One NFC North QB Grew up a Fan of the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears have fans all over the country. 

This is a result of being one of the NFL's oldest franchises. There's even a quarterback who plays in the NFC North who grew up a fan of the Bears. 

The Bears won't have their next divisional matchup until two weeks from now, in Week 12. They still have to play the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers one more time. 

The Vikings lost the lead in the NFC North after falling 23-6 to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Since the Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, they now have a better record and have taken over the top spot in the division. 

Both the Bears and Vikings had bad quarterback play. Caleb Williams threw four interceptions in the 27-24 win. 

The Vikings weren't as lucky with Carson Wentz under center. He threw for 81 passing yards and two interceptions. 

Unfortunately, the Vikings have now upgraded the quarterback position by bringing back Kirk Cousins to the NFC North. He was traded from the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of Tuesday's deadline. 

Cousins is back in the NFC North for the first time since 2023. He joined the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 and has been with the Raiders this season. 

Cousins went 6-4 against the Bears as a starter with the Vikings. Part of him may have been hurt in those six wins against the Bears.

He shared on a recent episode of the "Hoge and Jahns" podcast that he actually grew up a Bears fan.

Cousins remembered watching Drew Brees at Purdue growing up, and that pass-first offense. So, watching the Bears with their offensive philosophy of running the ball and their defense was a tougher experience for him. 

"The thing with being a Bear fan, like I'm the guy who was watching Big Ten football growing up when Joe Tiller shows up to Purdue with Drew Brees, and they're in empty and in five-wide throwing the football 50, 60 times a game," Cousins said. "It was like, yes, that is so fun to watch. I was used to watching Ohio State-Michigan, ground and pound, just hand it off. For me, watching the Bears all my life, I wanted to see Peyton Manning. I wanted to see quarterback play. I wanted to see pass it 50 times a game. Maybe because it wasn't a dome stadium, it was always defense, run the football, quarterback, don't lose us the game. You know, I thought that was always hard for me as a fan to know that I was signing up for that." 

The Vikings have made things interesting in the NFC North by adding Cousins. It's going to be a tight race for the rest of the season. 

The good thing is that the Bears have a while before they face Cousins and the Vikings. The Bears' next matchup with the Vikings isn't until the regular-season finale, which will either be flexed to Jan. 9 or 10, 2027. 

The Vikings may have lost the lead in the division, but they are still close behind the Bears. The Vikings and Lions are both 6-2, while the Packers are last in the NFC North at 6-3. 

The NFC North race could come down to the final day of the season. The Vikings have changed their trajectory by adding Cousins. 

Hopefully, he doesn't beat the Bears in Week 18.