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Reduce the competition to one game, one night, and the Minnesota Vikings are clear favorites over the Chicago Bears.
The Vikings have a decided advantage at receiver and running back. They have the more experienced and accomplished quarterback. They have the better record, the healthier roster (at the moment) and a more urgent reason to win when the teams play on "Monday Night Football" at Soldier Field.
Which franchise is in better shape?
That's a more interesting question.
The Bears appear to be headed for an overhaul no matter what they do Monday night or in the remaining weeks of the 2021 season — starting with a new general manager and coach. They have a few talented young players and a promising rookie quarterback.
The Bears have an endearing history but have underachieved relative to their talent, winning just one Super Bowl despite building a historically dominant team in 1985.
The Vikings appear to be headed for an overhaul, but could stave one off by winning Monday night, making the playoffs and performing impressively in the postseason. A loss would seem to usher in an offseason of change, but the Vikings would not be eliminated from the playoff race.
The Vikings have excellent skill-position players. As a franchise, they have underachieved relative to their talent, winning zero Super Bowls.
Both teams employ coaches who have had their moments. The Bears' Matt Nagy was the Coach of the Year in 2018 after producing a 12-4 record. He has produced zero playoff victories.
The Vikings' Mike Zimmer has produced three playoff teams in seven full seasons, but just two playoff victories.
The Vikings have a beautiful, relatively new stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
The Bears are vying for a new, state-of-the-art stadium to replace the ruins of Soldier Field.
Which team would you rather own, or run?
The simple answer might be: The team with the better record this year, and in recent history.
Since Nagy became the Bears coach in 2018, the Bears are 32-31, including playoffs. The Vikings are 32-30-2.
Since Zimmer became the Vikings coach in 2014, the Bears are 51-76 and the Vikings are 72-57-1.
Before Nagy's rookie season, the Bears hadn't won 12 regular-season games in a season since 2006. In 2017, Zimmer produced the Vikings' first 13-victory season since 1998, and did so with a backup quarterback and running back.
Neither has passed the eye test this season. Nagy seemed unsure how to game-plan for rookie quarterback Justin Fields. Zimmer has looked unusually flustered on the sideline this season while botching a number of clock-management decisions.
Perhaps the best way to measure the near-future of both franchises is by measuring their quarterbacks.
The Bears signed Andy Dalton as a placeholder and he is currently on the team's COVID reserve list. The Bears' drafting of Fields created a wave of fan optimism. Fields has made plays, running and passing, that justify such optimism, but his body of work is unimpressive.
The Vikings' Kirk Cousins has a cap hit of $31 million this year and $45 million next year, the last year of his contract. He has been an efficient passer and has a career-best interception rate of 1.0%.
His win-loss record hints that his impressive statistics are empty. He is 31-28-1 with the Vikings and 57-58-2 in the NFL.
Which team would I prefer to run, or own?
Judging the rosters by name recognition and statistics alone, I'd take the Vikings.
As someone who watches the games, I'd take the Bears. Because of Fields.
The Vikings are overpaying Cousins, which has limited their ability to upgrade other portions of the roster, and his $45 million cap hit for 2022 is ridiculously high for a player who is 1-2 in the playoffs.
Fields has a chance to be great, and wildly entertaining, and if he fails, the Bears can afford to cut ties and try again.
Cousins' paycheck makes him a liability that I wouldn't want to deal with if I were a new coach or general manager. Fields could be one of those magical players who elevates an entire franchise.
