The Bears told the Vikings to meet them in Decatur. The Vikings once got fined for getting stuck in traffic and showing up late to a game in Pontiac, Mich., but that was when Bud Grant was coach. You didn’t rush Grant. Didn’t fool him much either. The Vikings are quite likely to show up in Champaign.
Q: How many times have the Bears opened their season against the Vikings?
A: Not often. After George Halas did the expansion Vikings a favor and opened their inaugural season of 1961, only to suffer a stunning upset led by Fran Tarkenton, the Bears curiously didn’t open against the Vikings again for 30 years. That was in 1991, when Mike Ditka got revenge for the 1961 loss, which happened to be Ditka’s first game as a Bears rookie. Ditka got so frustrated during his very first game as a pro that he got into a fight with a teammate, something nobody expects Marc Colombo to do Sunday, because times have changed. This is only the fifth opening-day meeting between the two.
Q: The Vikings won only five games last year and the Bears won 13, so isn’t this a mismatch?
A: You jest. The Vikings are talking about winning the Super Bowl, just like the 5-11 Patriots did the year before.
Q: Super Bowl?
A: Everybody is talking Super Bowl, although coach Mike Tice adopted a lower public profile last week, saying: “What do you think, we can go 11-5, 12-4? We’ll have to fight our butts off to try and win eight games.”
Q: Don’t the Vikings have an entirely new defense?
A: Only eight new players. Or maybe nine. One, middle linebacker Greg Biekert, showed up last week. If their bus driver is big, he might suit up. Change on their defense is not a bad thing. A bad thing was last year’s defense.
Q: Isn’t it true that the Bears play Randy Moss better than anybody else plays him?
A: In their four games against the Bears, Daunte Culpepper and Moss have hooked up for only one touchdown. Of the former NFC Central teams that have faced Moss eight times in his career, the Bears have corralled him best. Although he has more catches (47) against the Bears than the Lions (45), Packers (40) and Buccaneers (30), he has caught fewer touchdown passes against the Bears (5) than against the Lions (8), Packers (7) or Bucs (7). Moss’ single-game bests of 12 catches and 204 yards came against the Bears in 1999, but he scored no TDs in that game.
Q: Do the Bears play him differently?
A: “They play what we call a `cloud’ coverage,'” Tice said. “One short, one deep and still keep the free safety in the middle. It’s not a `cover-2′ that a lot of teams play.” A cover-2 would leave the middle of the field vulnerable. Said Tice: “The only way to get them out of that is to be patient.” Added Culpepper: “Their philosophy is to make you slowly beat them up the field. We’ve got to be patient.”
Q: Are the Vikings patient?
A: Can’t wait to find out.
