The Minnesota Vikings escaped a road game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field without a touchdown of any kind, but those kinds of wins are few and far between in the NFL.
Minnesota won on a rainy day at Soldier Field by a score of 9-3. Carson Wentz completed 11-of-20 passes for 143 yards on the day. He took three sacks and fumbled the football once, but the Vikings recovered.
The conditions certainly played a role in the flow and ultimate outcome of the game, as well as Wentz’s subpar performance. That said, the Vikings backup QB made little in the way of a strong argument that he should keep the starting job over Kyler Murray if Murray is healthy enough to return to action next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell updated Murray’s status following the team’s win in Chicago.
“Kevin O’Connell says that Kyler Murray remains on track to be cleared from concussion protocol early this week,” ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported via X.
Vikings Want to See More of QB Kyler Murray Before Making Any Permanent Changes
Murray suffered a concussion on the Vikings’ third offensive drive against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. He had thrown an interception on his first pass of the day and looked shaky after that, to say the least, during his brief debut in Minnesota.
That said, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network explained last week that the Vikings coaching staff and front office remain in on Murray and want to see what the ceiling of the offense might look like with his unique skill set under center.
“I think with Kyler … everyone was looking forward to seeing the different dimensions this offense can have with a really dynamic quarterback who could move to throw,” Rapoport told the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, September 15. “I’d be surprised if [Wentz] was their starting quarterback. Kyler is gonna come back, and I would expect it to be him.”
Carson Wentz Probably Needed Monster Game in Chicago to Retain QB1 Job Over Kyler Murray
Wentz had a chance to steal the starting job, at least in theory, with a big game on Sunday in Chicago. But the weather made that a difficult task, even against a porous Bears defense that surrendered 37 points to the Carolina Panthers in Week 1.
Wentz threw for 133 yards and three scores against the Packers in relief of Murray last week, but he was not as sharp in Chicago. The fact that Minnesota won the game, moving Wentz’s career record as the Vikings’ starter to 3-3, is perhaps less important in this context than how the offense played while capturing the victory.
Noticeably absent from this discussion is former top-10 pick JJ McCarthy, who served as the QB2 against the Bears on Sunday but did not play for the second game in a row. McCarthy started 10 games for the Vikings last year, going 6-4 across those contests.
Vikings Deliver Good Kyler Murray News After Carson Wentz Struggles vs. Bears