Bears-Vikings, Falcons-Raiders on 'Monday Night Football': Four things to watch for in Week 15

• WHERE: U.S. Bank Stadium (Minneapolis)
• WHEN: 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+, NFL+

1) The Bears need a win. It may be an understatement to say the Bears have had a rough go of it as of late. As multiple last-second heartbreaking losses sank Chicago from a 4-2 start to now a 4-9 record, the Bears first fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and then head coach Matt Eberflus after a Thanksgiving Day disaster, promoting Thomas Brown twice now to his role as interim head coach. But the Bears weren’t able to spark anything with the coaching changes last week, and Brown’s debut fell flat with a 38-13 loss to the 49ers. Notably, the defense that had been relatively consistent for most of the year had its worst game of the season under defensive coordinator Eric Washington's play-calling. The unit allowed 400-plus yards for the third straight game and a season-high in points to a Niners team that was missing multiple key pieces. And then the offense -- Brown’s area of expertise -- was at one point in the first half outgained 320-2, with only minor improvements during the second half. If Brown wants a chance at earning the full-time gig through this trial run, Monday night and the following three games will need to be a sharp 180 turn from last week’s frustrating outing.

2) Vikings dynamic WR duo getting in sync. Everything seems to be clicking right now for the Vikings, from Sam Darnold getting his temporary turnover issues under control to the defense continuing to put pressure on opponents and get celebration-worthy turnovers. But one of the most encouraging signs at this point in the season, with a likely playoff run looming, is the tandem of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison hitting their stride at the same time down the stretch. Both receivers have had big games this season, but up until last week they had not both been at their best simultaneously. Against the Falcons, though, Jefferson and Addision had 132 and 133 receiving yards, respectively, the first time this season they had hit the 100-yard mark in the same game. With five receiving touchdowns between them, they led Minnesota to 42 points for its highest score of the season. This duo will now face off against the Bears’ No. 16-ranked pass defense, though the unit surrendered 321 passing yards last week against the 49ers. If they can put together another high-volume game this week, it could be the sign that this offense is peaking at the perfect time, and could be even more dangerous than it’s been through the first three-fourths of the season.

• WHERE: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
• WHEN: 8:30 p.m. ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes, NFL+

1) Atlanta needs Cousins back on track. The Falcons remain in contention for the NFC South crown but have not looked like a division-winning team over the last four weeks -- a stretch in which they have lost all four of their games by a combined 60 points, including getting doubled-up by the Vikings last week. A large portion of the problems over this span can be attributed to the regression by Kirk Cousins, who has zero touchdown passes and eight interceptions in that span. It is the first time in his career that he’s had four consecutive games with lower than an 80.0 passer rating, with seven total such outings in 13 starts this year. Before then, Cousins had a 17-7 TD-INT ratio, but now he leads the league in picks. The struggles have been notable enough that head coach Raheem Morris has now had to address whether to continue starting Cousins after the last two games, choosing to stand behind his QB despite the presence of rookie Michael Penix Jr. in the wings. This isn’t the Falcons’ sole issue they need to improve on if they want to get back in the win column, much less overtake the Buccaneers in the race over the last four weeks. But it starts with the play of their veteran quarterback, and this week could be a make-or-break opportunity with questions already swirling.

2) Vegas' QB situation an unknown. Injuries haven’t been kind to the Raiders this season, with the latest blow coming in the form of Maxx Crosby’s season-ending ankle surgery. And there’s another injury storyline that bears monitoring with Monday’s game approaching, as the Raiders could have to send out their third starting quarterback of the season. Aidan O'Connell is the latest QB to deal with injury after suffering a bone bruise in his knee during last week’s game. The injury initially appeared significantly more serious, but even still O’Connell has missed all three practices this week and is questionable to play. O’Connell’s season has been up and down, taking over after Gardner Minshew’s benching, then injuring his thumb, and then returning to his QB1 role for the last two games, though he holds an 0-4 record in his starts. It’s looking less and less likely his injury will allow him to play this week, but if he does, it’ll give him a needed chance to lead his team to a victory. But if he isn’t able to go, it’ll be Desmond Ridder at the helm, with the QB coming in with personal history with the Falcons. Ridder played with Atlanta the last two years, starting 13 games in 2023. He went 6-7 with 2,836 yards, 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and was benched multiple times by then-head coach Arthur Smith. He was ultimately traded to the Cardinals after Cousins’ signing, and then cut and signed by Las Vegas ahead of the regular season. Now if O’Connell is unable to play, he could get an opportunity to show his stuff to his new team and his old one. We’ll likely have to wait until just before game time to know whether it’ll be O’Connell or Ridder taking the start, but either QB’s performance will be worth paying special attention to.