By Judd Zulgad
The Vikings opened as 6.5-point favorites over Chicago for Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium, but anyone who thinks the Bears will simply be happy to take a loss and hold onto the third-seed in the NFC isn’t paying attention.
While the Vikings will clinch a playoff spot with a victory, the Bears could move up to the second seed in the NFC, and get a first-round bye, if they beat Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams are upset at home to San Francisco. The Vikings would be ousted from the postseason if they lose to Chicago and Philadelphia wins in Washington. If the Vikings lose and the Eagles lose, then the Vikings will be in the postseason.
The NFL has all three games involving these teams starting at 3:25 p.m., so there will be some serious scoreboard watching going on. There are some who feels the Bears will pull their starters if the Rams take a big lead on San Francisco — a Los Angeles win will secure the No. 2 seed — but if the 49ers stay close Chicago will have every reason to try to win.
Bears coach Matt Nagy said Monday that his team is not in a spot to rest its starters.
“If we were in a position where you can’t move at all seed-wise and you were just locked in, then I think that’s something [resting starters] that you have to discuss,” Nagy said, according to a story on ESPN.com. “But we’re not in that position. So we have to play to win, and I kind of like that. I don’t mind that at all, and I think that our guys kind of like it. It just kind of keeps you going if you were fortunate enough to make it to the playoffs. It keeps you going in that rhythm.”
The Bears, who beat the Vikings 25-20 in Week 11 at Soldier Field, already clinched the NFC North a week ago with a victory over Green Bay and then beat San Francisco on Sunday. A win this coming Sunday would give them a 12-4 record for the season.
“You understand that when you’re in the position that we’re in right now, anything can happen to these other teams,” Nagy told reporters. “So you can’t just say, ‘This team’s going to win’ or ‘This team’s going to lose.’ Anything can happen.
“So what you can control is winning your game as much as possible. If you don’t do that, and then the other team has a chance to lose, and they lose, and you didn’t go about it the right way, now you just let that slip. So we need to go about this thing next week just like we have every other game. If you don’t do that, it changes how you approach your week mentally, how you approach it pregame. So that’s not what we’re going to do.”
The post Bears have no plans to rest starters in regular-season finale vs. Vikings appeared first on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Source:: 1500 ESPN Sportswire
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