The Vikings are playing a much different Bears team on Sunday

The Bears might've already lost to the Vikings once this year, but that team was drastically different than the one taking the field on Sunday. Ben Johnson knows it, too.

"We found out a lot about ourselves over the course of the season thus far," Johnson said. "The trust level has grown for a number of players within our coaching staff. We really can hang our hat on a number of guys at this point."

Chicago's rebuilt offensive line was in the midst of its first game together. Three new starters along the interior with no in-game chemistry. They had no control over the line of scrimmage, and as a result, the Bears struggled to get much going in either the running or passing game.

Meanwhile, fast forward two months and the o-line has been rolling over opposing defenses since the Bye Week. They've averaged over 183 rushing yards per game since that point and have only relinquished 14 sacks (with much help from a consistent magician act by Caleb Williams in that regard) over the first half of the year.

Speaking of Williams, he's also playing significantly better football than he was in the opener. He seemed to be struggling to see the field against Minnesota after the opening script was behind them. Early struggles were understandable, considering it would take time to install the new offense.

The offensive growing pains appear to be a thing of the past at this point. They've hit their stride in recent weeks and currently rank third in total yards per game (379.8) and sixth in points per game (26.6). Most impressively, they also rank first in explosive plays by a relatively wide margin.

Most big plays per game through Week 10: pic.twitter.com/bcuSxZVFa1
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) November 12, 2025

On the other side of the ball, the Bears were missing three of their best defensive starters in Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and TJ Edwards. In a cruel twist of fate, it seems the trio will also be sidelined for the second matchup (the former two are on IR, and Edwards looks like a long shot with a hamstring and hand injury).

Still, despite the key injuries, the defense played extremely well for the first three quarters (albeit against JJ McCarthy in his first career start) before completely collapsing in the fourth quarter. The pass-rush actually got to the University of Michigan product with relative ease early on, and the Dayo Odeyingbo signing looked like a godsend.

Then he (and the rest of the defensive line) disappeared for much of the next three games. They seemed to have found some new life with the return of Austin Booker to the lineup, though. The pass-rush should be able to collapse the pocket with relatively similar efficiency that they did in Week One, especially going up against a banged-up Vikings' offensive line.

Thursday's #Vikings injury report pic.twitter.com/jKCar8s4a4
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 13, 2025

On the Minnesota side of things, they will be fielding a relatively similar team to the one the Bears faced in the season opener. McCarthy is still struggling to adapt to the speed of the NFL and has yet to put together a good game for four quarters (which is understandable considering he only has four career starts under his belt). Still, he looks every bit like someone with four career starts under his belt.

With that said, the Vikings do still have one of the league's best offensive minds in Kevin O'Connell calling the shots. They are a dangerous team that shouldn't be taken lightly as long as that is the case.

For the first time in a long time, it looks like you could say the same about the Ben Johnson-led Bears. This team has come a long way since the Week One loss.

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