Fantasy Football Takeaways from Vikings' Win over Bears: J.J. McCarthy, Caleb Williams and More

Week 1 of the NFL regular season wrapped up with the Minnesota Vikings taking down the Chicago Bears 27-24 on Monday night.

Let's go over some fantasy football takeaways from the contest, just like we did for the Thursday and Friday games and Sunday contests. Also be sure to check out the IDP roundup from Sunday.

Check out fantasy football waiver wire targets all season on FantasySP. Join the new FantasySP Discord to keep up to date with all the recent news from FSP!

Vikings Storm Back Behind McCarthy

Minnesota frankly looked bad for most of the game, but a 21-point fourth quarter helped the visitors rally.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a pick-six in the third quarter, which helped the Bears take a 17-6 lead. The first-year starting QB responded by leading three fourth quarter touchdown drives.

McCarthy ended up completing 13 of his 20 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He offset the interception with a rushing touchdown - he had 25 rushing yards on two scrambles in total.

It wasn't a fantastic fantasy showing for McCarthy, but he proved he can impact the game with his arm and legs, which gives him fantasy value moving forward.

He'll be a deep-league starting option all season, and then a streaming option in the right matchups in standard leagues.

Vikes' Backfield Split

The rumors of the Minnesota backfield being split ended up to be true.

Jordan Mason ended up leading the way with 15 carries, while Aaron Jones Sr. only had eight carries. Mason rushed for 68 yards, while Jones had 23 yards.

Jones made up for a lower rushing output with 44 yards and a score on three receptions and targets. Mason had a seven-yard reception on his lone target.

Minnesota had 56 total offensive plays in the game. Mason played 30 snaps, while Jones had 28 snaps.

What it means from a fantasy perspective is that both guys are probably better deep-league starting options. In the right matchups, both could be standard league flex options, but the split backfield is going to hinder both of their fantasy ceilings.

It might be worth dangling either running back on the trade block to see if anyone is willing to pay a bit more for them.

Minnesota Pass Catchers Struggle

With 143 passing yards, you can imagine that not many Vikings' pass catchers stood out, especially when you already know Jones had 44 of those yards.

Justin Jefferson tied his output with 44 receiving yards, but he found the end zone among his four catches and seven targets to deliver a solid fantasy score still. Jefferson also rushed once for four yards.

I wouldn't panic too much about Jefferson. He still led the team in targets and that's something that will continue all season. The addition of Jordan Addison after his three-week suspension might take a target or two away, but he's a top-end fantasy wideout still, and I'm not worried at this time.

Adam Thielen surprisingly only was targeted once, and he didn't catch the pass. He did haul in a two-point conversion.

I thought he was a solid deep-league starting option on Monday, but a tough matchup proved to overwhelm Thielen, and the Vikings' passing game overall. Thielen played 32 snaps, so until Addison is back, he is a deep-league starting option - we'll just have to target better matchups for him.

Jalen Nailor had a 28-yard grab on his lone catch across three targets. He's the third receiver in Minnesota until Addison is back, but he's just an option in really deep leagues, and in really favorable matchups.

Tight end T.J. Hockenson had an underwhelming 15 yards on three grabs and four targets. Josh Oliver had a five-yard grab on his lone target.

I see better days ahead for Hockenson, but like I thought before the season, these down performances were a possibility, and he's not near being a locked-in starter in standard leagues. Really, he's probably not that level of player in deeper leagues either.

Better days should be ahead for these Minnesota pass catchers, but in tougher matchups, we might have to be cautious of the fantasy options.

Williams Underwhelms Again

Caleb Williams started the game hot for Chicago, but faded quickly after that.

He finished 21-of-35 passing, going for 210 yards, a score and no picks. He added 58 rushing yards and a score on six carries to deliver a solid fantasy score.

Williams is still not the quarterback many expected him to be as a former No. 1 pick. He missed several fairly easy throws, and still looks like he has some improving to do.

He could be a sneaky good fantasy asset if he adds in that many rushing yards a game, but I wouldn't anticipate it happening too often.

Williams is just a deep-league starting option, and I'd avoid streaming him in standard leagues until he delivers a strong fantasy outing or two. This was a stellar matchup for him, and he looked underwhelming.

The Backfield is Swift's

D'Andre Swift got all 17 carries among the team's running backs. He went for 52 yards and added 12 receiving yards on three catches and five targets.

It wasn't a big-time fantasy outing, but he dominated the touches and snaps with Roschon Johnson out of the picture. Swift played 54 of the team's 67 offensive snaps. Rookie backup Kyle Monangai only played nine snaps, and he didn't get a rushing attempt - he did catch an 11-yard pass.

Until Johnson is back in the mix, expect Swift to keep dominating the backfield. That could make him a pretty good fantasy asset, even in not-so-great matchups.

Chicago Passing Game Breakdown

I was curious to see how the pass catchers looked in week 1. There's so many options, and it went about as expected.

D.J. Moore led the way with 68 yards on three grabs and five targets. He also rushed three times for eight yards. He lost a fumble to turn a weak fantasy day into a worse showing.

Olamide Zaccheaus got seven targets, catching four for 42 yards. Rome Odunze had nine targets, catching six passes for 37 yards and a score. Luther Burden made a catch on his only target, but it lost three yards.

At tight end, Cole Kmet had four targets, making one grab for 31 yards. Colston Loveland had 12 yards on two catches and targets.

Odunze played the most snaps (63) of any pass catcher. Kmet was next at 60 snaps.

Moore played 56 snaps on Monday. Loveland was on the field for just 38 snaps. Zaccheaus played 30 snaps, and Burden took the field for 18 snaps.

I think this pass-catching group is going to be a fantasy mess all season. Odunze is likely going to be my favorite fantasy asset going into week 2, and that's just because he played the most snaps, which obviously gives him more opportunities to deliver numbers.

Moore is still a solid fantasy asset because of the touches he gets, but I think he's going to be inconsistent this season. 

Loveland and Burden need to see the field more to be better standard league options. For now, only consider starting them in deeper leagues.

Kmet isn't a good standard league asset because of all the other weapons on the team. 

Again, this is an absolute fantasy mess, and that's why I wasn't a huge fan of drafting any of them this season.

IDP and Kicker Performances

Chicago's Noah Sewell had a game-leading nine combined tackles. Tremaine Edmunds had seven tackles and a pass defensed.

Joshua Metellus led Minnesota with six tackles. 

Nashon Wright had the pick-six for Chicago. He added four tackles, including one that went for a loss. The Bears were without a couple corners, so Wright isn't as good of an IDP pickup as you think. His performance likely earned him a role of some sort moving forward.

Minnesota's Andrew Van Ginkel had five tackles and two passes defensed. Javon Hargrave had two sacks among his five combined tackles. 

Dayo Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter Sr. and Tanoh Kpassagnon all had a sack for Chicago. Odeyingbo had a pass defensed and two tackles, while Dexter finished with three tackles. Kpassagnon had two tackles.

Chicago's Montez Sweat had two tackles for losses and knocked down a pass. Minnesota's Jonathan Greenard had two QB hits and tackles.

Tavierre Thomas forced the fumble for Minnesota, and Jay Ward recovered it. Ward had three tackles, while Thomas had two.

Minnesota kicker Will Reichard hit two field goals (31 and 59 yards) and made his only extra point try. Chicago's Cairo Santos made three extra points and one of his two field goals - he made a 42-yard kick, and missed from 50 yards.