Every Wednesday morning, beat writer Matt Vensel will share five Vikings stats that actually mean something heading into that weekend's game.
18 — straight games under 400 yards of offense for the Vikings
The Vikings struggled to move the ball again in Monday night's 20-10 loss to the Bears. They finished with just 258 yards of total offense, their second straight game under 300 after topping 350 yards in their previous two games. Norv Turner's offense has yet to, however, reach 400 yards of total offense in a game during the past calendar year and the Vikings have only done it once in their past 27 games, including playoffs. The lone time was their win over the Lions at Ford Field last October. For comparison sake, five other NFL offenses are averaging more than 400 yards in 2016.
13 — pressures allowed by T.J. Clemmings the past two games
Against the Bears, Clemmings surrendered a sack and also allowed three quarterback hits and four more hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. So that means the second-year offensive tackle got beaten once in about every five dropbacks for quarterback Sam Bradford. His latest poor performance came eight days after he gave up five pressures in the loss to the Eagles. While it is fair to be skeptical about PFF's grades, it is worth noting that Clemmings is on pace to receive the lowest grade it has ever given to an offensive tackle. The website's charting of games now goes back a decade.
5 — plays of 20-plus yards allowed by the defense on Monday
The Vikings had been beaten for only 13 plays of 20-plus yards heading into Soldier Field. That was the lowest total in the NFL. The Bears, though, popped them for five gains of more than 20 yards, starting with rookie back Jordan Howard's 69-yard run in the first quarter. That was the longest gain the defense has allowed this season. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler also had a couple of 34-yard completions and pass plays of 24 and 21 yards. The Vikings must tighten things up in their secondary against the Lions, who have gotten 26 pass plays of 20-plus yards from Matthew Stafford.
5 — sacks for Mike Zimmer's defense in their past four games