Keys to a Chicago Bears victory in 2025 season opener against Minnesota Vikings

It's finally gameday again for the Chicago Bears and their fans! After a long offseason and having to wait until the very end of Week 1 for their opportunity to take the field, the Bears are in for a divisional matchup with the Minnesota Vikings under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.

There is no shortage of important storylines for the Bears going into this game, most notably whether Caleb Williams is ready to lead this team. There's just a lot we don't know about these Bears, though the Detroit Lions' pathetic Week 1 effort speaks volumes about how critical their former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was to the team's operations. Bears fans have to feel good about that.

This is a game the Bears can definitely win, and win handily, but only if they hit three critical benchmarks.

1. Dennis Allen must use disguised coverages as much as possible.

While some would say the Bears should blitz the heck out of the Vikings tonight, I'm not so sure about that. Vikings' defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzes more than anyone, so you can bet that their offense has a good idea of how to pick these up. Instead, with second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy making his NFL debut, I want to see Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen disguising coverages all night.

McCarthy has no shortage of elite weapons available to him, but if he can't see what the defense is doing, then none of that will matter. He's making his NFL debut on the road against a division rival in front of the entire nation, so you know he'll be dealing with nerves already. It's up to Allen to shatter his confidence from the very first drive.

2. Caleb Williams must be generational.

Some might say it's too soon to declare 2025 a make-or-break year for Caleb Williams, but not this writer. The fact is that Williams has a more favorable situation than most quarterbacks can dream of. He's got elite weapons across the board, a massively improved offensive line, and now his head coach and play caller just happens to be one of the most brilliant offensive minds in football.

There are no excuses for Williams, not even in Week 1. He doesn't need to put up 50 points and a 150 passer rating to call this game a success, but there should be absolutely no doubt that he is the best quarterback on the field. That means no turnovers that are his fault, sacks kept to a minimum, and something like 300 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.

Williams has said he feels no pressure entering his second season with the Bears. Time for him to prove that that wasn't pure bravado.

Caleb William — Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

3. The Bears must start fast and stay fast.

If the Bears want to win tonight's game, they need to win it from the very first snap. The offense must march down the field for a touchdown that looked way too easy, and the defense can't allow a single first down. That's how you start a game the right way, especially with a rookie quarterback on the other side.

McCarthy was rarely in this kind of situation in college. Usually, Michigan would strike first, then lean on its rushing attack for the rest of the game. If the Bears can flip the script on him, it should make this an easy win.

Final prediction: Bears win 27-16

I wanted to make this a lower-scoring prediction, but I need to stand on principle when I say that there are no excuses for Caleb Williams and the offense, not even in Week 1. Ben Johnson's Lions averaged 27.3 points per game in Week 1 while he was the offensive coordinator, so that's what I expect for the Bears.

As for the defense. I think they will hold McCarthy and the Vikings to a pair of early field goals and then nothing until the fourth quarter, when a couple of garbage time scores make this one look closer than it was. Bears start the season 1-0 and go to Ford Field for a revenge game, where Ben Johnson has already issued a warning to the Lions about this matchup.

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