Having the first Monday Night Football game of the NFL season is a brutal tease.
You’ve waited patiently for seven months to watch your favorite team and now you have to wait the longest period possible before you get to watch them.
And it’s a nationally televised game, so if it doesn’t go your way, it’s going to be a long night and even longer week.
That’s the hand the schedule-makers gave the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.
The wait and anticipation for the Ben Johnson era has to wait another two days.
Let’s break this game down and meet the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings
SB Nation site: Daily Norseman
Record: 0-0 (2024 - 14-3, 2nd in NFC North)
Game day, time, TV: Monday, 7:15 p.m. CT, ESPN
Spread: MIN -1.5
Bears all-time record against: 58-68-2 including 1-0 postseason
Historical meetings: The last time the Bears played the Vikings to open a season was Sept. 8, 2002, exactly 23 years to the day of this week’s meeting.
It was Chicago’s opening game in their home-away-from-home in Champaign as Soldier Field was being renovated.
The Bears grabbed a 7-3 lead with a Jim Miller-to-Marty Booker 29-yard pass. Daunte Culpepper scored on a two-yard run in the second quarter.
The teams traded field goals before Culpepper hit Randy Moss for a 33-yard pass late in the first half to give the Vikings a 20-10 halftime lead.
The two teams again traded field goals and with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, it was still a 23-13 Vikings lead.
Then Chicago channeled whatever was left of their 2001 comeback mojo. Miller hit Booker for a 54-yard pass, and four plays later, Anthony Thomas scored on a one-yard run.
The Vikings tried to run out the clock, but facing 2nd and 6 at the Bears’ 47-yard line, Michael Bennett was stuffed for a two-yard loss. Then the Vikings were flagged for a false start. Facing 3rd and 13, Culpepper was intercepted by Mike Brown.
Miller drove the Bears down to the Minnesota nine-yard line with 35 seconds left. He hit David Terrell for a nine-yard touchdown pass to put Chicago ahead 27-23.
Two plays later, Daunte Culpepper was sacked by Rosevelt Colvin, forcing a fumble recovered by Bryan Knight. The Bears kneeled and won.
Last meeting: Week 15 last season, the 4-11 Bears faced the 11-2 Vikings in Minneapolis.
The Vikings took a 13-0 halftime lead and eventually pushed it to a 27-6 lead before the Bears clawed back a garbage-time score for a final score of 30-12.
Injury report:
Offense: The Vikings return most of their offense that finished ninth in points last season with one notable exception.
Last year’s first-round pick, quarterback J.J. McCarthy makes his NFL debut after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury.
McCarthy has some very good weapons at his disposal. Justin Jefferson (103 rec./1,533 yds./10 TDs in 2024) is one of the best in the league. Jordan Addison (63/875/9 in ‘24) will be out for three games but remains a great up-and-coming receiver. Just last week, Minnesota traded for its former star Adam Thielen (48/615/5 in 2024 with Carolina) to help fill the gap left by Addison.
TE T.J. Hockenson (41/455/0) and WR Jalen Nailor (28/414/6) are also solid targets.
They also added Tai Felton in the third round of the draft this year.
Like Chicago, Minnesota has revamped its offensive line, adding G Will Fries, C Ryan Kelly and drafting Donovan Jackson in the first round.
That line will be clearing the way for Aaron Jones Sr. (255 att./1,138 yds./5 TD), who was also a difference-maker as a pass catcher last year (51/408/2). Behind Jones is Jordan Mason (153/789/3 in ‘24), who came over in a trade from San Francisco.
Defense: The Vikings return much of their defense as well. The unit finished fifth in points allowed and 16th in yards allowed last season.
Led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Minnesota led the league in blitz percentage last season.
The defensive line is led by EDGE rushers Jonathan Greenard (12 sk/4 FF/18 TFL/22 QB hits in 2024) and Andrew Van Ginkel (11.5 sk/2 INT/1 FF/18 TFL/19 QB hits in ‘24). Now they’ve added Jonathan Allen (3 sk/7 QB hits in ‘24 with Washington).
The secondary also has a new face in Isaiah Rodgers (26 tkl/4 PD/1 FF), who comes over from Philadelphia.
Byron Murphy (6 INT/14 PD/1 FF/6 TFL) and Harrison Smith (96 tkl/3 INT/2 FR) return in the defensive backfield, too.
Key matchups: While there are several we’ll get in to, to me a big one is head coach Ben Johnson against Kevin O’Connell.
O’Connell has earned a spot among the best coaches in the league. He’s turned around the careers of quarterbacks like Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins. He’s led the Vikings to two playoff seasons.
The expectations are high for Johnson, but what will it actually look like in the regular season? Can he hang among the best in the league? And what can he do to help his young quarterback and the offense as a whole against Brian Flores?
Elsewhere, I think it would be nuts not to mention Braxton Jones against Greenard and Van Ginkel. Jones appears to be Chicago’s fifth-best lineman, so he’s going to be a target for Flores.
Speaking of the blitz, how will Caleb Williams fare against the blitz? Can he find his hot reads? After a whole offseason of talking about it, will his processing speed look better?
For the defense, whoever plays No. 1 corner is going to have their hands full with Justin Jefferson. Hopefully, that player is Jaylon Johnson and he’s 100 percent healthy.
Outside of that, the defensive line, mainly Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo are going to have to get after J.J. McCarthy, who is making his first NFL start.
The Bears have won three of their last five week one games
Chicago is 2-8 against Minnesota in their last 10 meetings, going back to 2020
Their last win against the Vikings was also on Monday Night Football, a touchdown-less 12-10 win when they intercepted Josh Dobbs four times
The Vikings led the league in blitz percentage last season at 38.9 percent rate
Minnesota also has good fundamentals, registering the fourth-fewest missed tackles in 2024
Justin Jefferson had five 100-yard games last season
Aaron Jones rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears across both games last season
Ben Johnson’s Detroit offenses scored 122 points on Brian Flores’s defenses over four games with just 14 punts (source)
What’s it going to take for the Bears to get the win Monday night? How will the Ben Johnson era start?
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