The Vikings got away with one in Week 1, but that kind of escape act may not be enough when they walk into Soldier Field to face the Bears. Chicago looks like a tougher test, and Minnesota has a few obvious fixes to make before this division matchup kicks off.
The biggest one is getting Jordan Addison involved. He came out of the opener without a catch, even though he found plenty of room to work.
Carson Wentz can hardly be blamed for leaning on Justin Jefferson - Jefferson caught eight of his nine targets - but the Vikings need more balance if the offense is going to click. With Jauan Jennings out for personal reasons, the Bears could decide to load up on Jefferson and force someone else to beat them.
That opens the door for Addison to make a statement, both in this game and in the bigger conversation around his future in Minnesota.
That future has already been a talking point because Addison has gone missing too often in this offense. Beyond the off-field issues, there’s also been the on-field inconsistency that makes a $100 million extension feel like a serious question.
Even in a 2025 season that went sideways for everyone because of a revolving door at quarterback, half of Addison’s games ended with two catches or fewer. If the weather turns ugly at Soldier Field - and a rainy, windy afternoon could push Minnesota toward the run - Addison still has to show up.
On the defensive side, the Vikings may need to cool it a little with the pressure packages. Blitzing 78 percent of the time in Week 1 was entertaining, but probably a touch extreme.
Brian Flores, of course, might not agree. He sends pressure like nobody else, and Caleb Williams is the kind of quarterback who can make that approach look either brilliant or reckless in a hurry.
Flores has already played with that formula against Williams. In Week 1 last year, he blitzed him 37 percent of the time, then pushed it to 66 percent in Week 11.
Williams was held relatively in check in those two games, averaging 202 yards. But the blitz is only part of the equation.
The disguise matters too, and Flores will need to keep Williams and the Bears guessing if he wants the same result again.
Williams also just shredded the Panthers defense, which sent extra men 55 percent of the time. That leaves Flores with a choice: keep dialing up pressure and trust Dallas Turner to take over, or send the house again and hope the secondary can survive against Chicago’s group of pass-catchers.
The back end of Minnesota’s defense also needs help, and that’s where Harrison Smith comes in. He played just 25 snaps against the Packers after spending the summer at home, but the Vikings need to increase his workload. In his place, Theo Jackson and Joshua Metellus handled steady snaps, and both finished the week among the four worst-graded safeties in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Smith is 37, so nobody should expect a vintage statistical explosion. Still, the Vikings need some kind of lift back there, whether it comes from his play or simply from his experience. Before they face Williams and a Ben Johnson offense, Minnesota needs the back end steadier than it looked in Week 1.
In Other News...
Vikings Week 3 Outlook Just Got A Lot More Interesting
Kyler Murrays absence in Week 2 kept Minnesota in backup mode, but the quarterback situation is now tilting back toward normal at just the right time. Murray missed the game because of a concussion, while Carson Wentz stepped in and helped guide the Vikings to a 2-0 start, giving Kevin OConnell a little breathing room as the team moved through the opening stretch.
OConnell said Murray is on track to clear concussion protocol and is expected back for Week 3 against Tampa Bay, a development that changes the look of a matchup Minnesota is already favored to win. Wentzs steady early work bought the Vikings time, but Murrays return adds another layer of intrigue to a game that suddenly looks more meaningful for where this team is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Suddenly Have A Week 3 Special Teams Decision To Make
Brett Thorsons Week 2 soreness has pushed the Vikings into a spot they probably did not expect this early in the season. Kevin OConnell said the punters hamstring will be further examined, and that matters because Minnesota suddenly has to think about how it handles a specialist position that usually goes unnoticed until something goes wrong.
Johnny Hekker remains available as an unsigned free agent, which gives the Vikings a familiar fallback if Thorson cannot go. For now, the focus is on the extent of the injury and whether Minnesota needs to make a quick adjustment heading into Week 3, a reminder that even the quietest roster spots can turn into real decisions fast. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Got Caught In Foxs Most Infuriating Broadcast Mess
Fox Sports spent part of Sunday dealing with a broadcast headache that spilled across several early NFL windows, with audio feeds not matching the games on screen for viewers in multiple markets. The mix-up was jarring enough on its own, and it was compounded when the network briefly lost its scorebug during overtime of the Packers-Jets game, leaving fans with a less-than-smooth viewing experience in Week 2 of the 2026 season.
By the time the primetime window rolled around, Fox had cleaned up the technical problems and was back to normal for Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on Cowboys-Commanders. For Vikings fans keeping tabs on a division rival, it was the kind of broadcast mess that quickly became part of the conversation, especially with Green Bay again in the middle of the afternoon chaos. [Read more 🡒]