Until Sunday, when Washington came to town on Christmas Eve and left Soldier Field with a gift of a must-win all wrapped up and topped with a big bow, these young and badly battered Bears showed up every week and gave it their all in spite of an entire M.A.S.H. unit overflowing with their teammates and an offense that stubbornly refuses to play to its strength.

Going to Minnesota at 3-12 and knowing the only reward available for a win is a short flight back to Chicago and a couple months off to ponder the disaster this season has been before returning in March for the offseason program, there is little reason to assume success.

3-12 teams rarely win their final games on the road. But stranger things have happened.

Should we assume the Minnesota Vikings would be playing to lock up their round one playoff bye had they not lost their future Hall of running back and top three offensive tackles for the season, rather than trying to win just their third game in their past 11 tries after an 0-5 start?

Or should we ponder how the Vikings' injury woes on offense explain the fall of a defense that was the best in the league through five weeks, but has been ineffective and regularly gashed on the ground in recent weeks?

Finally and most perplexing, why did the Vikings secondary, led by its two most solid citizens in Terence Newman and Xavier Rhodes, allegedly revolt against Mike Zimmer two weeks ago when Zimmer is believed to be one of the most respected “players coaches” in the league?

I’m not sure how predictive of the outcome of the game they’ll be, but there are a couple things we do know about the Vikings:

Unlike the Bears, the Vikings' problems do not start at quarterback, where Sam Bradford has established himself as the man of the present and future. He has thrown for 3,627 yards, a 7.0-yard average, 19 touchdowns, just four interceptions and a 98-3 rating, and his 71.6 completion percentage has him on pace to break the NFL’s all-time record of 71.2 set by Drew Brees in 2011.

Bradford has accomplished all that behind a woeful offensive line that has allowed him to be sacked 37 times and given him the NFL’s worst ground game – the Vikings rank 32nd in rushing yards and average gain per rush – plus he has one of the NFL’s shallowest receiving groups.

Stefon Diggs has 84 catches for 903 yards with a 10.8-yard average and 3 TDs. Kyle Rudolph has 72 catches for 723 yards with a 10.0-yard average and 6 TDs. Adam Thielen is third on the list in catches (68) while leading the team with 960 yards and a 14.1-yard average, plus five touchdowns. They are the only Vikings in the NFL’s top 70 pass catchers and none strike great fear in the hearts of secondaries.

Adrian Peterson won’t play and Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata just haven’t gotten the job done.

So why are the Vikings five-point favorites even though the Bears pounded them 20-10 on Halloween night?

Even through its struggles the past 11 weeks, the defense still ranks second in the NFL in total defense and eighth in points allowed.

While the “D” has dropped off to 15th against the run and 17th in average gain per rush – which would seem to favor the Bears if they would take advantage of it – Minnesota is still fourth versus the pass, sixth in sacks and sixth in turnover/takeaway ratio at plus-7, while the Bears are now 30th at an embarrassing minus-16.

22-year old Danielle Hunter, a 2015 third round pick out of LSU, has emerged as the best young pass rushing end in the league with 12 sacks while sharing time with Everson Griffen and Brian Robison. Linval Joseph is still one of the best D-tackles in the game, and Harrison Smith, who’s nicked but should go, is one of the game’s top safeties.

The Vikings have not shown up the past two weeks in blowouts by the Colts (in Minnesota) and Green Bay.

The question now is do they show up Sunday – because if they do, they win – or have they already gone home for the year?