0-1 Start to the Ben Johnson Era in Chicago

JJ McCarthy and the Vikings spoiled Ben Johnson's head coaching debut as they dominated the fourth quarter on the road on Monday Night Football. 

Quarterbacks 

• JJ McCarthy: 13/20 143 yards, 25 rush yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and a pick-six 

• Caleb Williams: 21/35 210 yards, 58 rush yards, 1 passing touchdown, and 1 rushing touchdown  

Recieving 

• DJ Moore: 3-68, fumble, Rome Odunze: 6-37-1, Olamide Zaccheaus 4-42 

• Aaron Jones: 3-44-1, Justin Jefferson: 4-44-1, TJ Hockenson 3-15 

Running 

• Caleb Williams: 6-58-1, D’Andre Swift: 17-53 

• Jordan Mason: 15-68, JJ McCarthy: 2-25-1, Aaron Jones: 8-23 

After a three-touchdown fourth in McCarthy's first-ever NFL start, JJ and the Vikings' offense propelled the Vikings to an incredible comeback on their way to defeating the Bears 27-24. 

However, this game started perfectly for the Bears. Caleb Williams was making plays in the air and with his feet, and after a near-perfectly executed scripted drive of the game, he closed it off with his first career rushing touchdown. After that, the offence struggled to find its groove again. Despite entering the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead, Ben Johnson got out-coached by a more experienced staff, and it showed. Overall, it was a rough debut for Coach Johnson; 12 penalties for 127 yards, a bad challenge, a costly mistake by the Bears' special teams to not kick the ball out of the end zone, and an overall lack of adjustments out of halftime were all capped off by blowing a 17-6 fourth-quarter lead. 

On the other side of the ball, JJ McCarthy us a lot in his long-awaited first-ever NFL start. The start of the game was very rough. Through the first three quarters, he only had 56 passing yards and a pick-six. The offence was looking very slow, and new Bears DC Dennis Allen did a very good job holding a Kevin O'Connell-led offence to only 6 points in the first three quarters. Then, when we headed into the fourth quarter, and the game was truly on the line, JJ showed why the Vikings selected him with a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. JJ and the Vikings' offence completely flipped the script. McCarthy connected with Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones for touchdown passes, and had a 14-yard rushing touchdown himself, to lead the Vikings to a 21-7 fourth quarter and a 27-24 road divisional win to open the season. 

Up next week for the Bears is another NFC North opponent as Ben Johnson and Calkeb Williams are going back to Detroit for a matchup against the Lions. Detroit is looking to bounce back themselves; coming off a loss to the Packers in week 1, the Bears will have their hands full as the Lions seek revenge on their former coordinator.

The Vikings look to keep the momentum from their week 1 comeback as they host the Atlanta Falcons and Michael Penix Jr on primetime next Sunday night.