As the Kyler Murray concussion watch continues and Carson Wentz prepares for a possible 100th NFL start Sunday in Chicago, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is scheming up ways to disrupt the high-flying Bears offense coming off their 59 point, 552-yard explosion in their opening win at Carolina.

It’s a battle of 1-0 teams who split their series last season with each team winning memorable come-from-behind games on the road. In his first NFL start, J.J. McCarthy led a late rally for a three-point opening victory for the Vikings. Later in Week 11, a long kickoff return by Devin Duvernay set up a short drive for Caleb Williams before Cairo Santos’ game-winning field goal in a game that helped spur the Bears on to the NFC North title while damaging the Vikings’ playoff chances.

The Bears are a 5 ½ point favorite as the oddsmakers are enamored with the Bears offense directed by boastful coach Ben Johnson, rising star QB Caleb Johnson, and the running back duo of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai (who each rushed for over 100 yards last Sunday). Overlooked are the problems the defense had in allowing 37 points and 478 total yards including 361 passing yards and three TD passes (plus one rushing TD) by Panthers QB Bryce Young.

The Vikings have beaten the Bears six straight times in Chicago and will head to Soldier Field full of confidence after their thrilling rally to beat the Packers as all three areas—offense, defense and special teams—contributed to the victory. But there is plenty for the coaches to clean up this week starting with poor first half coverage by the secondary.

The winner this Sunday will grab either the solo early lead in the division at 2-0 or be tied with the Lions who faced a tough test on Thursday night in Buffalo.

Here are my keys to a Vikings win in Chicago

1. Win up front on defense especially against Garrett Bradbury at center and Braxton Jones or Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle. Bradbury, the former Vikings center, has had problems in his career against big, athletic defensive tackles with the prime example being Dexter Lawrence in the 2022 playoff loss to the Giants. I expect to see more of big DTs Domonique Orange and Caleb Banks this week as Flores tries to take advantage of Bradbury to stop the run and pressure Williams up the middle although the Bears probably will give Bradbury guard help.

The Bears likely will chip with tight ends and backs to help Jones or Trapilo against Dallas Turner who had a big opener with a sack and seven QB hits on Jordan Love. Left tackle is a potential weakness if Jones or Trapilo try to single block Turner.

A big question is how will the Bears handle the inside blitzing of Blake Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel’s edge pass rushing after they (with Turner) wreaked havoc on the Packers.

2. Stop the run: Kevin O’Connell says of the Bears “at their core they want to run the football.” That was obvious last week with 291 rushing yards including 124 yards and three TDs from D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai contributed 100 yards and one TD. The Vikings held the Packers to 66 yards on 21 carries (3.1 average) but the Bears have better backs with Josh Jacobs out last week for the Pack and the Green Bay O-line was banged up and ran out of gas in the second half. But both Swift (ankle/knee) and Monangai (hamstring) were limited in practice this week.

3. Pressure Williams into sacks and turnovers and contain his running: Williams is coming off an outstanding performance at Carolina (21 or 29 for 269 yards, two TD passes, 10 rushes for 65 yards, two rushing TDs, no turnovers). He was only sacked twice which was the case in both games against the Vikings last season but the Minnesota D held him to 210 yards and 193 yards through the air last season. He had 58 rushing yards and a TD on the ground in the Week 1 game of 2025 but was held to 26 rushing yards in Week 11.

4. Better coverage than in first half against Green Bay: the Vikings allowed seven pass plays over 20 yards in the game, most of them in the first half from Jordan Love to Christian Watson including the 81 yard TD in which there was confusion among Vikings defenders on the coverage. Things seemed to settle down more in the second half as Harrison Smith played more snaps and was able to get the secondary properly aligned. Theo Jackson had several coverage issues and so did Josh Metellus. The Vikings need Smith on the field for more snaps against the Bears and should limit Jackson’s snaps while getting third rounder Jakobe Thomas more action in place of Jackson (or play Jay Ward or Jacob Thomas).

Byron Murphy must play up to his Pro Bowl status after he had a rough first half against Watson. Murphy, Isaiah Rodgers and James Pierre (who did have a big interception in his first game as a Viking) will be tested by Bears WRs Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Kalif Raymond.

The safeties and linebackers need to do a better job covering two good tight ends in Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet after the Packers’ Tucker Kraft and Jonnu Smith combined for five catches and 115 yards.

5. Offense run it more consistently: with Jordan Mason on IR (fractured thumb), Aaron Jones, Demond Claiborne and DeeJay Dallas will carry the load. The offensive line, tight ends and fullback Max Bredeson came on in the second half to lead the way for Jones and Mason (one TD each) after rough going early on. The Vikings need to come out with a more consistent rushing attack to take pressure off the QB, set up play action, and win time of possession to keep the Bears offense off the field as much as possible.

6. Pass protect and get the ball to Jefferson and Addison: the Bears aren’t a great pass rushing team although Montez Sweat is dangerous (10 sacks last season, one sack last week). Wentz was sacked three times last week and either he or Murray must be protected so the dynamic skill players led by Jefferson and Addison have time to get open.

Jefferson had a great game last week (eight catches, 92 yards, two TDs) but Addison was shut out on only two targets (bad throws early by Wentz) and needs to be more involved this week. T.J. Hockenson should be a key part of the game plan in the intermediate zones after his solid game against the Packers (four catches, 36 yards, one TD).

The Vikings need their excellent right tackle Brian O’Neill to be able to play after he was limited on Wednesday and did not practice Thursday with a knee injury. O’Neill would be lined up against Sweat. If he can’t go, backup Ryan Van Demark steps in and will likely need help against Sweat.

7. Protect the ball and win the turnover battle: the Bears led the league in takeaways with 33 last season and the Vikings were the worst in giveaways (30). The Bears were +2  and the Vikings +1 in turnover ratio last week.  

8. Continued excellence on third down: the Vikings controlled time of possession with 8 of 15 on third down while the defense held the Packers to 3 of 12 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down. This is a good formula to get a win.

9. Deeper kickoffs and better kickoff coverage: I’d like to see either much better kickoff coverage than last week (Bo Melton averaged 31 yards per return with a 59 yarder) or Will Reichard should just kick if deep in the end zone and let the Bears start at the 35. Anything to avoid a repeat of the disaster in Week 11 last year when Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard return set up the winning field goal by Cairo Santos. Fortunately Duvernay is now a Cardinal and Josh Blackwell averaged only 21 yards per return last week.

Another big return or two from Myles Price would be a huge help to the Vikings cause as was the case last week when his 68-yard return set up the touchdown that brought the Vikings within five points in the third quarter and was a momentum changer at that point.

10. Reichard outkick Santos: Reichard, a first-team All-Pro last season, tied a Soldier Field record with his 59-yard field goal in Week 1. He was perfect against the Bears in the two games and Santos missed one field goal in each game but also made the clutch 48-yarder for the Week 11 victory.

11. Continue last week’s low penalty total: the Vikings had only three penalties for 15 yards last Sunday which was impressive in an opener while the Bears had 12 penalties for 57 yards at Carolina.

Prediction

I see a close game with both teams trying to control the clock with the run game and working play action for several big pass plays. Similar to the two games last year, I think it will come down to a final Bears drive with Williams making some key passes and runs to set up the winning field goal. Sorry to say I predict a 27-24 victory for the Bears but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if the Vikings stretch their winning streak to seven straight at Soldier Field.

Around the NFL in Week 2

1. Will Packers bounce back at the Jets? Green Bay has lost six straight dating back to last season. The Jets have added a lot of young talent and had a dominant opening day win in Tennessee over the lousy Titans. I think Jordan Love is a lot better than Geno Smith in the QB matchup and I see the Packers winning a close game.

2. There are several Week 1 losers looking to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start. Included in this group is the Vikings’ Week 3 opponent on the road—Tampa Bay. The Bucs had fumble issues in Cincinnati where they had four lost fumbles (three by Baker Mayfield) the Bucs shouldn’t have any trouble with Mayfield’s former team—the hapless Browns who are sticking with Deshaun Watson after getting hammered in Jacksonville on Sunday.

Houston looks to rebound against Cincinnati in a critical home game as the Texans were one of the AFC favorites and don’t want to start the season with two home losses after their close loss to the Bills.

I like the Patriots and Drake Maye to get a win at home against the Steelers after Maye’s rough three-pick outing in the opening loss at Seattle. The Seahawks will battle the heat at surprising Arizona who are feeling good after upsetting the Chargers but Seattle’s defense will bring the Cards back to earth.

Denver comes off a poor performance at Kansas City and hosts a solid Jacksonville team. I’m picking the underrated Jaguars in a mild upset. The Chiefs were surprisingly good running the ball with Kenneth Walker. He and Patrick Mahomes along with a strong defense should win on Sunday night in Indianapolis.

The Chargers had perhaps the worst loss of Week 1 in falling at home to the Cardinals. Now the Chargers badly need a home win over Kirk Cousins and the Raiders who beat lowly Miami in their opener. It’s critical considering these next seven games for LAC—at Buffalo, at Seattle, home vs. Denver, at Kansas City, at the Rams, home vs. Houston and at Baltimore. Yikes.  

Week 2 will wrap up with the Rams bouncing back from their lousy game in Australia against the 49ers to beat the Giants who handled the Cowboys in the opener. Despite Myles Garrett being out with a knee injury, the Rams will get after Jaxson Dart in the possible return of Aaron Donald.

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