Vikings at Bears
Noon Sunday at Soldier Field (Ch. 9, 100.3-FM)
ABOUT THE BEARS
• The Bears (3-13) dropped a ninth straight game, looking worthy of their current No. 2 overall draft slot in a 41-10 loss in Detroit last week. Chicago's defense surrendered a season-worst 504 yards to the Lions, including over half — 265 yards — on the ground.
• Safety Jaquan Brisker has been Chicago's most productive pass rusher with a team-leading four sacks. The Bears' relatively toothless defense has the fewest sacks (20 in 16 games) leaguewide. Two of their best defenders, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Eddie Jackson, are on injured reserve. Another, linebacker Roquan Smith, was traded to Baltimore after eight games.
• Chicago's 28th-ranked offense has a talented backfield between running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert. But they've played a complementary role to second-year quarterback Justin Fields, who has been the Bears' leading rusher in nine of the past 11 games he's played. Fields has been ruled out because of a hip injury.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT | QB Nathan Peterman
• Nathan Peterman, the 28-year-old journeyman, will make his first start since 2018 while replacing the injured Fields. Peterman is the third Bears quarterback to start this season after Fields and Trevor Siemian, who is on injured reserve. Peterman made four NFL starts for the Bills, throwing one touchdown to 10 interceptions in those games.
• Receiver Darnell Mooney leads the Bears with 493 receiving yards, and he has been on injured reserve since Nov. 29. Ex-Steelers receiver Chase Claypool's role has been uneven since Chicago traded for him at the deadline. He didn't have a catch last week.
• Peterman on his first start since 2018: "It's an awesome opportunity. It's been a few years. Still got to play a lot of football in the preseason, but obviously a regular-season game is an amazing opportunity. I'm looking forward to it. There's been a lot of hard work put into this season."
COACH SPEAK | Matt Eberflus
• First-year head coach Matt Eberflus hasn't been equipped with a talented roster while first-year general manager Ryan Poles rebuilds. Eberflus, the 52-year-old former Colts defensive coordinator, is overseeing the league's worst scoring defense (27.1 points per game).
• Contract decisions and injuries thinned a once-vaunted Bears defense that ranked no worse than 11th in yardage allowed for five straight years from 2017-2021. Star defenders Khalil Mack and Roquan Smith were traded, and half the secondary is on injured reserve.
• Eberflus on what Fields needs to improve as a passer: "The rhythm and timing of it. Being able to ride the pocket and deliver the ball down the field. But there's a lot of nuances to that, there's a lot of detail to that. We're excited about that going forward."