— Dan Wiederer The Bears will wrap up the regular season Sunday in Minneapolis, facing a hungry Vikings team that can clinch a wild-card berth with a win. The Bears controlled the first meeting this season, taking a 14-0 halftime lead and rolling to a 25-

Protect Mitch Pregame analysis: The Vikings are a different defense on home turf. They’ve collected 33 of their NFL-best 50 sacks this season in home games. And they will continue to be aggressive coming after Mitch Trubisky as both a passer and a runner. Even before Trubisky suffered a shoulder injury late in the Bears’ Nov. 18 win over the Vikings, he seemed to be playing with fire as he used his legs to create plays. Before a kneel-down on the game’s final snap, Trubisky ran nine times for 44 yards, flustering the Vikings with his scrambling ability. “I probably didn’t know he was as fast as he was,” Mike Zimmer acknowledged this week. With an athletic and aggressive defense, the Vikings kept coming after Trubisky, enough so that safety Harrison Smith delivered a late hit on a designed run in the fourth quarter. That shot injured Trubisky’s throwing shoulder and kept him out for two games. That’s as good a reminder as any that everyone needs to do their part in keeping Trubisky out of harm’s way. That’s on the offensive line, the coaching staff and Trubisky himself.

Attack Cousins Pregame analysis: Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had one of his worst games of the season against the Bears six weeks ago, flustered from the start. With 8:30 left in the game, Cousins was 16-for-26 for 134 yards with two interceptions and a 42.8 rating. He padded his stats down the stretch, leading two late touchdown drives as the Vikings tried to rally from 16 points down. Cousins has 17 total turnovers this season. That should give the Bears a chance to continue adding onto their NFL-leading takeaway total of 36. The defense also was terrific on Nov. 18 in making the Vikings one-dimensional. Running back Dalvin Cook had only 12 yards rushing on nine attempts as the Vikings managed just 22 rushing yards as a team.

Keep the edge Pregame analysis: The Bears can still claim a first-round bye if they win Sunday and the Rams lose at home to the 49ers. And while that latter scenario seems like a long shot, the Bears must operate with a belief that it can happen. Matt Nagy has emphasized that this week, urging his players to retain the same focus and energy that has allowed them to win 11 games already. But there’s always a chance the Bears will start peeking ahead to the playoffs and get knocked back early by a desperate opponent. Until a Rams victory is sewn up, the Bears should be pursuing a best-casescenario, which is having wild-card weekend off.