Fresh off of their victory over the Green Bay Packers to start the 2026 regular season, the Minnesota Vikings will turn around and take on another NFC North divisional rival when they travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in Week 2 at Soldier Field. This time, they find themselves as a significant underdog to a team that put on one of the more impressive performances of the season’s opening week.
Our friends at the FanDuel Sportsbook have released the early lines for Week 2 action around
the league, and they have installed the Vikings as a 5.5-point underdog to the Bears for their game in Chicago. The early over/under has been established at 48.5 points.
The quarterback situation for the Vikings. . .and stop me if you’ve heard this one. . .may already be in flux. Kyler Murray took just eleven snaps for the Vikings in the first quarter of the opener before having to leave the game with a concussion after taking a nasty late hit from Packers defensive lineman Javon Bullard. It’s the first documented concussion of Murray’s career, so nobody knows exactly how he will react to it, but it’s a situation that everyone will be monitoring as the week goes on.
In Murray’s place, Carson Wentz stepped in and played efficiently enough, completing 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. He was largely aided by a Vikings defense that came alive in the fourth quarter, generating a pair of late turnovers and helping the Vikings come back from down 22-10 late in the third quarter to emerge with a 39-22 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Bears had some defensive struggles in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, allowing 37 points as Bryce Young threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Of course, that didn’t matter very much as the Bears scored. . .59 points. Yes, fifty-nine. That included almost three hundred rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns to go along with Caleb Williams’ 269 yards passing and two passing scores. The 59 points were the fourth-most points the Bears have scored in their history.
The Vikings are going to need a much better all-around performance than they got against the Packers if they want to harbor hopes of a victory against the Bears. They were outgained by the Packers by 180 yards (419-239), and the offense was largely dormant for the majority of the afternoon. That isn’t going to work against a team that just put up almost 60 points on the road to start its season.
This game will be a noon Central Time start on Sunday afternoon, with coverage being provided by the FOX family of networks.
