Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings: Box score, player stats, and summary feat. Caleb Williams, JJ McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings began a new era on Monday, as JJ McCarthy made his NFL debut after a knee injury wiped out his supposed rookie season in 2024. He would inherit a solid offense comprised of running back Aaron Jones, wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end TJ Hockenson. The offensive line is rejigged with the addition of former Colts' Ryan Kelly and Will Fries.

The Chicago Bears are also ushering in a new era with coach Ben Johnson. The hiring of the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator came with massive roster changes.

Guards Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney and center Drew Dalman joined via free agency and trade. Tight end Colston Loveland was drafted. And it has led to much positive outlook for the squad.

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Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings box score

	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Total
Vikings	0	6	0	21	27
Bears	7	3	7	7	24

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Chicago Bears player stats

Passing

Player	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	RTG
Caleb Williams	21/35	211	1	0	86.7

Rushing and receiving

Player	CAR	YDS	TD	REC	YDS	TD
Caleb Williams	6	58	1	0	0	0
D'Andre Swift	17	53	0	3	12	0
DJ Moore	3	8	0	3	70	0
Olamide Zaccheaus	0	0	0	4	42	0
Rome Odunze	0	0	0	6	36	0
Kyle Monangai	0	0	0	1	11	0
Colston Loveland	0	0	0	2	12	0
Cole Kmet	0	0	0	1	31	0
Luther Burden III	0	0	0	1	-3	0

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD	INT
Noah Sewell	9	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tremaine Edmunds	7	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
Kevin Byard III	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jaquan Brisker	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nahshon Wright	4	3	0	1	1	0	1	1
Tyrique Stevenson	3	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
Daniel Hardy	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gervon Dexter Sr.	3	1	1	1	0	1	0	0
Grady Jarrett	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ruben Hyppolite II	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Montez Sweat	2	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
Jonathan Owens	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tanoh Kpassagnon	2	1	1	1	0	2	0	0
Dayo Odeyingbo	2	1	1	1	1	2	0	0
Elijah Hicks	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylon Jones	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scott Daly	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Carl Jones	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Kicking

Player	FG	XP
Cairo Santos	1/2	3/3

Punting

Player	PUNTS	YDS
Tory Taylor	6	266

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Minnesota Vikings player stats

Passing

Player	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	RTG
JJ McCarthy	13/20	143	2	1	98.5

Rushing and receiving

Player	CAR	YDS	TD	REC	YDS	TD
Jordan Mason	12	63	0	1	7	0
J.J. McCarthy	2	25	1	0	0	0
Aaron Jones Sr.	8	23	0	3	44	1
Justin Jefferson	1	4	0	4	44	0
Jalen Nailor	0	0	0	1	28	0
Josh Oliver	0	0	0	1	5	0
T.J. Hockenson	0	0	0	3	15	0

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD	INT
Javon Hargrave	5	3	2	2	0	1	0	0
Eric Wilson	5	3	0	1	0	0	0	0
Andrew Van Ginkel	5	3	0	1	2	0	0	0
Isaiah Rodgers	5	3	0	1	0	0	0	0
Joshua Metellus	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ivan Pace Jr.	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Byron Murphy Jr.	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Theo Jackson	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tai Felton	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Blake Cashman	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jay Ward	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Allen	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dallas Turner	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Greenard	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0
Jeff Okudah	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Redmond	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Levi Drake Rodriguez	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Chaz Chambliss	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andrew DePaola	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tavierre Thomas	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Kicking

Player	FG	XP
Will Reichard	2/2	1/1

Punting

Player	PUNTS	YDS
Ryan Wright	7	333

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Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings summary

The game began with the Bears forcing a Vikings punt, then punishing it with a rushing touchdown by Caleb Williams. Both teams then exchanged punts before Will Reichard scored a field goal for the visitors' first points of the night.

After that, both teams failed to score for nearly the rest of the second quarter. The Bears began the drought by losing the ball on downs while in field goal range after choosing to go for it. Then, punts happened on the next three drives before Cairo Santos ended the drought with a field goal. Reichard then scored a field goal to end the first half.

The second half began with the Bears being forced to punt. However, they did get their second touchdown - via Nahshon Wright intercepting JJ McCarthy on the next drive.

Both teams then exchanged punts on the next three drives. The drought continued into the beginning of the fourth quarter when Santos missed a field goal. It finally ended when McCarthy found Justin Jefferson between defenders in the end zone, but Jonathan Owens prevented Josh Oliver from converting the two.

The Vikings finally got the lead after forcing a punt, then punishing it with a McCarthy-Aaron Jones connection. Adam Thielen then caught the two to make it a three-point game.

Then they did it again on the next drive - punt, then touchdown. This time, it was McCarthy charging into the endzone. Williams found Rome Odunze to reduce the gap to a single possession before the two-minute-warning.

The Bears forced a punt on the next drive, but Williams’ Hail Mary drive failed, ending the game.