was kept out of the end zone in the Vikings’ 16-6 loss to the Bears on Sept. 29, although he matched a season high with seven catches to go along with 108 yards receiving.
While the Bears scored 16 points in that contest, that’s also their sum of their last two games after losses to Green Bay and Kansas City.
Mitchell Trubisky threw for just 157 yards in a 26-3 loss against the Chiefs, resulting in the Soldier Field faithful booing the home team off the field.
“I think the biggest message for our team and for us is continuing to discuss what we’ve talked about all year long,” coach Matt Nagy said. “It’s not easy, but (we have) to stay mentally focused knowing it’s our obligation. There’s a pride element I think for all of us, so that’s what we’ll be looking for.”
Trubisky had a brief cameo in the last encounter with the Vikings before exiting with a left shoulder injury. Chase Daniel came on and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Tarik Cohen in the first quarter.
Khalil Mack recorded 1.5 of his team’s six sacks in that game to boost his personal total to 3.5 in four career contests versus Minnesota. He has 8.5 sacks in 2019 and needs 1.5 more to record his fifth consecutive season in double digits.
