***SWAMPENSTEIN MNF - MINN @ CHI***

***MINNESOTA VIKINGS @ CHICAGO BEARS***

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I don't know about you, but Swampy loves when a Prime Time game falls on Halloween! A good 'ol Black & Blue Division AKA the NFC North will take center stage tonight when the Purple People Eatin Minnesota Vikings head into Soldier Field to take on the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears. MuHaHaaa, at a first glance, one could take a look at this game and think that the Vikings and the best defense in the league would roll the wounded little cubbies. However a home dawg on Halloween Night increases the chances of the weird and unexplainable to occur! The Vikings finally suffered their first loss of the season last week in Philadelphia as QB Sam Bradford went up against his former team and got beat up as Swampy expected. Head Coach Mike Zimmer has called out his offensive line and said their play was "soft." That being said, there has been some clear frustration and confusion amongst the Vikings offensive line since losing their left tackle Matt Kalil to injury for the season, and it they may run into some trouble again here tonight. Emotions will be at a high level as the Bears have also been a team that was hit with the injury bug early and their record reflects that. With only 1 win against the Lions in week 4, da Bears will look to right the ship in a big way here at home tonight. This will somehow be Chitown's 4th Prime Time game already this season, and they have been embarrassed in the previous three. In week 2 while hosting the Rookie QB Carson Wentz and the Eagles they fell 29-14, and then on the road in Dallas they were blown out 31-17, and last week in Green Bay was the same losing the game 26-10. However I think da Bears are trending upwards and are in a prime spot to shock the league with an upset tonight. QB Jay Cutler was injured earlier this season and it remains unclear whether he wasn't healthy yet or just plain lost his job to backup QB Brian Hoyer who playing well enough to be competitive before breaking his arm early in the game against the Packers last week. Third string QB Matt Barkley came in relief since Cutler wasn't dressed for the game, and it was a disaster. So needless to say whether Cutler is 100% healthy or not, destiny has granted him the starting job back and it is now up to him where his career goes from here. It is no secret that Chicago has grown tired of the QB and his turnover prone play which is always followed by some bad body language that sends all the wrong signals. The media eats him alive saying he isn't a team guy and basically doesn't care enough. While all that could be true, I think tonight Jay will dress as the "good Jay Cutler" for this year's Halloween and if only for this once, will spark this offense and play well against a dominant defense. While Hoyer was pretty good during the last few games, I think top WR Alshon Jeffery misses his boy Jay Cutty and will be pumped to get him back knowing he will get back the targets that seemed to have disappeared with the QB. Love him or hate him, Cutler has a rocket arm, and if he is feeling it he has the capability to fit the rock into small windows that will surely be the only thing provided by this defense. I also really like the stable of RBs Chicago has in the rookie Jordan Howard, Ka'Deem Carey, and now they get back Jeremy Langford as well, who was their starter before injured earlier this season and will be active tonight. A steady dose of these guys will help to soften up the passing game for Cutler.

On the other side of the gridiron, the Vikings offense is struggling a bit. While their defense is top notch, the offense has a hard time putting up points. They have really relied on the defense to even score some times and the recent offensive line woes mentioned above do not help their cause. They have been hit hard with injuries in the backfield as well with not only losing Adrian Peterson but now also backup Jerick McKinnon, leaving them with the big bruising back in Matt Asiata. While Asiata is a reliable bellcow of a RB, he is not much of a threat to a defense with a strong defensive front, and yes with some guys returning from injuries, Chicago possesses just that. Da Bears now have LB Danny Trevathan back and also just returned one of their defensive leaders in LB Pernell McPhee as well. This is HUGE as these guys bolster the defense and coupled with the production of DE Willie Young & the recent emergence of first round rookie LB Leonard Floyd, this is a extremely strong unit. It is a shame that the secondary has also taken such a huge hit with injuries or this defense could be a great unit. However the secondary has been impressive to me when watching them these past couple of weeks. It is full of young talented guys looking to make a name for themselves and the effort is there. Getting torched in the second half by Aaron Rodgers has to be taken with a grain of salt. Before Hoyer went down and the Bears offense became anemic, they gave Rodgers a lot of trouble in the first half and da Bears actually had the lead at halftime. Tonight I think this defense feeds off of the energy of the home crowd of Soldier Field which will surely be buzzing on Halloween MNF up against a top NFL opponent and division rival. After his first real bad game in purple for Bradford, I think he might have some trouble shaking off the bad mojo from last week's beatdown, and Cutler is fresh after a mental vacation and will rise to the occassion. I expect a low scoring and hard hitting war between these two tonight, and it stinks to me like an upset. I think the ghost of WR Alshon Jeffery comes alive like Frankenstein tonight with a big game baby! BEARS+5