Vikings get the better of Bears in their season opener!
The Minnesota Vikings made the short trip for their week 1 matchup against NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears, on Monday Night Football, bringing an end to all week 1 games of the new NFL season.
This game featured two second-year quarterbacks leading their respective sides as Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy led the offenses for the Bears and Vikings, respectively. However, this game was McCarthy’s debut as he missed his entire rookie season with an injury.
The Minnesota Vikings received the opening kickoff but were unable to generate any offense, going 3 and out within no time. In fact, their second drive of the game also went 3 and out, with the team gaining just 11 yards.
As for the Bears, Williams led a terrific first drive in which he completed 6 of 6 passes for 51 yards to multiple receivers and capped it off with a nice 9-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
The game then dragged on with both teams trading multiple punts, with the exception of a lone field goal by the Vikings on their third drive. While Minnesota was having a tough time dealing with the Bears’ defense, Chicago struggled with numerous pre-snap penalties on offense that put them in unfavorable down and distance.
As the teams headed into halftime with Chicago up 10-6, the headline of the game was the lack of production from Justin Jefferson. The Vikings’ WR1 was targeted just twice in the entire half. He caught 1 pass for just 4 yards.
The Vikings’ first drive of the second half generated some offense, and they were within field goal range until McCarthy threw an interception. Bears’ cornerback Nahshon Wright picked off the ball and took it 74 yards the other way for a pick six, putting Chicago in a commanding position at 17-6.
At this point, everything was looking downhill for the Vikings, especially with McCarthy struggling to find any momentum under center. As the quarter came to an end, a Bears win looked more and more like reality.
A game that started slowly suddenly changed momentum in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Vikings’ offense came to life. Down by 11, McCarthy and the Vikings put together a great drive leading to their first touchdown of the game. After missing the 2-point conversion, Chicago led 17-12.
And within no time, McCarthy found Aaron Jones for yet another touchdown, and the ensuing 2-point conversion put the Vikings ahead by 3 (20-17). Minnesota’s defense kept the pressure on Caleb Williams, who once again showed the demons of last season by holding on to the ball longer than necessary and making throws that sailed further from receivers.
Minnesota would then score another touchdown, this time McCarthy added his third of the night, but his first on the ground. With the score 27-17 in favor of the Vikings, the Bears once again made things interesting by scoring a touchdown of their own to reduce the deficit to 27-24. However, that would be the last score of the game, and the Vikings would hold on for a big divisional win on the road.
Caleb Williams had a decent start to the game but couldn’t manage to overcome the Vikings’ defense. He finished with 210 passing yards with 1 touchdown and added another 58 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
As for J.J. McCarthy, the first-year starter started out very slowly but finished with 143 passing yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. However, he became only the second Vikings player with multiple passing touchdowns in franchise debut and also became the first player since 1985 to win after being down by 10 or more points in the 4th quarter on their debut.
Team Stats
| Chicago Bears | Category | Minnesota Vikings |
|---|---|---|
| 317 | Total yards | 254 |
| 198 | Passing yards | 134 |
| 119 | Rushing yards | 120 |
| 2 | Sacks allowed | 3 |
| 12 (127) | Penalties (yards) | 8 (50) |
| 1 | Fumbles lost | 0 |
| 0 | Interceptions | 1 |
Starting the 2025-26 NFL regular season with a loss, the Bears will now look to get back to .500 next week as they take on the Detroit Lions in yet another NFC North divisional game. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings will play the Atlanta Falcons in their week 2 matchup.
Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
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