On Monday night, the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears faced off in a highly-anticipated NFC North matchup. Both teams entered 2025 with massive questions, and we got our first look at a couple of key pieces on each team.
For the Vikings, they finally unveiled 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy for his first career start. After a rough first half in which the Vikings only scored six points and McCarthy went 5-of-8 for 48 yards, the former Michigan quarterback was electric in the final quarter of the game.
In the final 15 minutes alone, McCarthy was 6-of-8 for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding a 14-yard rushing touchdown, leading the Vikings to a 21-point fourth quarter and huge comeback victory.
For the Bears, it was the inverse of that story. With coach Ben Johnson at the helm for the first time, things were looking promising for quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears offense. Williams completed all 10 of his first passes, and Chicago drove down the field for an opening score. However, for the rest of the game, Williams completed just 11-of-25 passes and the Bears offense would not get into the end zone again until the two-minute warning at the end of the game.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
What was your biggest takeaway from Bears vs. Vikings?
My answer: It’s far too early to draw any big conclusions from either team, but the thing that probably stood out to me the most was Williams’ mobility and sack avoidance. While he did finish with two sacks taken, that number could have been way, way higher. Chicago’s offensive line wasn’t doing him any favors. Per NextGenStats:
“All three of the Bears’ newly acquired interior linemen (Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson) yielded at least four pressures to the duo [Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen] alone.”
But Williams was in his bag trying to escape the pressure and, typically, he was doing a good job keeping his eyes downfield. That escapability also helped him lead the team in rushing yards with 58 on just six carries.
There were still some accuracy issues, and I felt like the hesitancy and reading of the field was still a problem. But last year, Williams led the league in sacks (68—or 4.0 per game). If he can erase those negative plays alone, it could do wonders to improve the Bears offense.
What was your biggest takeaway from Monday night’s game? Scroll down to the comment section and let us know!
