The 2025 NFL regular season is officially upon us, although fans of the Minnesota Vikings are going to have to wait a day longer than most other NFL fans in order to see their team make its season debut.
The purple are set to kick things off this season on Monday Night Football, as they travel to Soldier Field to take on their NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears. This is the first time the Vikings have gone on the road to face the Bears in the regular season since 2002, when the game was actually played at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois because of renovations being done to Soldier Field.
The Vikings won both games against the Bears last season, winning in Chicago by a score of 30-27 after blowing an 11-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation and then blowing the Bears 30-12 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday Night Football. They are looking for their sixth consecutive victory at Soldier Field, which would set a new franchise mark.
The Bears have undergone some significant changes since last season, as they fired Matt Eberflus and replaced him with former Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. They’ve also made some significant moves to shore up their offensive line in the hopes of protecting quarterback Caleb Williams, who had an up-and-down rookie season after being selected #1 overall.
The Vikings have undergone some pretty significant changes as well. Gone is quarterback Sam Darnold, who had a renaissance under Kevin O’Connell last season and parlayed that into a big contract in Seattle. In his place, the Vikings are starting the young man who they probably thought was going to start most of last season in J.J. McCarthy. The #10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, McCarthy tore his meniscus in his preseason debut and missed all of last season, but is now poised to take over the reins of what should be a very good offense.
Kickoff for this one from Chicago is slated for 7:15 PM Central time, with coverage being provided by ESPN.
We will be putting all of our stories covering this week’s game in this stream, giving you a one-stop shop for all of the news heading into next Monday night.
