The Bears made a loud Week 1 statement, and now the betting market is backing it up.
Chicago opens its home schedule Sunday afternoon against Minnesota, and this NFC North matchup has already moved hard in the Bears’ direction. The line shifted 2.5 points after Kyler Murray’s status for Week 2 came into question, and Chicago is now sitting as a nearly touchdown favorite.
That makes sense after what Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson just put on tape.
The Bears rolled to 59 points in their opener against the Carolina Panthers, with Williams accounting for four touchdowns overall - two on the ground and two through the air. He ran for 65 yards and threw for 269, completing 21 of 29 passes in a performance that instantly shoved him up the board in the 2026 MVP market. At DraftKings, Williams moved from +1200 to +700 on Sunday and is now in the top three in that race.
Minnesota, meanwhile, got a Week 1 win over Green Bay, but the path there was a lot messier. The Vikings scored 29 unanswered points to finish off a 39-22 victory, and they did it with Carson Wentz under center after Murray left early with a concussion on a brutal hit. His availability for Sunday is still in doubt, and based on how quickly he was ruled out last week, it would be a surprise if he’s cleared in time.
That uncertainty matters, because Chicago’s offense looks ready to pressure a defense that already showed some cracks. The Vikings gave up some explosive plays to Jordan Love and the Packers in Week 1, and Love still piled up 387 yards even after Minnesota settled in following a 22-10 deficit.
The Bears also have recent home form on their side. Last season, they were one of the league’s better teams at home, covering in four of six games as home favorites.
Minnesota’s defense may try to heat up Williams with the same kind of blitz pressure Brian Flores used against Green Bay, but this is still a tough spot to trust Wentz if Murray can’t go. Chicago’s offense looked explosive from the jump in Week 1, and there’s a real chance that rhythm carries straight into Sunday.
At home, the Bears look like the safer side, and the line movement says the market agrees. The number has already swung heavily toward Chicago, and 5.5 looks like a number worth grabbing before it climbs any further in Week 2.
In Other News...
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For a coach long known for his offensive background and his ability to adapt around his quarterback, that mindset matters even more now with J.J. McCarthy entering the 2025 season. The Vikings have already made adjustments to help McCarthy, and OConnells willingness to keep the ground game in the plan suggests he may be settling into the kind of balance fans have been asking for, even if the biggest question is still how far that adjustment will go. [Read more 🡒]
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Packers Fans Are Melting Down After Vikings Win For One Reason
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Green Bay will have reasons to look at more than just the officiating, too. The Packers piled up their own mistakes and watched their offensive line break down late, which made the closing stretch hard to survive no matter what the whistle looked like. Still, when a division game turns on a handful of late calls, the fallout tends to linger, and this one is already setting off the kind of reaction Minnesota knows it will hear about again. [Read more 🡒]