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00:00ESPN welcomes you to the
00:05following presentation of the
00:07National Football League and
00:12now welcome to NFL kickoff
00:14presented by YouTube TV Chicago
00:17won the toss they defer Vikings
00:19will receive and we get set for
00:21football on a Monday night the
00:23reigning coach of the year year
00:24number four for Kevin O'Connell
00:27getting his young quarterback
00:28ready to go and Ben Johnson 39
00:33years old on the other sideline
00:35his first game as an NFL head
00:37coach going to be fun as Santos
00:39kicks it away and Ty Chandler
00:42returns got hit before the 20 and
00:46is able to get it out to the 25
00:48which is where McCarthy and
00:50company will set up well the big
00:54unknown is JJ McCarthy he was
00:57tremendous at Michigan he won a
00:59national championship the 10th
01:01overall pick last year Vikings
01:04traded up to get him didn't play
01:06last year tore his right meniscus
01:09during the preseason and here we
01:10go a chance now to see what Kevin
01:13O'Connell has for this first play
01:15whether they're going to try to
01:16maybe roll him out get him an
01:18easy completion early in this game
01:20play clock expiring they get it
01:33away and a toss to Aaron Jones
01:35right side not much written out by
01:38Tyreek Stevenson after a gain of
01:41just one we look at the lineups
01:44first we'll start with Minnesota
01:47and what they bring on a Monday
01:50night Aaron Jones is their lead
01:52back Justin Jefferson arguably the
01:54best in the game Jamar Chase
01:56says and not so fast announcer guy
01:59and Justin school gets the start
02:01that left tackle Christian
02:05Darrys on not ready McCarthy
02:11changing things at the line play
02:12clock under five play action
02:17first throw easy throw Oliver the
02:20tight end Broca tackle third and
02:22short coming up the Bears are
02:27playing shorthanded on defense
02:29the game and Jalen Johnson out
02:31with a bad groin not able to
02:33answer the call.
02:34Tyler Gordon and TJ Edwards
02:36dealing with bad hamstrings.
02:41They're down and two.
02:59McCarthy is down and a sack by
03:06the Chicago defense a loss of
03:08one as Jervon Dexter is the one
03:11who brought McCarthy to the
03:13grass.
03:13You see they come up they show
03:14mug linebackers as though they
03:16might bring pressure they only
03:17rush for and they're able to get
03:19home that's a question mark
03:20coming into this season as to
03:22whether or not the Bears are
03:23going to be able to pressure the
03:25quarterback they force the three
03:27and out and Dennis Allen and his
03:29defensive group off to a good
03:30start tonight.
03:32Dexter made big strides last year
03:34they're looking for more in year
03:35three and he comes up with a sack
03:37on the first series of the game.
03:41The punt by Ryan Wright.
03:43Devin DuVernay a bobble the
03:47return and a nice one at that
03:51after the thirty nine and a twenty
03:54three yard return for the first
03:57of the year for Devin DuVernay.
03:59After a fifty two yard punt and
04:02now the question is will the ball
04:04come out on time for Caleb
04:06Williams last year he suffered
04:08sixty eight sacks tied for the
04:10third most in the Super Bowl
04:12era.
04:13Well there's no doubt that it has
04:14to last year a number of those
04:15sacks were with Caleb Williams
04:18holding the ball for well over
04:19five seconds.
04:20So some of the things that he got
04:21away with in college he realized
04:24last year at this level it doesn't
04:25work.
04:34Quick set up pulls it down looking
04:36for swift out of the backfield
04:38nice spinning catch and he's
04:40forced out by pace after a gain of
04:42three.
04:42Well both teams went into the
04:45offseason and said we need to get
04:47better on the offensive line.
04:49You see the skill positions and in
04:52the middle Troy they bring in a new
04:54center and two new guards.
04:56Now that was the area of this
04:57football team where they just had
04:58to solidify some things they did.
05:00As we said sixty eight sacks a
05:02season ago some of that a lot of
05:05that on the quarterback but that
05:06offensive line is not immune
05:07either play action pressure with
05:10Bernard coming off the edge and
05:12now here's Swift on the other
05:14side nice pass floated for the
05:18catch the run the first down that
05:20was not easy but Caleb Williams
05:24threw a strike floating it across
05:26the field for eight yards.
05:27Well the pressure comes here and
05:28as you see Caleb Williams threw a
05:30play fake he's gonna set up and
05:32try to throw one of those
05:34intermediate passes and just was
05:36unable the timing was thrown off
05:38and he had to come off at it then
05:39immediately to DeAndre Swift.
05:41That's twice now on those passes by
05:43Caleb Williams he's been able to
05:45get through the progression on the
05:46first one on the second one with
05:48pressure was able to find his
05:50outlet receiver.
05:51Now a toss to Swift had some room
05:56in front of him and what did his
05:58head coach do.
05:59Ben Johnson tell him completions
06:02completions completions and he's
06:04got a couple already.
06:05Yeah that's right and often times
06:07when you know as a quarterback
06:09you're you're bypassing some of the
06:11easier throws looking for bigger
06:13plays and I think that at times
06:15that's what got Caleb Williams into
06:17some trouble.
06:18So take the easy completions get the
06:20ball out.
06:21Don't worry about being perfect on
06:23each and every play.
06:24open up.
06:26The rookie Kyle Monunga in the backfield
06:31for the Bears good protection and over
06:35the middle pass is caught by Monunga.
06:37And he's got a first down to the 35.
06:40middle pass is caught by a
06:41unknown guy and he's got a
06:43first down to the thirty five
06:46a gain of eleven well Ben
06:53Johnson he's trying to give him
06:54a chance for a big throw down
06:56the field he's got Oduze based
06:58on the rotation of the safeties
07:00they drop in to take away that
07:02inside breaking route he doesn't
07:04see Oduze on the post and once
07:06they take away the inside
07:08breaking route he comes right
07:09down as he should to his back
07:11quick snap Williams able to
07:14complete over the middle good
07:16throw tight coverage a gain of
07:18six as he got it to DJ Moore his
07:21most veteran receiver on the
07:23outside and Blake Cashman was
07:24all over him well and we can't
07:26talk enough about the fact that
07:28you know you come in with a new
07:29offense there's a certain style
07:31that you want to play that
07:33Chicago does and then you're
07:35going up against the Brian
07:36Flores coach defense that gives
07:38a lot of different looks and
07:40they can make life hard on a
07:42young quarterback and an
07:43offense just trying to find
07:45their footing here is swift and
07:51a good play by Grenard as he got
07:52through a loss of one and so
07:56third and medium coming up for
07:58Caleb Williams and company pretty
08:01good first possession they have
08:03going here as they have it at the
08:04Minnesota 30 yeah these defensive
08:06ends edge rushers for Minnesota
08:08they bring them in last year
08:09Jonathan Grenard who made the play
08:11there comes in last year along with
08:13Andrew Van Ginkle and that's as
08:15good a tandem as there is in all of
08:17football and then they upgraded the
08:19interior pass rush as well bringing
08:21in Jonathan Allen and Javon
08:23Hargrave so a defense that was
08:25really good a year ago got better
08:27for this offseason play clock was
08:35expiring and Caleb Williams saw
08:37it and called timeout well
08:42Williams has started four for
08:44four under Ben Johnson talked
08:50about how the Bears like the
08:52Vikings redid their interior
08:54offensive line this is how they
08:57stacked up week one last year
08:59against the Titans see Caleb
09:02suffered 68 sacks and so they
09:04have rearranged the middle three
09:06withdrew Dahlman brought in from
09:08Atlanta Tooney there's a four
09:10time Super Bowl champion guard
09:12he's start for the Patriots and
09:14the Chiefs and Jonah Jackson who
09:16was with Ben Johnson with the
09:18Lions back in twenty one and then
09:20went to the Rams is now back with
09:23Ben Johnson this time in a Bears
09:26uniform and very easily could
09:27have had a new starting left
09:28tackle as well I'm not so sure
09:30when they drafted Ozzy Capillo
09:32out of Boston College that the
09:34intention wasn't for him to be the
09:35starter and left tackle on third
09:37down Williams has to get out
09:39looking downfield and a dunze
09:43he caught it first down Chicago
09:46what a throw what a catch by
09:52Romo Dunze it really was and oh
09:54dunze does an excellent job yeah
09:57it didn't look like he was going
09:58to be able to create any type of
10:00separation once Caleb Williams got
10:02outside the pocket but he did 17
10:05yard game now it's Zaccheaus just
10:08tripped up as he was thinking
10:10about a touchdown as that play was
10:12made by Jeff Okuda back to that
10:14throw and catch yeah it didn't look
10:15like there was much there at all
10:17and Caleb Williams just kept his
10:18eyes down the field and saw that
10:21finally oh dunze was able to
10:23create a little bit of
10:24separation because initially
10:25there were two guys on him up
10:27the field and a good job by the
10:29second year player coming down
10:31with the football second down and
10:33three here ball inside the 10
10:37and now timeout Vikings crowd likes
10:48it I think they're impressed with
10:53what they see here about one one
10:57hundred thousandth into the season
11:00last season the Bears offense and
11:06things are very different now one
11:08of three teams it did not have an
11:10opening drive touchdown as they
11:14face a second down at three and I
11:15see my partner to my right shaking
11:17his head well just because it
11:19hasn't been easy you know this
11:21drive has has not been methodical
11:23it really has been Caleb Williams
11:26being able to to one get through
11:28his progressions find the open
11:30receiver took the check down he
11:32missed the home run shot Joe
11:33dunze but he keeps that drive
11:35alive by getting outside the
11:36pocket so a lot of good things
11:38here by Caleb Williams on this
11:39opening drive second and three
11:43it's swift and a nice play is made
11:45getting through and making that
11:48stop was Levi Drake Rodriguez and a
11:51loss of three to bring up third
11:52down yeah just not much movement
11:54whatsoever but you see Caleb
11:56Williams in under center and a lot
11:59of what the Bears are going to do
12:01is going to come off of that look
12:03with the play action they get the
12:05running game going but as we said
12:07coming into this game Joe
12:09Minnesota was very tough to run
12:11the football against a year ago so
12:13as much as you'd like to be able
12:15to that's going to be a real
12:16challenge throughout this evening
12:18third down and six Williams lot of
12:25room looking for the end zone he is
12:29in
12:30touchdown
12:33did not have a rushing touchdown last
12:52season his rookie year and he takes
12:53it in
12:54and he can't do much better Caleb six
12:57for six 51 yards found five different
13:00receivers on that possession and then a
13:02nine yard touchdown run we heard
13:04Caleb Williams tell Loris Lisa
13:06Salters before the game when it's
13:08time to be Superman go be Superman
13:10well it was time on that last play
13:13and he was
13:13seven zip
13:15and the faithful here at Soldier
13:18Field happy to see the calendar is
13:21turned it's 2025 it's Caleb Williams
13:24in year number two good drive first
13:28point seven nothing Chicago
13:30we welcome you back to Chicago a seven
13:42to nothing lead for the Bears
13:44and Caleb Williams did a little bit of
13:49everything his best throw is to Roma
13:52dunze on the run and then took it in
13:55from nine yards out now Kevin O'Connell
13:57and his young quarterback playing from
13:59behind as much as you'd like to much
14:02you'd like to see a young quarterback
14:04play within the structure of the
14:06offense you know those two big third
14:08down the big catch by O'Doonse a with
14:11him out of the pocket then of course
14:13the scramble for the touchdown here's
14:15Miles Price a rookie from Indiana got
14:19hit hard after getting across the 20
14:22and that play was made by Daniel
14:25Hardy as he electrifies the crowd a
14:28twenty three yard return by Miles
14:30Price seeing a lot more returns in
14:35the opening weekend than we even
14:37saw last year with the new rules
14:39in place that's a big time hit the
14:42back even held on to the football
14:43was impressive all right second
14:46possession for McCarthy little
14:58shoulder fake and Jefferson they
15:00get the ball in his hands behind
15:03the line of scrimmage and he turns
15:05that into a positive play as
15:06Byard knocks him down after a gain
15:08of four you got a four time Pro
15:11Bowl receiver two time all pro had
15:13over 1,500 yards a year ago and he
15:18is the only player in NFL history
15:20with seven thousand plus receiving
15:22yards over his first five seasons
15:24be a good idea to look for number
15:26eighteen yeah the only thing that
15:27could slow him down is his
15:29hamstrings which he was battling
15:31through in the training camp this
15:33summer that was behind the line
15:38of scrimmage they're calling that
15:40a rush well played by this Bears
15:43defense as Aaron Jones is swallowed
15:45up by the new bear Grady Jarrett
15:47let's send it to Lisa with more
15:49on Justin Jefferson yeah Joe
15:50Justin told me he actually went
15:52into camp with his left hamstring
15:53feeling not right there was some
15:55tightness and soreness so because
15:57of what happened in the twenty
15:58twenty three season when he missed
15:59seven games because of a right
16:01hamstring strain he immediately
16:03told this training staff and they
16:04shut him down he says both
16:05hamstrings feel good now he's
16:07starting this season with zero
16:09limitations yeah at least it'll be
16:11be an ongoing maintenance issue
16:13now third down and for McCarthy
16:19time runs out and down he goes just
16:25tripped up and it'll go down as a
16:29sack pressure by dial Odenbo who
16:33was brought in by the front
16:35office to beef up the pass rush for
16:38Chicago well as JJ McCarthy gets this
16:41football he's trying to get the ball
16:42out to Justin Jefferson but he
16:45stumbles coming off the line of
16:46scrimmage and again with the four
16:48man rush from the Chicago Bears
16:50talking with Dennis Allen he said he
16:53wasn't real sure what to expect of
16:54his pass rush if they couldn't get
16:56there with four they'd start bringing
16:57more so far he hasn't had a need to
17:00do that Duvernay from inside the
17:03twenty to the twenty five seven
17:08yard return Bears defense good
17:10start for Dennis Allen two sacks two
17:13three and outs second possession
17:16for Caleb and the Bears offense
17:18coming up leading by seven
17:20the NFL and ESPN is brought to you by
17:28Lowe's Lowe's helps you tackle your
17:30to-do list by Saturday so you can earn
17:33Sunday by progressive get coverage you
17:36can count on with home and auto at
17:38progressive.com the 85 Bears are going
17:41to honor them at halftime the 40 year
17:44anniversary of that great team
17:46revolutionary 46 defense held
17:50opponents to 198 total points for
17:54the season they sped up the game for
17:57quarterbacks people like you under
18:00the great buddy Ryan it was it was
18:02quite a bunch I ran into my former
18:05teammate of mine Dennis McKinnon who
18:06was a part of that 85 club that
18:09later came and joined us in Dallas
18:11great to see so many of these guys
18:13including Jim McMahon
18:14good start for Caleb Williams
18:18protection is good swift out of
18:20the backfield Van Ginkle brings him
18:23down right at the line of scrimmage
18:25good play by Andrew Van Ginkle I've
18:29seen some opportunities for Caleb
18:31down the field but he's doing the
18:33right thing instead of trying to do
18:35he's doing the right thing he's doing
18:37too much if he's a little and and
18:38that's what happens when he got a
18:39defensive coordinator is giving you
18:40different looks it's hard to kind of
18:42get settled in early in a ball game
18:44and yet when he hasn't seen the look
18:47down the field he's really done a
18:49nice job of getting the ball out of
18:51his hands now Brian floors is elected
18:53to play a lot of zone and has yet to
18:55bring a blitz on second down pressure
19:02Williams dances through first down
19:06Chicago reminding everybody how good
19:11he can be with his legs a 13 yard
19:14carry for the first down yeah again
19:16a four man rush by Minnesota and
19:19Caleb starts to try to escape the
19:21pocket feels the opening right in
19:23front of them and takes it and you
19:25can only imagine you know what's
19:28going through Caleb's mind because
19:30early in a game when you're playing
19:32against a defense that that can
19:34really rush the passer now they're
19:36playing on grass so it's not like if
19:38they were playing on turf but it's
19:39still the speed of the game is is
19:41really fast in the opening quarter
19:43against great rushers
19:45and off here is to D.J. Moore and
19:49we will see some of this during the
19:50course of the season he was in the
19:52backfield a lot during camp a gain
19:55of five second down coming up
20:00well last year there was some
20:01discussion about like Amon Ross
20:04St. Brown but even he when he
20:05lined up in the backfield he didn't
20:07do it a whole lot about 15 times
20:10during the season and even with D.J.
20:12Moore getting some work in training
20:14camp I can't imagine they're going to
20:17major in a lot of that even though the
20:19running back position got pretty beat
20:22up with some injuries in camp coming
20:25into this year
20:26I'm going to give the five yards right
20:29back with Darnell Wright
20:30ball star number 58 offense five-yard penalty
20:35second down that's Alan Eck our referee
20:40tonight so back to second down and ten
20:42yeah this was an area last year where the
20:44Bears really struggled and in fact it was a
20:47point of contention by Ben Johnson in
20:49preseason the the pre-snap penalties and he's not going to tolerate that you got to expect big improvements this year
20:57good protection again time runs out that's the rookie Loveland and the former
21:11Michigan Wolverine and the 10th pick in this past draft gets eight third and short
21:16so they're trying to work this side here D.J. Moore is going to go to the corner and they get the too high look with the safety so that's the hole in that zone and he just doesn't quite turn it loose so Caleb's done a lot of really great things but there's been opportunity for some bigger plays if he gets a good pre-snap read and knows exactly where the design of the play has taken him quick throw is low and away
21:31dunze makes the catch but he is tackled immediately by isaiah rogers it's fourth down
21:51trying to get it to romo dunze out on the edge a loss of four in the play and here comes a punt yeah and so much of this offense
21:58is about ball placement Detroit last year led the NFL in yards after catch and it wasn't that they were throwing the ball down the field really all that much they were not a real big deep throwing football team but with Jared Goff and his accuracy completing over 70 percent of his passes was able to hit guys in stride and didn't let them run and you know that was an example of not being able to do that
22:23Tori Taylor hits it price stays away in the third possession coming up for the Vikings who trail by seven make sure a fight doesn't break out and here comes McCarthy playing in his hometown of Chicago
22:48J.J. McCartney in the offense for the Vikings back to work he's thrown only one time one for one for five yards through two possessions got to give him a little bit of grace to settle into this game they've gone three and out each time they've had it
23:12He's got a lot of intangibles he's only 22 years old he's been described as an old soul Kevin O'Connell has been described as a quarterback whisperer
23:22What did he whisper to him after the second possession?
23:26Going to start with a toss to Jordan Mason and the former 49ers with a nice gain on first down of six
23:32The guy we hadn't talked to talked about yet is Adam Phelan who they just made a trade for
23:39with Carolina to bring him in to make up for Jordan Addison being absent.
23:44He comes right out, makes a nice block here on this edge.
23:46Number 19 for Minnesota, a veteran player,
23:49one of my favorite players in the NFL.
23:53Was here for quite a while, knows the offense.
23:56His last year in Minnesota was Kevin O'Connell's first year as head coach,
24:00and they got reunited, and he was happy about that.
24:04Second down and four, handoff to Mason again, and that's two carries.
24:09And the first first down of the night for the Vikings,
24:12who trail by seven after a gain of five.
24:15And that will do it for quarter number one
24:17in the extremely young career of J.J. McCarthy.
24:22Fresh set of downs when we start quarter number two.
24:247-0 Chicago on top.
24:28You're watching NFL Kickoff, presented by YouTube TV.
24:39Quarter number two moments ago.
24:43Lisa caught up with Kevin O'Connell.
24:46Kevin, how has J.J. McCarthy looked to you so far?
24:49Yeah, to me, J.J. looks settled in.
24:53We got to protect him a little bit better.
24:55Got, you know, had a couple early miscues that normal jitters will work through it.
25:00We'll put a drive together right now, go tie this thing up,
25:02and just keep competing.
25:04After the second, third, and out, I saw you go to the bench to talk to him.
25:07What did you say to him?
25:08I just told him, you know, his demeanor, you know,
25:10everything about him doing his job right now is good.
25:14We got to pick him up around, and me included.
25:15Thank you, Kevin.
25:17Joe.
25:18All right, Lisa, thank you.
25:19What a job Kevin O'Connell did in rebuilding the confidence of Kirk Cousins
25:24when he first took over in Minnesota last year,
25:27rebuilding the confidence and the career of Sam Darnold.
25:31And now he is molding young J.J. McCarthy,
25:34the number 10 pick from last season.
25:38Here's his first one downfield, and there's contact and a flag.
25:42Aaron Jones out of the backfield, down the sideline,
25:49and Deshaun Wright, who last year was on the Vikings practice squad,
25:54guilty of pass interference.
25:58Let's take a look at it.
26:00Pass interference, number 26 defense.
26:02The ball will be placed, a spot of foul, automatic first down.
26:05Clearly pass interference, and they get the call,
26:09but to be able to split out a guy like Aaron Jones as a running back
26:13and have him work one-on-one against a corner
26:15and have J.J. McCarthy with the confidence
26:17and giving him a chance on a deep ball is pretty good.
26:21They were working also with Justin Jefferson over the middle.
26:25But Dennis Allen on that play with two tight ends
26:28and T.J. Hawkinson in the lineup
26:31elects to go base coverage,
26:34and even with a corner
26:36on Aaron Jones,
26:38they still get something out of it.
26:4342 yards on that penalty on pass interference.
26:46McCarthy keeps,
26:48ducks, goes,
26:50and gets 11.
26:54Let's send it down to Laura.
26:56Well, Joe, you just mentioned Deshaun Wright
26:58was on the practice squad for the Vikings last year.
27:00He spent most of his time on the scout team
27:02going up against Justin Jefferson
27:04and actually credits Jefferson
27:05with making him a better corner
27:07going in for Jalen Johnson tonight, of course.
27:09But he said Jefferson told him,
27:11don't hold back.
27:12He wanted to do as much as possible
27:13against him on that practice squad.
27:15So he's getting his chance tonight, Laura.
27:20Michonne, 26 years old from Oregon State.
27:24Handoff is to Mason.
27:26And a nice push over the left side,
27:28a gain of five.
27:29Well, I think that's the part
27:31that we're going to see out of Minnesota
27:32offensively this year
27:33is bringing in Jordan Mason.
27:35Made the trade with the 49ers.
27:36And last year, Aaron Jones,
27:39you know, he had more touches
27:40than he had at any other time in his career.
27:43And they just don't want to continue
27:45to overwork him like that.
27:47Bring in a bigger back like Jordan Mason.
27:49Let him get the tough yards like he just got.
27:58Second and five.
27:59Mason again.
28:02Got around Edmonds for a moment.
28:04And then Tremaine gets back in on the tackle.
28:06And the Sean Wright was there to meet him
28:08initially in a loss of three.
28:10Well, just a good job there by
28:13Dio Dengbo.
28:16He's out there playing the edge.
28:18And you've got Oliver
28:20who's trying to make the block.
28:22And he just forces it out wide.
28:24And he holds the point.
28:27And if you don't secure that,
28:28you're going to have a hard time
28:28running strong side in this league.
28:30But Dengbo, another guy
28:32who they brought in this offseason,
28:34makes a nice play.
28:35Third and eight.
28:36Four-man rush McCarthy.
28:45That's incomplete.
28:47Jefferson, the target.
28:48That ball hit the grass as he trapped it.
28:52It's fourth down.
28:53The field goal unit comes on for the Vikings.
28:55Yeah, just man across the board.
28:57They've got a safety in the middle of the field.
28:59There's no disguising what Chicago is doing.
29:01And somebody's just got a win on the route.
29:06Just wasn't a whole lot of places to go with the football.
29:08You see the look here.
29:11Pretty good coverage.
29:13Drop ball.
29:14But you see, we talked about how Chicago's shorthanded
29:18with the injuries.
29:20They hold up well.
29:2131-yard dry is drilled by Will Reichert.
29:24And J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings are on the board now,
29:29trailing 7-3.
29:31Biggest play on that possession,
29:34that 42-yard pass interference penalty,
29:37and the 31-yard field goal.
29:40That's the Bean in downtown Chicago.
29:42We're at Soldier Field.
29:44Four-point game.
29:44Full moon as we continue on in Chicago at Soldier Field.
29:57At least I think that's a full moon.
29:59It looked full to me.
30:01I actually dropped my astronomy class at Indiana.
30:06I thought I had signed up for astrology,
30:08but instead it was astronomy.
30:10It was a bunch of numbers and stuff.
30:12Yeah, you don't want to be part of that.
30:13Oh, goodbye.
30:157-3 game.
30:20D.J. Moore and the offense about to go back out to the field.
30:27And we are about to play our first quote-unquote cartoon of 2025.
30:33Here is Duvernay.
30:37Forced out after a good return.
30:39A flag is down at the 39.
30:43It's a 34-yard return, however.
30:58Illegal formation, number 24 of the kicking team, for leaving early.
31:02The five-yard penalty will be enforced at the end of the return.
31:05First down in Chicago.
31:06Against Nick McLeod.
31:09And so we will tack on at the end of that return by Duvernay.
31:12And he left too soon.
31:26And that killed the cartoon.
31:27I was going to say, I think we're making America wait for Ferris Bueller.
31:36Ben Johnson cartoon.
31:37First down.
31:39Williams has started 9 for 9.
31:41How about 10 for 10?
31:42How about D.J. Moore?
31:43You're going to wait longer for the cartoon.
31:46First down at the 31 after a 30-yard completion from Caleb Williams.
31:52Troy, who's 10 for 10.
31:53Yeah, he's on a roll right now.
31:55And this is his best throw of the night.
31:57You're going to see that Moore comes off the ball.
32:01He gets jammed up a little bit.
32:03So the timing is off.
32:04And Caleb then in the pocket, he's got a double hitch just to get the timing back on it.
32:11But he knew exactly what he had with the coverage.
32:13They covered the inside receiver.
32:15He went to the outside guy.
32:16And just really great presence by Caleb Williams knowing what he got.
32:26Career best 10 straight completions for Caleb Williams.
32:30As the handoff is to D.J. Moore, his second carry.
32:34Eric Wilson on the tackle.
32:36A gain of one.
32:39And the longest by the Bears to start a season since 1978.
32:45We'll get John Perlin on a name for that.
32:51We call Perlin Pylon.
32:54Country's waiting for that.
33:00All right, second and nine.
33:06That's a flag.
33:08Backing him up.
33:09That's another area with some of the pre-snap with the motions just timing it up.
33:15Number two offense.
33:17Five-yard penalty.
33:18Second down.
33:19And that's going to be a work in progress.
33:22But I know for Ben Johnson, boy, that's just something that really irritates him as it does all coaches.
33:28That when you're getting penalized before the ball is even snapped.
33:32But that's some of which this offense has struggled with in camp.
33:35And they'll continue to get better as we move through the year.
33:38But we saw that right then from D.J. Moore moving a little bit sooner.
33:41Second and 14.
33:49Williams' time runs out.
33:52Caleb on the move.
33:55Nice spin as he got around Byron Murphy.
33:59Third down coming up.
34:01Pressure by Ivan Pace.
34:03And it turns into an eight-yard run by Caleb.
34:06One of the areas that Caleb really needed to improve upon was his cadence.
34:10And using it as a weapon, especially against a defense like the Minnesota Vikings.
34:14He does great here.
34:17He mixed it up.
34:18They just didn't handle the twist up front.
34:22And Caleb, again, being able to use his legs, which is such an asset for him.
34:27And tonight, he's used it when he's needed it.
34:33Another false start.
34:42False start.
34:43Number 73 offense.
34:45Five-yard penalty.
34:46Third down.
34:48Jonah Jackson.
34:52As I mentioned earlier, last year with the Rams, with the Lions, before that, pro bowler with Detroit.
34:58Trying to solidify the interior offensive line.
35:03And that's three false start penalties against the Bears in the half.
35:07Third and 11.
35:08Cubs letting when you get backed up.
35:10Third and long against this Flores defense.
35:13See if he decides to come after him.
35:15But looks like another four-man rush.
35:19And up to Swift.
35:22Fourth down.
35:22Nice game.
35:25Three yards short of the first down.
35:27Theo Jackson made the stop.
35:30The crowd is excited to see the offense stay out on fourth and three.
35:34They sure are.
35:36They're not the ones who ever have to answer for it if it doesn't work.
35:40Well, we'll see if Ben Johnson is going to actually go for it or if he's going to maybe try to draw him off sides.
35:51Well, the play clock is at nine.
35:53And that took a long time to get to the line of scrimmage.
36:07And a timeout taken.
36:08Second taken by the Bears in this half before fourth and three.
36:14Ah, here it is.
36:15Rest easy.
36:17Ben Johnson got the city of Chicago excited again.
36:19Detroit Lions offense was in rhythm under Johnson.
36:24Led the NFL with 29 points per game.
36:27And the Bears looking for a winning season.
36:31Their first since 2018 and their first playoff win since 2010.
36:35That is not Ferris Bueller.
36:38That is obviously Ben Johnson who is dancing.
36:44Obviously.
36:45Yeah, the button-up leopard print.
36:48It's not Matthew Broderick.
36:51It was Ben.
36:52Fourth and three.
36:54Quick snap.
36:56Over the middle.
36:57Bad throw out in front of DJ Moore.
37:00And turning it over on downs are the Bears.
37:04Looked like he had it.
37:05Oh, he had them all right.
37:06That's one that he's going to be kicking himself.
37:09He had them as wide open as you can get.
37:11And it's his first incompletion of the game.
37:14Vikings ball down four.
37:25Caleb Williams off to a flying start statistically.
37:30He's probably thinking about that fourth down throw he missed.
37:33As we look at this quarterback comparison and J.J. McCarthy, who's just one for two, trying to settle in to his first NFL start.
37:43You can add a rush touchdown for Caleb Williams.
37:48A nine-yarder to get the scoring started.
37:50Here's Jones on the edge.
38:01And pretty well played defensively by Noah Sewell.
38:06Take a look at the first-round quarterbacks in that 2024 draft.
38:11Caleb Williams first overall to the Bears.
38:13Jaden Daniels.
38:14You know what he did.
38:15He guided his team to the NFC champ game last season.
38:18Andrake May, Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy, and Bo Nix.
38:23Pretty good class at the top.
38:25Yeah, really good.
38:26There's some guys already that are pretty accomplished, and those teams would say that they have found their franchise guy,
38:32which is what you're hoping to say when you come out of that rookie year.
38:35Second and eight.
38:36Hawkinson has his first catch.
38:38First target on top of that.
38:40Up to the 30, and it's third and a long four.
38:44I know McCarthy hasn't really gotten the ball out much here tonight, but T.J. Hawkinson is one of those guys,
38:50especially with Jordan Addison missing the first three games due to a suspension,
38:54that I would expect him to be heavily involved in this offense outside of Justin Jefferson.
39:00He came into last year coming off a knee injury, missed the first seven games, came on strong towards the end.
39:07He says he's fully healed from that and ready to go, and he's a young quarterback security blanket.
39:14They're down in four.
39:16McCarthy, Jefferson didn't get it.
39:20It's fourth down.
39:21Good, strong tackle by Tremaine Edmonds, one of the two linebackers that the Bears brought in back in 2023.
39:32His run made T.J. Edwards inactive tonight with a bad hamstring.
39:35Yeah, just a really good job by him.
39:37He goes back, and he reads the route and just immediately puts his foot in the ground.
39:42That's a veteran player.
39:45Does a nice job of being able to come up and make a tackle on a guy that's not easy to get to the ground short of the first down.
39:51First catch of the night for Justin Jefferson.
39:54Right, another punt.
39:58DuVernay has been busy.
40:03Not a pretty one.
40:12And good field position for the Bears, leading by four.
40:16Navy Pier on a beautiful night in Chicago.
40:19You're watching NFL Kickoff, presented by YouTube TV.
40:30Play is brought to you by Chick-fil-A.
40:33Let's take a look at Caleb Williams' first half.
40:35And you see as he's able to get through the progression and check the ball down, which, as you talked about, Joe, he's been preached to all week.
40:43Completions, completions, completions.
40:45And then when the pocket is collapsed on him and he hasn't seen anything down the field, he does what he's able to do and what we've seen throughout his career, the ability to make plays.
40:54And then, of course, here's the touchdown run, getting outside the pocket once again.
40:58So, it hasn't been perfect.
41:00The numbers look good.
41:01He's missed a few guys that have had opportunities for some bigger plays.
41:06But, overall, in this first game, in this new offense, I think he's handled everything very well.
41:12It was just a 31-yard punt by Ryan Wright.
41:17And good field position for the Bears, up 7-3, starting at their 35.
41:225-5, Kyle Mununga, the rookie.
41:29They fake it to him.
41:30Williams steps up and that ball is batted down by Ty Ingram Dawkins.
41:37He's the rookie in a fifth-round pick out of Georgia.
41:41And he's 6'5", got his hands up and knocked it away.
41:44Yeah, they had an opportunity outside as well.
41:47They do a nice job of, they've been running some jumbo packages,
41:50which means they bring in the extra offensive lineman.
41:54Here it's Theo Benedett, the undrafted rookie.
41:57And heavy play action, show run.
42:00You've got one-on-one on the outside.
42:02But because of the big guy in the middle,
42:04not able to what should have been an easy completion
42:07if Caleb just lays that ball and not tries to drive it so hard.
42:11Extra men on the rush this time.
42:12And Caleb is flushed out to his right.
42:14Flag flies, and the pass is incomplete for Zaccheaus.
42:18It's a hold against Chicago.
42:22And that time, Brian Flores brought pressure.
42:25Holding, number 25 offense, 10-yard penalty.
42:28Replay, second down.
42:31Yeah, of course, Brian Flores, everyone knows,
42:33he brings more pressure than anybody in the game.
42:36And this first half, he's been pretty conservative.
42:39And I know we talked to him, Joe.
42:41He said even when he's able to get a pressure with a four-man,
42:45he can't help himself, he wants to bring someone else.
42:48But Ivan Pace, who came on the blitz there,
42:52he's one of the best blitzing linebackers in the game.
42:55He does an outstanding job.
42:56And there's a lot of versatility on this group.
42:59And Brian Flores gives them all an opportunity to make plays.
43:02Just two blitzes tonight, dialed up by Flores so far.
43:12Caleb Williams, three straight incompletions after starting 10 for 10.
43:18Third down and 10.
43:20Williams in trouble.
43:21And able to get free for a moment.
43:24Still rolling.
43:25And out of bounds as it looked like Jonathan Allen was going to have his first sack
43:31as a Minnesota Viking.
43:33And he came up empty.
43:35Came up empty.
43:35He had a chance.
43:37I'm not sure how Williams gets out of that.
43:38But he comes back with another five-man rush.
43:41And so he's not going to allow Caleb Williams to just sit back there.
43:45At times he's had pretty good protection.
43:47But he's able to get away from Jonathan Allen.
43:49But still having to punt the football.
43:55And now on fourth down, it's Torrey Taylor.
44:02Bryce has to sprint out to his left.
44:05Leading with his teammates to get away from it.
44:08Good job by the rookie.
44:10That ball was awfully close to hitting a couple of Vikings over on the far side of the field.
44:15And not taking any chances.
44:18Miles Price picked it up and returned it for eight yards.
44:22McCarthy back to work.
44:25Down 7-3.
44:30Under six to go in the half.
44:32The Bears still leading 7-3.
44:34Talked about Caleb Williams starting this game 10 for 10.
44:38The Vikings to have kind of survived that.
44:41They've let J.J. McCarthy settle in a little bit.
44:44It's just a four-point game.
44:45And now McCarthy back to work here.
44:47Well, I'll tell you, I've been impressed with what this defense has been able to do.
44:50Dennis Allen and his group has really done a nice job.
44:53And understandable that they're going against a quarterback making his first start.
44:58But to be without their top two corners in Jalen Johnson and then Kyler Gordon.
45:03And you've got Justin Jefferson on the other side.
45:06We've seen Nick McLeod.
45:07Who has stepped in and had to play that nickel role for Kyler Gordon, who's one of the best in the league.
45:14And, you know, he was pretty sticky on Justin Jefferson.
45:18So that group's playing good football right now.
45:22Starting at the 24, they hand to Mason.
45:26And he's able to bounce.
45:28He gets 10-plus.
45:29But a flag is down.
45:30And maybe that's why he was able to.
45:33It's a hold that's coming back.
45:34And then he's going to be able to bounce.
45:40Holding number 67 offense.
45:42Ten-yard penalty.
45:43We play first down.
45:44We've seen Justin School with the 49ers.
45:47Played a lot last year with Tampa Bay.
45:50They brought him in because Christian Derrisaw, their usual left tackle,
45:55is making his way back from a torn left ACL and MCO.
46:00There's the hold on school.
46:02And Derrisaw was kind of iffy during the week.
46:06He's ahead of schedule but was not ready to go.
46:08Needing confidence in that knee.
46:11So School gets the start.
46:12School's got a little experience within this offense having played in San Francisco.
46:16But you're right.
46:17He was in insurance policy.
46:19Hoping to have Derrisaw back tonight.
46:21But School got the nod.
46:22This one's batted down.
46:25Edmonds.
46:26And it's second and 20.
46:29Well, that's one area that J.J. McCarthy, he's just got to be a little bit better.
46:34You're going to see the receiver come into the middle.
46:37And you got to just lay this ball.
46:40T.J.
46:40Hawkinson just got to lay it to the middle and let him go.
46:43And a lot of when you watch McCarthy, there's a lot of fastballs.
46:47And when you throw that, all those interior pressures become factors like we just saw.
46:53Second down and 20.
46:56McCarthy protected and his arm was hit by Odangbo.
47:02That's an incomplete pass.
47:04It's third and 20.
47:05Andayo Odangbo, the former Indianapolis Colts, who signed a three-year deal, got his hand on McCarthy's arm.
47:15Well, initially, yeah, you see the job that he does coming in and getting his hands on him.
47:20Jaquan Brisker was playing kind of middle field there, right where J.J. McCarthy was wanting to lay the football.
47:27And it's why he was holding it.
47:29Overall, that protection wasn't that bad.
47:35Now the play clock at three.
47:38Timeout, Minnesota.
47:40Kevin O'Connell gets the timeout on the sideline.
47:43He was asking for it.
47:45They throw the flag, but we'll see if they give the Vikings the timeout.
47:49Well, J.J. McCarthy was asking to get a new play clock, and so is Kevin McCarthy over there.
47:54I think they both were making the argument.
47:56Offense.
47:58Five-yard penalty.
47:59Third round.
48:00Yeah, I thought O'Connell was going down to the official to say timeout.
48:04He was going down to the official to say reset the play clock.
48:07That's right.
48:08And this is what McCarthy, so he sees the play clock, and he's expecting a reset as well.
48:14I'm not exactly sure, Russell, why either of them were wanting a reset.
48:19Yeah, that was a normal play.
48:20I can't imagine any reason why there had to be a reset there.
48:23I think it was a good job to let him play on.
48:26That's Russell Yerke.
48:27A rules expert play clock is down low again.
48:33It's at three.
48:36Quick setup and throw.
48:37It's Mason just to buy a little bit of room, and he's to the 15.
48:41That's it.
48:44Sewell and Edmonds, the two starting linebackers, playing in place of the injured T.J. Edwards.
48:49At least Noah Sewell is, combined on the stop again of seven.
48:53It's fourth down.
48:54You know, the game kind of started this way as far as McCarthy, you know,
48:58feeling the pressure of the play clock winding down, and it's continued.
49:04And there's something with the mechanics of how he's getting the play,
49:08how he's getting it called.
49:10Whatever the miscommunication is, it's causing too much stress at the line.
49:14Good punt this time by Wright.
49:17Duvernay brought down near the 40 by Ty Felton.
49:26After a return of seven yards next week, Monday night football doubleheader.
49:31At 7 o'clock Eastern, ABC and ESPN.
49:34It's the Tampa Bay Bucs, 1-0 against the Houston Texans, 0-1.
49:38And then after that, on ESPN at 10 Eastern,
49:41and the L.A. Chargers, who beat Kansas City and Brazil,
49:44taking on Las Vegas, who won over the Patriots,
49:49both games will be available on the all-new ESPN app.
49:54A tough loss for the Texans yesterday in Los Angeles,
49:57but how about shake and bake?
50:00Baker Mayfield coming up with the win against Atlanta.
50:03Here is Swift.
50:05Yeah, Baker in that game, a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass
50:12to Emeka Ibuka, the rookie who looks outstanding.
50:17And then a missed field goal, ended the ballgame in essence.
50:21That game last night was just crazy.
50:23I'll get into some of the numbers in a second if we get a chance.
50:25What a good start for the Green Bay Packers.
50:28At home, they beat Detroit.
50:30Micah Parsons right in the middle of it.
50:32Aaron Rodgers says, hey, don't forget about me.
50:34Four touchdown passes later.
50:36That's right.
50:36It's the offense bailing out the defense with the Steelers.
50:40That's a little...