The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ season finale at the Vikings:
RICK MORRISSEY
Vikings 24-13
This season can’t end soon enough. It began with Super Bowl hopes and fell apart under the weight of those expectations. In a way, it’s only right that it concludes with another loss. A 7-9 record would definitively tell the Bears that changes are in order. Season: 9-6.
RICK TELANDER
Vikings 24-10
Meaningless game? Ha! They’ve all been meaningless for the Bears this year. Or just the opposite—quite important—since they slowly revealed this team for what it is: bland and blah. Isn’t .500 just right? It is. Season: 10-5.
PATRICK FINLEY
Bears 20-18
Locked into the sixth seed, the Vikings have no motivation to try. The bet here is that Mitch Trubisky is better than, say, three quarters of play from the Vikings’ second-string quarterback, whose name I had to look up. (It’s Sean Mannion). Season: 11-4.
MARK POTASH
Vikings 17-14
The Bears seem to have the Vikings’ number under Matt Nagy — 3-0, including a 16-6 victory in Week 4. Bears will be game for this, but at the end of a long season, it remains to be seen how much they have left. Season: 9-6.
JASON LIESER
Bears 17-7
The Bears will pounce on the chance to finish 8-8 in a game that otherwise has no stakes for either team. Nagy has had this team’s number ever since he arrived. Assuming the Bears play most of their starting defense, it’ll be a nightmare for Kirk Cousins. Look for Trubisky to have a rebound game, maybe even 200-plus yards. Season: 9-6.
