Bears @ Vikings
Final Score: Bears 19, Vikings 17
Senior Writer: Benjamin Haller (@benjaminhaller1.bsky.social on Bluesky)
The 130th meeting between these two teams was a pivotal one as the Chicago Bears visited the Minnesota Vikings. Both looked to stay alive in the playoff race in the NFC North, the most competitive division in football. After the Vikings dominated the opening quarter in which they could have easily come away with two scores, it was Chicago who went into the half with a deserved 10-3 lead after a nicely manufactured long touchdown drive from Caleb Williams and two defensive takeaways – both interceptions off of young J.J. McCarthy. It wasn’t a fun watch with both teams only achieving 128 yards of total offense each in a dour first half.
The second half wasn’t much better as McCarthy failed to move his offense and Williams stuttered and spit to a couple of field goal drives. A huge kick return by Myles Price suddenly gave the Vikings hope, with Jordan Mason running in from 16 yards to make it 16-1o going into a messy fourth quarter. The Bears missed a field goal and, buoyed by the change in momentum, McCarthy finally found some rhythm on a 10-play, 85-yard touchdown drive that gave the Vikings the lead with 50 seconds left. As quickly as the Gjallarhorn blew, Devin Duvernay took the next kickoff return for 56 yards as the Bears kicked a field goal as time expired to once again win a game by the skin of their teeth. Neither of these teams looks capable when it comes to playoff aspirations.
Two Up
- D’Andre Swift – fantasy managers won’t like seeing him vultured of a touchdown at the goal line, but otherwise, Swift dominated touches and is the workhorse of this offense. He has a great relationship with Ben Johnson and is here to stay as a fantasy asset.
- Aaron Jones Sr. – same as above, with Mason running in the only rushing score for the Vikings, but Jones looks fired up and violent in his running post-injury. He should see this level of volume with McCarthy learning as he goes.
Three Down
- Justin Jefferson – rarely does the star wideout show frustration, but he did on the sidelines in the first half after McCarthy missed him on a wide-open throw that would have moved the chains in the first half. His production is way down from previous years, and poor quarterback play is responsible for most of that.
- Jordan Addison – despite saving his day with a late touchdown, Addison once again did himself no favours with a couple of dropped passes that may have changed the outcome of this game if he had hauled them in. Remember, after serving a suspension, Addison was held out for a quarter after missing a team meeting earlier in the season, too.
- DJ Moore – the highly-paid wideout has become less of an important cog in this offense as the season has gone along. Add a couple of poor drops today, and it doesn’t bode well for fantasy production.
Chicago Bears
Quarterback
Caleb Williams: 16/32, 193 Yards, 2 Sacks | 4 Carries, 26 Yards
A calm, professional Williams showed his growth under Ben Johnson on an expertly executed, second quarter 15-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that drained the clock and the energy from US Bank Stadium to give the Bears a 7-3 lead. Williams mixed in a couple of pinpoint throws over the middle with effective scrambles to set up third-and-short situations that the rushing attack handled. Williams enjoyed pinging short throws in space to his big tight ends, Cole Kmet and first-round rookie Colston Loveland, who both punished the Vikings defense by rumbling down the field for extra yards to create short conversion opportunities. The offense fell apart in the second half, however, with Williams consistently scrambling away from pressure and seeing drives peter out due to the lack of playmaking from his receiver corps. Even the special teams had to bail them out at the end. Williams was visibly angry at the end of the game, shaking his head as teammates came up to congratulate him. It was one of his worst fantasy days of the season.
Notes
- Williams endured a rough opening quarter as his offensive line failed to deal with Brian Flores‘ defensive schemes, which played havoc up front. Williams threw deep twice from his own endzone on third and long, the second a poor overthrow to an open DJ Moore down the sideline. After a botched handoff on the third drive of the game, Williams once again had to go deep from his own goal line, this time connecting with Odunze over the middle to finally get a Bears first down.
- Williams somehow dodged a safety blitz from Jay Ward early in the second quarter and turned it into a 7-yard gain that kickstarted their first scoring drive of the game. Williams’ ability to escape pressure is serving him well this season, allowing him to do more on later downs. That was evident in the second half of this game, too.
Running Back
D’Andre Swift: 21 Carries, 90 Yards | 1 Target
After a botched handoff with Williams nearly gave the ball to Minnesota deep in their own territory, Swift finally got going in the second quarter with several productive runs up the gut as the Bears enjoyed their first sustained drive of the game. Swift touched the ball six times on Chicago’s impressive 15-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that took 8:25 off the clock; however, it was downhill runner Kyle Monangai who took the ball in after two powerful runs inside the Minnesota 10-yard line. Swift saw a lot of work in the second half as the passing game fell off a cliff and the Bears looked to run down the clock with a two-score lead. He ran hard and averaged a healthy 4.3 yards per carry in a strong showing. He remains the workhorse of this offense and a key part of the offensive game plan in the second half of games.
Kyle Monangai: 12 Carries, 23 Yards, TD | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 12 Yards
The sixth-round rookie showed once again why the Bears believed in him as he handled his short-yardage work impeccably. Two no-nonsense runs in the second quarter at the goal line saw him register his third touchdown of the season to give his team a 7-3 lead midway through the second quarter. He amassed a nice 13 touches overall but was stopped behind the line of scrimmage three times in the second half as the Vikings had more success against Chicago’s defensive front.
Travis Homer: 1 Carry, -2 Yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Cole Kmet: 5 Targets, 5 Receptions, 45 Yards
There was nothing spectacular about the big tight end’s contribution as he simply did what he does best when getting to the outside in space, putting his head down and driving through tackles for extra yardage. The tackling from Minnesota’s secondary in this game wasn’t anything special, and two runs at least should have been stopped earlier than they were.
Rome Odunze: 6 Targets, 2 Receptions, 41 Yards
Establishing himself as the number one target for Williams this season, Odunze has started to repay the draft capital that saw him taken 9th overall in 2024. His 24-yard grab in between triple coverage to get his quarterback out of a jam early in the game was a perfect example of his ability as a route runner, his speed, and his finish at the catch. Odunze reinvented the yards after catch metric after a short throw for 3 yards turned into a 17-yard gain after he got up after realising he hadn’t been touched, only to be met by two Vikings defenders. However, the Bears’ offensive line joined the party and pushed him nearly 15 yards downfield for the most unlikely gain you’ll ever see. The struggles of Williams in the second half contributed to the leading receiver for the Bears not catching a further pass on another four targets, one being a drop that he should have hauled in.
Colston Loveland: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 40 Yards
The rookie tight end made one of the plays of the game on third-and-long late in the fourth quarter to keep a drive alive when it looked like the Vikings were going to get the ball back again cheaply. Loveland picked up a ball out of the slot and, with plenty of room to run, barged past two Vikings defensive backs to make the line to gain and eat down the clock a bit more.
Luther Burden: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 25 Yards
Burden showed his speed on a couple of nice grabs in the first half, but disappeared from the game plan in the second half as the Bears failed to get anything going through the air. The rookie hasn’t found his role yet in this offense, and that is worrying, considering how much this team needs playmakers right now.
DJ Moore: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 18 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Oh dear, a horrendous drop from Moore in the fourth quarter gave the ball back to Minnesota, who then went on to march down the field and score a touchdown to take the lead. He also dropped a pass in the first half that was relatively simple. The former Panthers wideout was paid big money by the previous regime, but his contributions under Johnson have been feral.
Durham Smythe: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 8 Yards
Minnesota Vikings
Quarterback
J.J. McCarthy: 16/32, 150 Yards, TD, 2 INT
The young quarterback is smack in the middle of his “growing pains phase” in his first year as the Vikings’ starting quarterback – multiple plays on the opening two drives of the game highlighting McCarthy’s lack of feel for his receivers as routes develop. He did find something rhythm on the next drive with two connections with Jefferson that took the Vikings deep into Bears territory. However, on third down in the red zone, he released a pass slightly too early for Jones, who tried to bring it in with one hand in the end zone but hadn’t quite completed his route. It was tough sledding the rest of the first half as McCarthy struggled with pressure and his mechanics – the two issues combining on a weakly thrown ball to Jefferson on a crossing route that Bears veteran Kevin Byard jumped in front of and easily picked off. The Vikings struggled to move the ball on multiple second-half drives as any adjustments at halftime by Kevin O’Connell were negated by McCarthy failing to make simple throws. He sometimes throws the ball too hard, with a simple third down slant to Jones going incomplete off the running back’s hands due to the speed of the throw. He found something late in the fourth quarter with a masterful 10-play, 85-yard touchdown drive that was topped off with a nice sideline pass to Addison for a score. But it was too little too late. There was too much to worry about and not enough to like once again for the young quarterback. You can see he has what it takes, but bringing it all together requires time.
Notes
- McCarthy missed a wide-open Addison on a deep ball on the opening drive of the game that would have been a touchdown before throwing erratically on third and short in the direction of Jefferson to end the drive. However, on the following drive, McCarthy threw a perfect deep ball for Addison, but saw the ball bounce out of his hands as the receiver attempted to grab it in stride. Again, if the two had connected, it would have been a score.
- McCarthy might be forgiven for his second interception of the first half after Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright made a fantastic swivelling grab in front of Addison in the endzone. Still, it was another case of McCarthy forcing a ball into single coverage.
Running Back
Aaron Jones Sr.: 16 Carries, 70 Yards | 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 11 Yards
The veteran running back has looked more like himself in the past two weeks since returning from injury. He’s been rewarded with the bulk of opportunities instead of Jordan Mason; it’s just that there haven’t been enough sustained drives for the Vikings to run the ball. From the off, Jones looked determined and aggressive in his running up the middle, and his lovely 14-yard run into the Bears’ red zone showcased his ability to jink past tackles at the line of scrimmage and burst into the next level. A few plays later, Jones failed to bring in a pass with one hand in the endzone after McCarthy released it too early into man coverage – the running back hadn’t completed his wheel route and had to reach out to try to haul the ball in. Jones ran well in the second half on limited opportunities, and it was his running mate, Mason, who got the chance on a short field after a kick return. Fantasy managers across the country made a big sigh!
Jordan Mason: 6 Carries, 45 Yards, TD
Playing second fiddle to Jones for the majority of the contest, Mason took back-to-back carries at the start of the fourth quarter for 24 yards and a score as the Vikings took advantage of a starting position deep into Bears territory. Mason enjoyed more love when Jones was out, but failed to make it count, so now he is very much on the short side of the committee. A boom or bust touchdown might be his call sign for the rest of the season.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Justin Jefferson: 9 Targets, 5 Receptions, 61 Yards
After vocalising his disappointment in his own performances this season through the week (maybe to take the pressure off his young quarterback), Jefferson answered with two excellent plays on the Vikings’ second drive to move the team down the field. He converted a third down short pass on the outside before beautifully hauling in an 18-yard pass over the middle in tight coverage. However, McCarthy consistently threw the ball too wide or far from his lead receiver on multiple routes where Jefferson had won out and was open. It is not unusual for a rookie quarterback to struggle like this, but with Jefferson in his prime years, it quickens the clock for these two to sort out their connection.
T.J. Hockenson: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 39 Yards
This kind of volume is what made Hockenson an interesting fantasy option a few years ago, and his role seems to be growing to reflect that. He was flat-out missed on two throws in this game that would have seen him be more productive. However, he saw little work in the end zone.
Jordan Addison: 7 Targets, 2 Receptions, 20 Yards, TD
The exciting Vikings wideout could have easily had two touchdowns in the first quarter – on the first drive, he expertly broke to the outside on a deep route McCarthy couldn’t find him with a poor pass; on the second drive, he again ran a brilliant route down the middle but dropped an inch-perfect pass from his quarterback for what would have been a walk-in touchdown. He dropped another ball at the start of the second half and went into the fourth quarter without a catch. He saved his fantasy day with his late touchdown grab from a bullet from McCarthy. It has been a bit like that this season for Addison, but we need to see a better efficiency rate.
Jalen Nailor: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 16 Yards
Adam Thielen: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 6 Yards
Josh Oliver: 1 Target, 1 Reception, -3 Yards