If you’re like me and would rather jam a flaming cactus into your ear canal than listen to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for extended periods of time, you may have been checking out the “Manningcast” broadcast of last night’s Monday Night Football game at Soldier Field between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. We know the Vikings struggled early, but their turnaround coincided with a familiar face appearing on the set with Peyton and Eli.

After chatting with Chicago’s own Bill Murray and Philadelphia Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley, the brothers Manning welcomed Hall of Famer and Vikings...

As we start to come down a bit from the excitement of the Minnesota Vikings’ 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, we’re seeing word that the purple could be without one of their defensive leaders for at least a few weeks.

Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star-Tribune is reporting that linebacker Blake Cashman is scheduled to have an MRI on his hamstring today and that the expectation, as of now, is that he will miss several weeks of action.

Cashman, the Eden Prairie native who played his college ball at the University of Minnesota, signed with...

It was a rough start to the game for the Minnesota Vikings, but they found a way to finish strong in the 4th quarter. J.J. McCarthy came to life when it mattered most and the defense rose to the occasion as well. There were a lot of great players out there. Let’s take a look at a few.

J.J. McCarthy

The stat line isn’t amazing, but McCarthy was everything the team needed last night. McCarthy led the offense to three straight touchdowns to start the 4th quarter. He’s the first QB to ever lead their team to three touchdowns...

The Minnesota Vikings will return home in Week 2 for their first meaningful home game at U.S. Bank Stadium since late December when they host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. According to the folks who set the betting lines, they’re expected to continue their winning ways.

Our friends at the FanDuel Sportsbook have installed the Vikings as a 4.5-point favorite over the Falcons for their Week 2 matchup in Minneapolis. The over/under for points currently rests at 45.5.

Both of these teams had games decided by three points in their season openers. The Vikings, as we all saw,...

Coming off of their thrilling Monday Night Football victory to start the season, the Minnesota Vikings will prepare for another prime time contest in Week 2 when they host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football at U.S. Bank Stadium.

As we all saw on Monday night, the Vikings overcame a 17-6 fourth quarter deficit, roaring back with 21 unanswered points to win their sixth consecutive game at Soldier Field, 27-24 over the Chicago Bears. The Falcons were not quite as lucky, as they dropped their Week 1 contest to one of their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Atlanta...

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Episode Notes:

• My piece going over my takeaways from the game
• Luke Braun’s piece on J.J. McCarthy’s mental makeup, fortitude and the pressure of being a quarterback
• Matt Fries compares and contrasts the general managers: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Ryan Poles
• We mentioned the Ty Dunne piece on Caleb Williams over at Go Long TD. Check it out here.
• As always, Kevin Cole has an analytical review of the game. In luck-adjusted, regression-siloed “adjusted score,” the Vikings won 21-20 in his estimation.
• Caleb and his American Girl Doll teeth? I guess?

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It wasn’t always easy, and it wasn’t always pretty for J.J. McCarthy in his first meaningful start for the Minnesota Vikings. But after a rough first three quarters at Soldier Field, McCarthy lit up the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter and powered the Vikings to a 27-24 victory in a game that they trailed by a score of 17-6 going into the final quarter of play.

How impressive was what McCarthy did on Monday night? Well, here are three stats from various sources that are all pretty impressive.

First off, according to ESPN’s Monday Night Football research staff, McCarthy...

In his first season as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, Kevin O’Connell introduced the mantra of being your best when your best is what is required. His charges took that to heart on Monday night against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

The Vikings turned an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 10-point lead behind three touchdowns, all of which involved young J.J. McCarthy, and held on at the end of the game to take home a 27-24 victory over their division rivals to start the 2025 NFL season.

The Bears got on the scoreboard first after a three-and-out for...

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to ask you to get those four fingers well above your heads, as we’re heading to the fourth quarter at Soldier Field with your Minnesota Vikings trailing the Chicago Bears by a score of 17-6.

The Bears got the ball first to start the half after deferring on the opening coin toss, and the Bears’ offense went three-and-out, with Caleb Williams throwing as many incompletions as he did in the entire first half on that opening drive. Myles Price got a very nice return on the Tory Taylor punt, and the Vikings started out in...

We’ve reached halftime at Soldier Field, and the Minnesota Vikings trail the Chicago Bears by a score of 10-6 in a game that, quite frankly, could be a whole lot worse.

The first play of the quarter saw J.J. McCarthy unload a deep pass toward Aaron Jones down the sideline, and the pass fell incomplete but the Bears got called for a pass interference penalty to move the ball into Chicago territory for the purple. McCarthy then scrambled for 11 more yards and another first down to put the Vikings into the red zone for the first time this season....

We’re heading to the second quarter at Soldier Field, and our Minnesota Vikings are trailing the Chicago Bears by a score of 7-0 on Monday Night Football.

The Vikings got the ball first after the Bears won the coin toss and chose to defer to the second half, meaning that the J.J. McCarthy era got started right away. The young quarterback completed his first pass to Josh Oliver, but his second dropback did not go as well, as he was sacked to make it a three-and-out.

On the Bears’ first drive, Williams had quite a bit of time to get...

We made it, folks. We really, truly made it. Yes, we had to wait all the way until the final kickoff of Week 1. . .but we made it.

We are just half an hour (or so) away from kickoff at Soldier Field as we prepare to watch our Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football to cap Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Here is everything you need in order to be ready for tonight’s contest.

Date and Time: Monday, 8 September 2025, 7:15 PM Central time

Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Television Coverage:...