The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears close out this marathon National Football League weekend tonight at US Bank Stadium. In the past five days, the NFL has staged games on four of them beginning with a triple-header on Thanksgiving. Tonight, the Vikings look to inch closer to the NFC North Division leading Detroit Lions, who were upset by the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

The Chicago Bears?

Well they look to get done what they are seemingly always looking to do, improve their last place record. The Bears have three wins in 11 decisions, and there is something very interesting in that stat.

Their first round drafted quarterback, Justin Fields, has won one game as Chicago’s starter in his last 17 starts. While Fields was recovering from a thumb injury on his throwing hand, the Bears inserted undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent and in his four starts he won two games.

For those of you math majors, that means the undrafted rookie won 50% of his starts and the Bears first round draft choice just below 6%. A most unexpected stat given Fields' high profile and college years spent at Georgia and Ohio State while Bagent spent his college years at Shepherd University.

Where?

You know, that powerhouse Division II Shepherd Rams group.

Oh.

So, who do you start?

Of course you go with Fields, who we must assume, like the Bears, has a bigger upside than Bagent.

He better have if they are to compare their salaries even though the results over recent games can’t bear this out.

Why has Fields suffered so much over the past two seasons and his replacement actually tallied better results? That is a question perhpas left better for a therapist than a handicapper.

But, as a handicapper, I can tell you this, the Bears thought they were going to lose all of Bagent’s starts and that put them in a better position motivationally than having trust that Field’s can win. It was also, no doubt, a case of the Chicago opponents not knowing what they were getting with Bagent behind center and well prepared to guard against Field’s explosive running ability.

Tonight, the Vikings are out to prove that they can win with a backup quarterback too. In fact, Minnesota has proven that since their starter, Kirk Cousins, went down with a season ending ACL tear four weeks ago. With no quarterback on their roster that the Vikings had confidence in, they made a mid-week trade after Cousins was injured to acquire career back-up Joshua Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals.

Cousins had the Vikings on a winning streak before his injury, scoring three straight wins that began with a victory over the Chicago Bears in mid-October. Motivated to compensate for the loss of Cousins, the Vikings team came together and won two more games with Dobbs running the show before a narrow loss last Sunday night to the Broncos in Denver.

It was a narrow loss to the Broncos, but it was also snapping the edge the Vikings owned as an underdog with an undervalued quarterback. Tonight, they take the field against a division rival as a favorite with a backup quarterback and the Bears are at maximum strength with Fields now fully recovered from his thumb injury.

What that leaves us with is Chicago the more motivated team with the more competent quarterback getting points on the spread.

They won’t need them.

Qoxhi Picks: Chicago Bears (+3) over Minnesota Vikings