WEEK 18 · FINAL
THE READ
Vikings win the turnover battle and the game
Bears could not stop handing it over, and Vikings made it count — 12-0. Montez Sweat got after the quarterback for Bears — 3.5 sacks — in a losing effort. Colston Loveland was the target for Bears — 4 catches, 90 yards. J.J. McCarthy is still searching for it — 12 rushing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 17. On the ground: Vikings 49, Bears -7.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | -15.1 | -2.3 | -12.8 | -17 |
| Vikings | -18.6 | -2.4 | -16.2 | -13 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
IN THE BOOTH
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
Chicago threw 27 times and ran once—Keenum's 4 interceptions made it impossible to stay ahead, and when you're that desperate to pass, your ground game doesn't just disappear, it never had a chance.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Montez Sweat
Bears
3.5 sacks
Colston Loveland
Bears
4 catches, 90 yards
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Vikings 49, Bears -7
Vikings
Through the air
Bears 120, Vikings 82
Bears
Total yards
Vikings 131, Bears 113
Vikings
Giveaways
Vikings 1, Bears 4
Vikings
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 72% · Rush 28% · 19.6 scored, 32.4 allowed
8.8 yds/att
51.6% completions
7.4 yds/carry
269.5 yds/game
2.4 giveaways/game
15.4% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 49 · Aggressive
Balance 78
Ball security 34
Back usage 11%
QB runs 5.4/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 15.4% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 92
WR 77
TE 85
RB 79
OL 77
DL 80
LB 80
DB 83
Best: Caleb Williams QB 92
Fastest: Zavion Thomas WR 96 SPD
3 at star dev or better
Out:
Caleb Williams QB 92 · 7wk · Colston Loveland TE 85 · 7wk · Zavion Thomas WR 76 · 5wk · Sam Roush TE 66 · 4wk
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 65% · Rush 35% · 17.9 scored, 34.1 allowed
6.9 yds/att
53.2% completions
4.6 yds/carry
242.4 yds/game
2.1 giveaways/game
9.4% sack rate
last 5: 2-3
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 33 · Turnover-prone
Balance 85
Ball security 41
Back usage 27%
QB runs 3.2/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 9.4% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 75
WR 88
TE 83
RB 78
OL 82
DL 81
LB 79
DB 81
Best: Justin Jefferson WR 97
Fastest: Demond Claiborne HB 93 SPD
3 at star dev or better
Out:
Jalen Redmond DT 79 · 8wk
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
Bosskoss21
Vikings · his last 8 games
Throws it
Gives it away
One back
Takes sacks
Pass / run63% / 37%
Points for / against22.9 — 29.8
Margin-6.9
Giveaways a game2.0
Sacks taken9.7% of dropbacks
Lead backJordan Mason · 12.4/g
Top targetJustin Jefferson · 36%
QB carries3.4 a game
Lamy
Bears · his last 8 games
Throws it
Gives it away
Runs the quarterback
Takes sacks
Pass / run70% / 30%
Points for / against23.1 — 32.1
Margin-9.0
Giveaways a game2.5
Sacks taken13.2% of dropbacks
Lead backKyle Monangai · 5.6/g
Top targetColston Loveland · 27%
QB carries5.0 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES
Lamy against Bosskoss21 — the men, not the teams
All square at 1-1.
Bosskoss21 won the last one.
2 meetings
avg 14.0 — 9.5
biggest: 21 pts to Lamy
S1 · week 18
Lamy 0 — 12 Bosskoss21
BOSSKOSS21
S1 · week 2
Lamy 28 — 7 Bosskoss21
LAMY
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Bears receivers vs Vikings secondary
77 v 81
VIKINGS
Vikings receivers vs Bears secondary
88 v 83
VIKINGS
Bears line vs Vikings front
77 v 81
VIKINGS
Vikings line vs Bears front
82 v 80
EVEN
Bears backs vs Vikings run defence
79 v 80
EVEN
Vikings backs vs Bears run defence
78 v 80
EVEN
Bears passer vs Vikings secondary
92 v 81
BEARS
Vikings passer vs Bears secondary
75 v 83
BEARS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
BEARS
VIKINGS
BEARS
VIKINGS
BEARS
VIKINGS
BEARS
VIKINGS
BEARS
VIKINGS
BEARS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case Keenum QB | 9/27 | 120 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 45 | 8.7 |
VIKINGS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.J. McCarthy QB | 11/22 | 82 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 40.3 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colston Loveland TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Case Keenum QB | 1 | -7 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
VIKINGS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.J. McCarthy QB | 5 | 28 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 0 |
| Jordan Mason HB | 8 | 21 | 2.6 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 17 | 0 |
| Jauan Jennings WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colston Loveland TE | 4 | 90 | 22.5 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 45 |
| Luther Burden III WR | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
VIKINGS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Jefferson WR | 4 | 51 | 12.8 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 24 |
| Jordan Addison WR | 2 | 28 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| T.J. Hockenson TE | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jauan Jennings WR | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
BEARS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malik Muhammad CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montez Sweat LEDG | 4 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coby Bryant FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ruben Hyppolite II SAM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylon Johnson CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dillon Thieneman SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shemar Turner REDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zane Durant DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Sanborn MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Lewis SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Devin Bush MIKE | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyrique Stevenson CB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyler Gordon CB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
VIKINGS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Golday MIKE | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Metellus SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ifeatu Melifonwu FS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Domonique Orange DT | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Van Ginkel REDG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Pierre CB | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Demmings CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas Turner LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blake Cashman MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaiah Rodgers Sr CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jakobe Thomas SS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Murphy Jr CB | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BEARS
nothing recorded
VIKINGS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will Reichard K | 4/5 | 0/0 | 48 |
RECENT FORM
Bears
L
34–37 vs Lions
WK 17
L
16–35 vs Packers
WK 16
W
33–28 vs Bills
WK 15
Vikings
L
8–34 vs Jets
WK 17
W
35–10 vs Commanders
WK 16
L
23–28 vs Lions
WK 15
TEAM STATS
| Bears | Vikings | |
|---|---|---|
| 113 | TOTAL YARDS | 131 |
| 120 | PASSING YARDS | 82 |
| -7 | RUSHING YARDS | 49 |
| 4 | SACKS ALLOWED | 4 |
| 4 | SACKS MADE | 4 |
| 4 | GIVEAWAYS | 1 |
| 1 | TAKEAWAYS | 4 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
1
BEARS
—
1
VIKINGS