Bears’ mojo is workin’ heading into Vikings matchup

Three things I think I know about the talk-of-the-NFL Bears, who are 1-0 heading into their home opener at noon Sunday against the Vikings:

1. They have momentum: We’ve bathed in the Bears’ luminous Week 1 offensive numbers — the 59 points, the team record for offensive yards — but the best thing about the dominant performance at Carolina was the way they finished, with touchdowns on their last four possessions to break open a 31-31 game. They cracked the concentration of one of the Panthers’ veteran leaders and captains, Derrick Brown, who was left apologizing for “stupid [expletive]” mistakes that included his way-late hit on Caleb Williams. They left local media and fans talking about firing defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero rather than eagerly looking ahead to Game 2 for a defending division champion. The Bears, meanwhile, bounded out of the Queen City like a boulder.

2. They have mojo: The national media are fluttering their eyes at the Bears already, as a Tuesday scouring of the power-rankings-o-sphere revealed. Yahoo elevated the Bears to No. 10 on its list, ESPN bumped them up five spots to No. 7, USA Today and the Athletic jumped them all the way to No. 4 and — holy mother of giardiniera — Fox Sports put them at No. 2.

I think 10 is plenty high for now, just saying.

But the more important thing is the Bears feel good about what they have and where they’re headed. One strong indication this team has its collective head in the right place was the tenaciousness with which the wide receivers threw their bodies around in the blocking game. Rome Odunze locked up cornerback Jaycee Horn on a Williams touchdown run. Luther Burden and scrawny Kalif Raymond were right in the muck at the line of scrimmage helping to spring Kyle Monangai for a 61-yard scoring romp. Jahdae Walker obliterated cornerback Will Lee on another play. Were these guys coached up at the service academies? Divas, no. Mojo, yes.

3. They’re miles better than they were a year ago: To clarify, I’m referencing the Bears of last September, who choked on a 17-6 second-half lead in an opening loss to the Vikings before getting demolished 52-21 by the Lions.

“Playoffs? No chance. Contending in the division? No chance,” one dope wrote at the time. “We know those things already, just two games in.”

OK, so it wasn’t my finest hour.

Look who’s coming: the Vikings

They are 1-0, with a 39-22 result against the Packers under their belts. What’s not for them to love about that?

The answer is their quarterback situation. New starter Kyler Murray’s first pass in purple was a pitiful duck thrown off his back foot while retreating from a blitz, resulting in an easy interception. Two possessions later, he was on the business end of a knockout shot from linebacker Quay Walker, which could mean it’ll be Carson Wentz who — after playing well in relief — faces the Bears’ suspect defense. Not that the Bears wouldn’t feel great about their chances against a QB who has all but disappeared since being benched by the Eagles in 2020.

Will Murray clear concussion protocol? Will it be Wentz? What about former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy, who beat the Bears last year and remains in the fold?

One thing we know: Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores will send blitz after blitz at Williams, as he did to great effect against the Packers and Jordan Love. Start stretching those hammies now, 18.

Caleb-o-meter: 9 out of 10

Who says Williams is a slow starter? Maybe he has buried that trend in the past. He’s coming off a complete performance that triggered a bunch of “MVP” talk. Can he hold the line or even take a step forward Sunday? Williams is 1-3 against the Vikings and didn’t play well in the lone win, which came in the teams’ last meeting.

Take the North

Say, who’s that sitting alone in last place in the division? Ah, yes, it’s the Packers.

Even as early as it is, we have to take note of their backward progress, let’s call it. The Packers blew a 12-point lead and were outscored 22-0 in the fourth quarter against the Vikings, which would be bad enough on its own if it didn’t happen all the brat-boiling time. Remember that little playoff tilt against the Bears, who humiliated their archrivals with a 25-6 fourth quarter? The Packers have lost six straight going back to last season and frittered away multiple-score leads in four of those games.

That’s why everybody up thataway is yelling at coach Matt LaFleur for a fourth-and-one QB sneak call that didn’t work, while nobody down thisaway is yelling at Ben Johnson for a fourth-and-one QB sneak call that didn’t work. See how that works?

History department

Yes, of course Johnson wants the Bears to shatter scoring records. Why wouldn’t he?

But guess how many of the highest-scoring dozen teams of the Super Bowl era have won all the marbles? That’s right, zero. How did you get so smart?

Five of the 12 — including the top two scoring teams, the 2013 Broncos (37.9 points per game) and 2007 Patriots (36.8) — made it to the Super Bowl but lost. Three others lost conference championship games. All 12 made the playoffs.

The highest-scoring team to celebrate on Super Bowl Sunday: the 1999 “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams, who averaged 32.9.

Three and Out

1. Old face, new place: Running back David Montgomery scored three touchdowns in his Texans debut. That must be why the Lions traded him in March. And why the Bears let him get away three years before that.

2. That’s what he said: “It should have been worse.” —D’Andre Swift on the Bears’ 59-point explosion against the Panthers.

3. Is it Sunday yet? If the Bears beat the Vikings, they’ll be 2-0 for only the second time since 2013. And the last time they pulled it off was 2020, when Mitch Trubisky proceeded to get himself benched in Week 3. So, you know, that one really didn’t even count.