Week 1 Monday Night Football Statistical Review: J.J. McCarthy guides Vikings past Bears

Both offenses ultimately disappointed: While J.J. McCarthy eventually got the Vikings going, it was a shaky offensive showing for both teams.

The run game was a key factor: Minnesota generated 0.40 EPA per carry, whereas the Bears produced -0.97 EPA per carry.

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The Minnesota Vikings came back from a double-digit deficit to win 27-24 against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football

Game Summary

According to the PFF noise-canceled score metric, the game was just as close as the final score indicates, with the Bears actually performing slightly better. Chicago moved the ball a bit more often but ultimately struggled to extend drives that were already in scoring range. A key difference in the game was that the Vikings made a 59-yard field goal while the Bears missed a kick from 50 yards.

Passing Summary

Caleb Williams flashed his ability to pick up valuable yards after leaving the pocket, either through his legs or throwing on the run, but the Bears' passing offense never found a rhythm after the scripted plays. The Vikings' passing offense was just as disappointing, even if removing the pick-six.

Receiving Summary

Last season, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for eight yards per target under Ben Johnson, but it became apparent that Caleb Williams and the Bears' offensive line can’t yet execute at the same level with Johnson at the helm. Chicago got almost nothing going in terms of turning short passes into explosive plays. As a result, D'Andre Swift finished with 12 yards on five targets.

At the wide receiver position, Rome Odunze is the clear No. 1, as he played the most snaps and saw, by far, the most targets.

It was surprising that the Vikings couldn’t get anything going with their wide receivers, even though the Chicago Bears were shorthanded in the secondary. At the end of the day, Aaron Jones logged the same number of receiving yards as Justin Jefferson.

Rushing Summary

The story that will be told is that J.J. McCarthy brought back the Vikings after struggling to start the game, and while he certainly deserves some credit, the driving factor for the win was running the ball effectively, especially in the second half.