Three things to know about the Chicago Bears' Week 10 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings - The Herald-News

The Bears return to NFC North division play this week with a matchup against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football.

The Bears (5-4) have lost three in a row, while the Vikings (3-5) have won two straight.

Here are three things to know about the Minnesota Vikings:

Dalvin Cook, Dalvin Cook and more Dalvin Cook

Ever heard of this guy? Word on the street is he’s pretty good.

Cook overtook Tennessee’s Derrick Henry as the NFL’s leading rusher this week, so for the second consecutive week, the Bears will face the NFL’s top rusher.

Cook’s last two games were unreal.

In Week 8 vs. Green Bay, he found the end zone four times. Cook rushed 30 times for 163 yards and three touchdowns, while catching two passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.

In Week 9 against Detroit, Cook totaled 206 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries for a ghastly 9.36 yards per carry average. He caught another two passes for 46 yards because why not?

Again: Unreal.

Cook currently has four of the top 10 rushing performances yardage-wise in the NFL this season.

Kirk Cousins remains mistake prone

Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings feature the worst interception rate in the NFL. Cousins has had 4.78% of his passes intercepted.

Cousins’ 10 interceptions aren’t worst in the league. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has thrown 12. But Wentz has also attempted 130 more passes than Cousins.

Cousins has thrown an interception in five of eight games and has thrown three picks twice this year. That is exactly what this Bears defense needs. The Bears defense has five interceptions on the year, which ranks tied for 23rd in the league.

Cousins didn’t throw a pick in his one matchup against the Bears last season at Soldier Field, but he was sacked six times. He sat out the Week 17 game against the Bears as the Vikings prepared for the postseason.

The Minnesota defense is porous

If the Bears can pull together some semblance of an offensive line, this will be an opportunity to put the offense back on track. Minnesota is allowing 29.3 points per game (25th in the NFL), 412.9 total yards (29th), 125 rushing yards (20th) and 287.9 passing yards (30th).

The defense is down to just five of its expected starters coming out of training camp – tackle Shamar Stephen, linebackers Eric Kendricks and Eric Wilson, and safeties Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris. It's definitely a work in progress in Minnesota.

That being said, the Vikings picked off the Detroit Lions three times on Sunday, twice against Lions starting quarterback Matthew Stafford and once against backup Chase Daniel. They allowed 20 points in a 34-20 win, which marked a season-best for Minnesota.