Chicago Bears: Pros and cons of starting Mitchell Trubisky in Week 5

Con 2: Vikings a tough opponent for first game

On one hand, no game in the National Football League is easy. Everyone’s a professional, and any defense can play well on a given day.

That said, the Minnesota Vikings could represent a pretty tough challenge for Trubisky.

In particular, the Vikings excel at stopping the run, giving up just 71.2 yards per game thus far. And given that the running backs have been the only good thing about the Bears offense, you can bet the Vikings will be dead set on taking them away.

Also, the Vikings possess a true shutdown corner in Xavier Rhodes. That means someone’s probably going to get taken away almost completely.

If I were Minnesota, I’d probably put Rhodes on popular third-down slot target Kendall Wright. In Trubisky’s short time with the first unit, he did look to Wright on short throws fairly often even as Glennon did.

That said, the Vikings as a whole have given up a decent amount of passing yards this season outside of Rhodes. For example, they currently sit at 22nd overall both in passing yards per game (246.8) and completion percentage (67.8).

While those numbers don’t necessarily mean they’re “easy” to throw on, perhaps there’s a reason to think Trubisky could have some success against them. He’d need to target whoever Rhodes isn’t covering, of course, but the Bears can get things done against Trae Waynes.

Still, the Vikings are loaded with speed and talent on defense, and it’s not unreasonable to think that they’ll hassle Trubisky a bit more than, say, the New Orleans Saints would.