The Minnesota Vikings are looking to turn their season around amid a losing record and last place in the NFC North. They’ll face a fierce division rival, the Chicago Bears, who have quietly put themselves into the conversation for a playoff spot if they can keep finding ways to win.
They’ve managed to turn a corner under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, who has been trusting his quarterback, Caleb Williams, despite the constant scrutiny and criticism he’s faced. A lot of that arrived after the Bears dropped their season opener, and when Williams looked shaky in several other losses.
Following an injury hiatus, Minnesota has its young star quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, in the lineup for Sunday’s crucial home game against a Bears team he defeated in a comeback victory at Soldier Field to start the season. Even though the Vikings have that previous win, the Vikings coaching staff isn’t taking Caleb Williams and the Bears lightly.
During this week’s press conference, Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, Brian Flores, recently spoke about what Williams is doing this season and what his team must do to secure another vital win against the Bears.
“I think you can see major improvements, just from mechanics, command of the offense. You know, he’s still you know one of the most elusive and big-time quarterback mobility and arm strength and can make throws from every angle,” he said, adding that Williams is “certainly a lot better at just sitting in the pocket and making throws.”
He also said that Williams “looks like he thrives” in the big moments when he’s under pressure to lead his team to a victory.
“For us, we know that when it comes down to those moments-which most NFL games do-we’ve got to be at our best because he’s going to be at his best, and so are they. It’s a division game, so that’s probably what it’s going to be: a 60-minute battle,” he told reporters.
Flores extended his praise for the Bears offense, noting coach Johnson’s “great schematics” and how “everybody is playing well for them right now,” including the receivers, running backs, tight ends, and offensive line.
In September’s home game against the Vikings, Williams threw 21-of-35 completions for 210 yards and a touchdown. He also scored a rushing touchdown and took two sacks.
In that game, the Bears looked amazing on their opening drive for a touchdown, and through the first half. However, one of the major takeaways was that Minnesota scored 28 points in the fourth quarter and prevented Caleb and the Bears from getting a late-game win to start their season.
Since their season-opening win, the Vikings have stumbled, losing five of their next eight games. They currently sit at 4-5 in the division, below the Green Bay Packers at 5-3-1 and the Bears and Detroit Lions at 6-3. However, Minnesota holds wins against both Chicago and Detroit this season.
Another division win against the Bears could ultimately propel them to a win streak, or at least move them closer to a tiebreaker should it come down to that for an NFC Wild Card spot near the end of the season.
During his 21-season career in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin has suited up alongside a staggering 39.1 percent of all Capitals players who have ever played with the team since the franchise’s first game on October 9, 1974.
While the list of teammates is long, Ovechkin was recently asked during a sit-down interview on Bruce Boudreau and Jeff Marek’s Hockey Lifers Podcast to pick the three that he misses playing with the most.
Ovechkin, somewhat expectedly, went with the three other members of the Capitals’ Young Guns contingent from the late 2000s.
“Backe, Greenie, and Semin,” Ovechkin said. “Those three. I think we have the best time, relationship on the ice and off the ice. We grown up together. Yeah, those three guys I miss the most.”
Nicklas Backstrom began playing with The Great 8 during the 2007-08 campaign. The two would go on to play 17 seasons together, the majority of which were spent as linemates.
Backstrom’s 279 assists on Ovechkin’s 901 career goals are the most of any player, and no other Capitals teammate has even hit the 200 mark. The two star forwards grew very close as they grew up together on the Capitals, with Backstrom even following Ovechkin to Dynamo Moscow in the KHL during the 2012-13 NHL lockout.
Ovechkin and Backstrom won the franchise’s lone Stanley Cup together in 2018. After lifting the Cup on his own, Ovechkin handed the trophy to Backstrom and skated around Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena with his long-time running mate.
The two played their final game together on October 29, 2023. Backstrom soon after put his NHL career on hold due to lingering issues with his surgically repaired hip, never returning to the ice before his contract with the Capitals ended this past July. The 37-year-old Swede is back on the ice in his home country this year with Brynäs IF, and Ovechkin has said he was keeping up with his old center’s games.
Mike Green, one of the best defensemen in Capitals history, was selected by the Capitals in the same draft and round as Ovechkin in 2004. Green made his NHL debut with the club a week after Ovechkin burst onto the scene with two goals in his debut game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ovechkin and Green went on to play 10 seasons together with the Capitals before Green played the final five years of his career with the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers. Green’s 70 career assists on Ovechkin’s goals rank fourth most among Capitals, behind just Backstrom, John Carlson (158), and Evgeny Kuznetsov (110).
The Capitals never achieved much playoff success with Green on their roster, but, as a member of the Caps, he did join Ovechkin on the 2009 and 2010 NHL First All-Star teams and at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.
Alex Semin had already been selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2002 NHL Draft when Ovechkin went first overall two years later. After making his NHL debut during the 2002-03 season, Semin went back to the Russian Super League for two years before joining up with Ovechkin and the Capitals for the 2006-07 campaign.
Semin assisted on 45 of Ovechkin’s goals during their short time together, which encompassed six seasons. The two have remained close since Semin departed the NHL for Russia in 2015, with Semin traveling to DC shortly after Ovechkin broke the NHL’s goals record, attending the April 10 Capitals game where the team honored Ovechkin with a “Gr8ness Pre-Game Ceremony”.
After Ovechkin listed off his three old pals, Boudreau, who coached all four players at the same time, chimed in with his thoughts on Ovi’s picks.
“They’re good guys. I loved them,” Boudreau said. “Semin would give me the most trouble, and Greenie was the most secretive. You never knew what Mike was up to. But I had them all, and I loved them all, too. You know what, Semin, what people don’t realize sometimes, because there was you, and then there was Semin, he was so talented.”
Semin remains the only Capitals player other than Ovechkin to score 40 goals in a season since 2005-06. He had a career high 84 points (40g, 44a) in 73 games with the Capitals during the 2009-10 season.
“I think he’s the most skilled guy I ever saw in my hockey career,” Ovechkin said. “Because we growing up together in Russia, we play against each other and on national teams, and then when I get drafted by Washington, he was already here. When I came here, he stay in Russia for one year, and then he came back, and our relationship get so tight. Obviously, we hang out together, we go out, we go dinner, we play together, so, yeah, it was special moment.”