The Broadcast
September 8th marked the first Monday Night Football game of the 2025 NFL season, which featured the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, in a showdown at Soldier Field. I am not sure if I am the only one that feels this way, but I thought the pre-game presentation on ESPN was pretty terrible. The segment where Peyton Manning was talking about Tony Dungy and Devin Hester seemed out of place. Where was the history of the NFC North Rivalry between Minnesota and Chicago? Eli Manning was sounding
like he showed up 5 minutes before he was supposed to be on TV. He was spouting off some nonsense about Adam Thielen, after mispronouncing his name. When the discussion between Van Pelt and the Mannings became focused J.J. McCarthy and his first start, SVP said to two hall-of-fame quarterbacks, “you can’t imagine what J.J. McCarthy is feeling before his first start.” Um…. what? I think they might have at least an inkling of what our franchise quarterback might have been feeling. Just a terrible presentation, which was handed over to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman…..ugh. My feelings about the broadcast reflect how the Vikings started the game.
An Ugly Start
It was a typical Vikings/Bears showdown for most of the first half. Some tough play in the trenches without a whole lot of scoring. Minnesota started with the ball and McCarthy just seemed a step behind. There were a couple of protection issues, but the offensive line definitely got better as the night went on. This is my first regular season writing about the Minnesota Vikings, so I was writing down notes during the game. The first half was so uneventful, that my first observation came with 5:52 left in the 2nd quarter. That was the point where you could see the Minnesota defense settling in. After giving up a touchdown on Chicago’s opening drive, you could start to see Ben Johnson’s early game scripting start to fizzle out. Caleb Williams looked crisp tonight and definitely showed off his athleticism and arm talent. I was also impressed with his decision making, finding checkdowns when nothing was open down field. He was getting outside the pass rush and was finding a lot of success rolling out of the pocket when things broke down, until he wasn’t.
A Messy Second Quarter
The Vikings defensive linemen were just a step behind Williams during the first quarter, but they were consistently moving him off of his spot, generating pressure on the second-year signal caller. There were a couple of miscues by the Bears offense. One of which was an errant throw that led to a turnover on downs in the second. Toward the end of the 2nd quarter, I’ll admit, I was a little worried. J.J. seemed like he was trying to be too perfect. However, I think he was taking what the defense was giving him. What stood out the most to me in the first half was ball security. In a tough game with little yardage on offense, McCarthy didn’t fall in the trap of doing too much. The throw to Nailor to set up the 57…. I mean 59-yard field goal was very promising at the time and undoubtedly improved his confidence and gave us a little momentum. I am glad to see Will the Thrill is back. I was joking after the kick, about how Reichard’s baby face makes him look like he’s in his first year at middle school. “Where’s my Ipad?!? You said if I made this kick I could play on my Ipad.” – Will Reichard, probably. What a boot though. Someone get that man a juice box!
Second Half Begins
Coming out of the half, the Vikings defense did their job and caused a quick 3 and out. Myles Price had a great punt return and was impressive all night. I was asking in my Vikings fans group text chat, is that Joshua Cribbs? In the 3rd quarter, I felt like the offense was still looking for its identity. I think Jordan Addison brings a type of swagger to the offense, and it seemed like it might be missing. Another announcing blunder came with the punch out of the ball from Hockenson’s hand when he was ruled down after review. My question was with my group text, if it was a clean punch of the ball, is he considered down by contact, or would that be a fumble? I thought after a long review they would clarify that with their rules “expert.” I don’t even know who the guy was, but he was talking about how it was a clean punch and not a penalty? What are you talking about? Nobody was wondering if it was a penalty. That was all the explanation we got.
Now, this last fact was bugging me all day, so I had to go look at the NFL Rulebook. Particularly Article I, Section F, which states that the ball is considered a dead ball:
when an opponent takes a ball that is in the possession of a runner who is on the ground;
This is the closest description that I could find of what I witnessed on the field. Technically though, the Bears defender didn’t take possession of the ball, he merely gave it the old peanut punch. Maybe I am missing something, but I still have questions about it. The replay looked like a Bears’ defender possibly touched him when his knee was down, but I am not sure.
Side Note: what was that football TV show with the Twisters guy? It looked like it could be funny but also looked like it could be terrible.
Adversity is Your Ally
McCarthy threw his first pick 6, which was not great. I think Dennis Allen called a play that was right place right time, and they were able to bait J.J. into a poor throw. I don’t think he’s going to make that mistake again. Mr. Meditation did not like the feeling of watching that DB run into the endzone, and I think he internalized it and processed it. KO always talks about overcoming adversity and that is what the Vikings needed to do to get back in the game down 11. More was required. When the Vikings started gaining momentum on offense in the 3rd quarter, we saw a tough drop by Adam Thielen. I don’t know if Thielen wasn’t expecting to get hit, but he definitely had a concentration lapse for a moment. J.J. also zipped the throw a little bit high, so both were kind of at fault for that one. McCarthy had a couple of throws like that where the receiver could haul in an imprecise, yet catchable ball.
After three quarters of tough defense and struggling offense, J.J. McCarthy came alive. He was smacked around for the first 45 minutes of the game, and made one crucial mistake. However, when the scripted plays were over and it was crunch time, the National Champion showed glimpses of why he was worth a top ten draft pick. We also saw the running game start to heat up. We heard much in the offseason about O’Connell’s goal of being able to win any type of football game and adding some size up front, and we saw it on full display Monday night. I love that we got an ugly start to the game and had a gritty 4th quarter comeback. The Vikings first drive of the 4th quarter saw the right side of the offensive line get something going. Jordan Mason was gashing the defense for some long runs, and we got to see how impactful Josh Oliver is to this offense. To cap off the drive, McCarthy threw an absolute FREAKIN’ LASER BEAM to Justin Jefferson. The first of many!!! If all goes well in both J.J.’s and Jetts’ careers, we will see this happen at least 100 more times!
Full Momentum Swing
What changed on that drive? I think KO opened up the offense and just let McCarthy go out to grip it and rip it. The 2024 NFL coach of the year mentioned in the KFAN pregame show, that the first season of the game isn’t about scheming, it’s about fundamentals. I think that’s partially true. The Bears had 12 penalties for 127 yards, which is absolutely pitiful. The Vikings also need to clean up some things, as they had 8 penalties for 50 yards. I would like to see that number cut in half on average for the rest of the season. However, even though the score didn’t reflect it for most of the game, the Vikings won the fundamentals battle. When it was time to light up the scoreboard, however, KO started scheming them up.
I was talking to my brother today, about how KO and B-Flo might have been playing mind games. All the talk about Ben Johnson “owning” Brian Flores made the 4th quarter all that much sweeter. When describing that switch from close game to one sidy brother said, “I think that’s called the old rope a dope.” I think that description really fits:
The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring to draw non-injuring offensive punches in an effort to tire their opponent out and, while they are on the ropes, try to execute devastating offensive punches. The rope-a-dope is most famously associated with Muhammad Ali in his October 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against world heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire.
I think that’s exactly what happened on both sides of the ball. No disrespect to Ben Johnson, but he was outclassed. The Vikings were rushing four for a lot of the night, but once Flores started dialing up blitzes, things got really tough for the Bears offense. Van Ginkel was a finger’s reach away from an NFL record, Hargrave got two sacks, and I believe No. 97 paid homage to Danielle Hunter with his celebration. Or maybe the draw a door and kick down is a Vikings tradition? Or maybe it’s just his celebration? I don’t know. Dennis Allen is a proven defensive coordinator, but his limited time with the Bears didn’t leave him with much of an opportunity to throw counterpunches when it mattered most. Especially when McCarthy found a groove and got chances to show off his collection of frozen ropes.
Unsung Heroes
Eric Wilson and Myles Price come to mind when I think of underrated performances on MNF. Josh Oliver probably fits in there as well. But the more I think about it, I see that there were so many Vikings players contributing and making plays. Levi Drake-Rodriguez had a couple of nice tackles. Jalen Redmond is filling nicely in the role Harrison Phillips was playing last year. I think Ingram Dawkins even had a batted pass in there. Isaiah Rodgers was all over the field making tackles and executing great coverage. Jay Ward had a beautiful hit on DJ Moore. I think DJ just go his bell rung, and since I haven’t seen anything pop up for him as far as injuries go, I think it was a good, clean, clobbering. Will Reichard tied the record for longest made field goal in the history of Soldier Field. Eric Wilson had the blocked punt. Tai Felton was in on a lot of special teams plays. Speaking of special teams, I am very excited about the new kickoff rules. It is a fun part of the game again and the Vikings are ahead of the curve early in the season, as far as unit efficiency goes.
Credit Where It’s Due
Kwesi Adofo Mensah put this team together, don’t forget. He gets a lot of credit for being the ultimate collaborator with the coaches and the finance team. The fact that we have all of these playmakers together is a testament to the contractual jiu jitsu that KAM has been practicing. He has helped sculpt Kevin O’Connell’s vision of a championship football team. If all goes the way I think it will Adofo Mensah will go down in history as the guy who drafted this franchise’s first, true, franchise quarterback in over 60 years. Let’s keep the good vibes rolling!
Concluding Thoughts
We saw the potential last night. We saw the talent. We witnessed the Vikings start a game ugly, and end it with a W. We saw a good old fashioned football game at Soldier Field. A franchise record sixth consecutive win for the Vikings in Chicago. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a win. An exciting win at that. I know it was the first game of the season, but I think this team has the potential to be one of the all-time Vikings’ greats. There are definitely things to clean up, but I have faith that Kevin O’Connell knows what those things are, and he is already 10 steps ahead of us. Not to overreact, but I think J.J is officially “our guy.” I am looking forward to seeing the growth of this team in week 2 when we host the Atlanta Falcons for the first game at US Bank Stadium in 2025.
Until Next Time.
- Jesse M
