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Bears play final game today in Minnesota

The two afterthoughts in the NFC North,
Minnesota and Chicago, will finish their seasons in a battle to
avoid the cellar of the division.

The Vikings can at least hang their hat on the development of
rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who has had an impressive
105.7 passer rating over his past four starts.

The embattled Jay Cutler, meanwhile, will be back under center for
the Bears after a concussion ended Jimmy Clausen's one-game tenure
at the helm.

Cutler's future in Chicago remains murky as does the fates of
general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman as the
Bears missed the postseason for the seventh time in eight years.

"Jay gives us the best chance this week," Trestman said. "That's
why he'll be out there. "I believe that Jay can work his way out of
this. And I've enjoyed coaching him and working with him. And we
had dialogue last week. And we worked together last week. It was a
tough week on him. I empathize with him on that. But we're moving
forward."

Both teams are coming off losses in Week 16 with Minnesota
inventing a new way to come up empty in South Florida when Terrence
Fede blocked Jeff Locke's punt out of the end zone for a safety
with 41 seconds left, lifting the Dolphins to a 37-35 win.

The blocked punt, a direct result of Vikings' long snapper Cullen
Loeffler decision to deliver a ground ball back to Locke, came
after Damien Williams' 3-yard TD catch tied the game for the
Dolphins. The fourth quarter featured a combined 41 points between
the two non-playoff participants.

Bridgewater connected on 19-of-26 passes for 259 yards, two
touchdowns and an interception for the Vikings, who have lost two
in a row and will finish under .500 in Mike Zimmer's first year as
the team's head coach.

Matt Asiata carried the ball 16 times for 58 yards and two
touchdowns. Greg Jennings caught three passes for 56 yards and a
score but Minnesota's defense allowed a season-worst 493 yards of
total offense.

"One of the worst defensive performances I've seen in a long time,"
said Zimmer. "All of the things I've been trying to preach for 11
months, we didn't do."

The Bears, meanwhile, fell to Detroit, 20-14, when Joique Bell's
touchdown run in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference.

Clausen played admirably in the start in favor of the benched
Cutler. The former Notre Dame star finished the game 23-for-39 for
181 yards and a pair of touchdown passes along with an interception
for the Bears, who have lost their past four games. Matt Forte
rushed for 55 yards on 19 carries, and added six catches for 40
yards.

"I just went out there and competed, that's the biggest thing that
I think I did," said Clausen. "I showed that I could compete in
this league. But it's not about me or what I do, it's about winning
football games and that's what we wanted to do. We just came up a
little short."

Clausen, however, was diagnosed with a concussion after
experiencing delayed symptoms on Sunday night and has been ruled
out of the season finale. He suffered the concussion on Chicago's
final offensive possession when Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah
made helmet-to-helmet contact with him as the quarterback slid at
the end of a short scramble.

The Bears said Clausen didn't exhibit symptoms after the hit or
following the game. He contacted trainers after experiencing
delayed symptoms later Sunday night and was taken to a hospital,
where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

The Vikings lead their all-time series with the Bears by a 54-51-2
margin but have dropped two of three, including a 21-13 setback in
Chicago on Nov. 16 when Cutler passed for 330 yards and three TDs.
The Vikes have won nine of the last 12 played in Minneapolis,
however.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Confidence is a funny thing. Despite all his troubles and there
have been plenty, Cutler almost always plays well against
Minnesota, winning seven of his past eight starts against the
Vikings with 20 TD passes in those games.

The problem is he can't play the Vikings for all 16 games and
Cutler leads the NFL with 18 interceptions and 24 turnovers
overall, yet he is owed over $15 million next season after signing
a big-money extension in January. That contract and his hiring of
Trestman has put Emery in the cross hairs with "Black Monday"
looming.

Some think the talented Cutler has been treated unfairly, though,
and there is clearly a divide in the locker room, which also could
contribute to Trestman's ultimate fate.

"I feel really bad for Jay," injured kicker Robbie Gould told a
Chicago-area radio station this week. "When you're having a tough
season like this, he's not the guy to be the scapegoat. There's a
lot of guys you can put that blame on.""

One of those is the offensive-minded Trestman, who is 13-18 as the
head coach since replacing Lovie Smith in 2013. Trestman did indeed
improve Chicago's offense last season when Chicago averaged 27.8
points per game, second in the NFL, but that has dipped to 20.7
points this time around. The defense, meanwhile, has been a
disaster in both seasons under Trestman and defensive coordinator
Mel Tucker is all but out the door.

The Bears have been outscored by almost two touchdowns (13.0 ppg)
during their current four-game losing streak, the franchise's
longest since a five-game hiccup in 2011.

Zimmer's first season in Minnesota has been hampered by injuries
and off- the-field issues with what turned out to be an almost
year-long suspension to star running back Adrian Peterson for child
abuse, a development that essentially doomed the campaign.

Bridgewater, the 32nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, has been a
bright spot, really amping up his game over the past month or so.
The University of Louisville product has found the end zone at
least twice in four of his last five games and the Vikings offense
has averaged over 26 points a game over that stretch.

"It's pretty incredible to me what he's done," Minnesota offensive
coordinator Norv Turner said. "How he has handled (the adversity),
the things he's gotten done and what he's really done is made
everyone around him better and that's a quality that you're looking
for (in a quarterback)."

"He's very calm all the time," Zimmer added. "He's very
even-tempered. I'm trying to think if I've ever seen him upset that
you can visually see, and I have not seen it."

The Vikings' defense has a very difficult time handling the flats
in general without standout rookie linebacker Anthony Barr, who is
done of the season with a knee injury. The group then imploded
against Miami last weekend when veteran linebacker Chad Greenway
went down with a knee injury.

Greenway hasn't been able to practice this week so keep an eye on
Forte, who is fourth in the NFL with 118.1 yards from scrimmage per
game.

The game also marks the return of veteran defensive end Jared Allen
to Minnesota, where he spent the previous six years before signing
with Chicago as a free agent.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Expect the Vikings to close out the first of their two years at TCF
Bank Stadium with a field-goal win in what could be the swan song
for the trio of Emery, Trestman and Cutler in Chicago.

"It's important for this football team that we go out and we play
good, we play smart, we win because I appreciate all of the effort
and focus and everything that this team has done since I've walked
in here," Zimmer said. "It's good. To me, it's more about reaping
the benefits of the things that we've tried to do throughout the
course of the year."

Today's game can be heard on Newstalk 1060 with the Pre-Game
Show at 11:30.

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