After the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears combined for 98 points in Week 1, it was reasonable to expect more offensive fireworks when the teams got together at Soldier Field in Week 2.
And what unfolded was about as far from that as you could possibly get.
It was nothing but field goals on a wet, sloppy, windy track in Chicago on Sunday afternoon, but the Vikings got more of them than the Bears did, and also got some big plays on defense and special teams to escape with a 9-3 victory over their
division rivals to get their 2026 season off to a 2-0 start.
The Vikings won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff rather than defer to the second half, giving Carson Wentz and the offense the first opportunity at possession. Wentz found Justin Jefferson on the second play of the drive for a 30-yard catch to put the Bears into Chicago territory, a catch that gave Jefferson possession of second place in franchise history in receptions with 588 for his career, passing Randy Moss for that mark.
After Wentz was nearly intercepted by Devin Bush, the drive stalled out, and the Vikings settled for a 35-yard field goal from Will Reichard to take an early 3-0 lead.
The Bears took over and caught a break on their second play, when a fumble by Caleb Williams was recovered by the third-year quarterback and turned into a 19-yard gain. The Bears moved into Minnesota territory but saw their drive stall out after a holding penalty and a near-sack from the Minnesota defense. Cairo Santos then got the Bears even with a 50-yard field goal to tie things at 3-3 with five minutes left in the first quarter.
The Vikings’ next offensive possession was a bit of a disaster, as Blake Brandel’s snap on third down went over the head of Wentz for a 22-yard loss on 3rd-and-2, resulting in a three-and-out. Brett Thorson’s punt set the Bears up at their own 42-yard line. After a couple of penalties on both teams, the Vikings’ defense generated a turnover as Williams overthrew his receiver and the ball landed in the arms of Byron Murphy Jr. for his first interception of the season.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, they could not take advantage of the turnover as Wentz missed an open Addison on third down for another three-and-out, and the Vikings punted it away as the first quarter came to an end.
The Vikings’ defense then forced the first three-and-out from the Chicago offense all season to get the football back, and the Minnesota offense got themselves into scoring position once again. However, the drive stalled out and the purple once again had to call on the right foot of Reichard, who connected from 49 yards out to put the Vikings back on top by a score of 6-3 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bears’ next possession pushed fairly deep into Minnesota territory, including a 4th-down conversion that stood up after a challenge by Kevin O’Connell that put the ball at the Vikings’ 30-yard line. Then a series of penalties, including an intentional grounding call on Williams, pushed the Bears to a 2nd-and-35 on their own side of midfield. Ultimately, the Bears ended up punting it away after what looked like a potential scoring opportunity. That meant the Vikings took their 6-3 lead into halftime.
Chicago got the ball to start the second half and immediately went to work with their run game, with Kyle Monangai putting together a couple of long gains to help push the Bears into the Minnesota red zone. Williams then made a great third-down play on a scramble drill to find Khalif Raymond to set up a first-and-goal for the Bears at the Minnesota 1-yard line, but then the Minnesota defense came up big again. Jalen Redmond forced a D’Andre Swift fumble at the goal line, and Isaiah Rodgers recovered the loose ball to end the scoring threat and give the Vikings their second turnover of the day.
The Vikings could not take advantage of the turnover and punted the ball away again, with Thorson’s punt rolling to a stop inside the Chicago 15-yard line to flip the field position. Nobody added points in the third quarter, so the Vikings stayed on top by the same 6-3 score heading into the fourth quarter of play.
The Bears punted it away to start the fourth quarter, and the Vikings returned the favor with a three-and-out to give the ball back. With the Vikings unable to sustain drives, the Bears’ offense pushed the ball down the field and got into a goal-to-go situation. After Williams went down with a non-contact leg injury, the Vikings’ defense got backup Tyson Bagent to throw a couple of incompletions, and the Bears settled for a 23-yard field goal attempt. But, once again, the Vikings came up big. This time the big play came on special teams, as Isaiah Rodgers came through and blocked the kick to keep the Vikings ahead by three points with just over six minutes left in regulation.
The Vikings then put together one of their best possessions of the day, as Wentz converted a big third down to Jordan Addison to keep the drive alive, and then found T.J. Hockenson for another big play to move into Chicago territory. The Bears burned their timeouts, and the Vikings got themselves to the Chicago 21-yard line with 1:13 left on the clock. Facing a 4th-and-7, they lined things up for a 39-yard field goal attempt for Reichard, and he caromed it off the right upright and through to put the Vikings ahead 9-3 with 1:09 left on the clock.
The Bears then rallied behind Bagent, who completed a pair of passes to Luther Burden to get the Bears into Vikings territory, and then found Rome Odunze to put the Bears into the red zone. It appeared that Rodgers intercepted a Bagent pass in the end zone, but the officials ruled that he was out of bounds and called it incomplete. Then, a Bagent pass intended for Colston Loveland was ruled incomplete, but the officials ruled that there was one second left on the clock after it appeared that the time had expired. On the final play of the game, Dallas Turner ended things with a sack of Bagent, and the Vikings escaped with a 9-3 victory to capture their seventh consecutive victory at Soldier Field.
The win gives the Vikings sole possession of first place in the NFC North at 2-0, and it’s the first time they’ve won consecutive divisional games to start a season since 2003, when they also defeated the Packers and Bears in consecutive weeks to start the season.
The Vikings will hope to continue their undefeated start to the season next week, when they head to Raymond James Stadium to face off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Minnesota Vikings hang on to defeat the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field by a final score of 9-3. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
