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No more sleeps are in the way of tonight's Vikings game at the Chicago Bears to open the 2025 regular season and conclude Week 1.

Unless you are able and want to work in an afternoon nap.

The past week was overfilled with commemoration and anticipation.

The commemoration began with the retirement of Anthony Barr as a "Viking through and through."

It was so great to see A.B., and his former teammates Eric Kendricks, Audie Cole and Andrew Sendejo return to the Twin Cities to celebrate a great player and man as he moves to the next chapter, which will include continued philanthropy here and in Southern California. He's recently engaged to a lovely lady who also made the trip. Congrats to the happy couple.

Vikings Ring of Honor linebacker and former scout and personnel executive Scott Studwell also attended the press conference. Chad Greenway stopped by before the session for a lunch with friends, and Adam Thielen, Brian O'Neill, Eric Wilson and Harrison Smith also made sure to reconnect with the group at different points of the day.

Another recent commemoration occurred when Aaron Jones, Sr., visited United Heroes League to host a back-to-school event. Bricks were placed at the Hastings campus to honor the service of his mother Vurgess and his late father.

The feeling of anticipation wasn't new to this week. It's been going on since at least March when Minnesota began the roster building process in an active free agency and continued through the draft, particularly beyond the final pick when the Vikings signed seven undrafted players who made it on the 53-man roster.

J.J. McCarthy making his first start at QB in his hometown, Ben Johnson making his debut as head coach of the Bears. Minnesota and Chicago both rebuilt the interiors of their offensive and defensive lines, so there's plenty of new elements up front. Throw in the return of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson entering tonight five catches from 500, and there's a tremendous nature of this game.

Let's get to the questions.

As the North Wind blows

That's where the Viking ship goes

Backed by an Arctic gale

The longship raised its sail

The canvas tacked to the southeast

Armed to face a mighty beast

Out of hibernation came the bear

Attacking with nilly a care

Swords unsheathed, bows knocked and drawn

The battle took place long after dawn

Only mortally would the warriors yield

At a place henceforth called Soldier Field

— Robert B. MacLeod in Austin, Texas

Why not start Week 1 of 2025 with some crafty poetry? I believe this is a Mailbag first. It definitely is in my years of having this wonderful assignment.

I absolutely loved seeing this in the inbox this week because — Vikings.com's Lindsey Young and Rob Kleifield — heard me reference "The Autumn Wind" last Thursday when the breeze was coming from the north on a chilly day.

For those who don't know or don't realize they already know, "The Autumn Wind" is a modification of "Pirate Wind," which was released in 1941 by Mary Jane Carr. There's a great Wikipedia page that explains how that poem was transformed in 1974 by NFL Films' Steve Sabol and accompanied with a musical score by Sam Spence (KFAN 9 to Noon listeners know the music well). Voiced by absolute legend John Facenda, it quickly became intertwined with the Raiders and its inclusion in pregame festivities is my favorite part of covering a game in Las Vegas.

Training camp was cooler than some years but still unmistakably summer, so I wasn't expecting to tap into that reference on Thursday of Week 1. It's usually Week 5 or 6, as Lindsey and former colleague Eric Smith, who is now with the Chargers (and faces "The Autumn Wind" twice yearly), can attest.

Hopefully everyone can take a moment to appreciate Robert's creativity as we wait for what will feel like is a long time until tonight's kickoff.

I know throughout the year there are changes to the roster, depending on injuries, poor performance or any other reason. If a player on the current 53-man roster is moved to the practice squad, does he have to go through waivers?

— Bruce in Gilbert, Arizona

Injuries (needing to fill a roster spot and opting to create room by trimming where there is more depth) are probably the most common reason for moves during a regular season.

There's a difference between being waived (players with 3 or fewer accrued seasons) and being released (four or more seasons). Players who are waived are subject to the waiver process and can be claimed by another team (the order follows the draft order right now and shifts based on standings once the season is rolling along). If no team makes a claim on a player, the player could sign with the releasing team's practice squad (a space would have to be made available). Players who are released are immediately free to sign with another team's 53-man roster or any practice squad.

Been awhile. I'm so stoked about this year's team! Seems like we are all in on this year! Don't know about next year with cap space and maxed-out contracts, I can see us with 11-12 wins. I think our defense is awesome — maybe a little week at corner but hopefully they can step up. Thanks.

— Toby in Alaska

There's a genuine enthusiasm for and/or intrigue in this Vikings squad well beyond the walls of Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.

The Vikings won't worry about financial problem-solving for down the road until they need to and have shown ways to work around those situations in the past. It's a legitimate 53-man roster.

The schedule is tough. Winning 11 or 12 times is not a pie in the sky goal, however. If it can do so, I'm confident the squad will be battle tested for the playoffs. Sometimes 11 or 12 wins are enough to secure a division title and have even been enough in some seasons for a top seed.

The Vikings have four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster, but Minnesota likes what it has with Byron Murphy, Jr., and Isaiah Rodgers as the projected starters. The coaching staff anticipates Jeff Okudah excelling in a role that the team envisioned for him. Dwight McGlothern, Jr., is also in place if needed, and Minnesota has some added depth on its practice squad with Fabian Moreau.

A couple of factors also impacted the Vikings rostering four cornerbacks. The first is what the team has at the safety position, and the opportunity to play "big nickel" packages. Another component is the team rostered five inside linebackers and five outside linebackers, which can be attributed in part to the dynamic kickoff rule involving less running.

For the love of all that's Vikings, I hope I'm wrong. However, J.J. being thrown into the fire on Monday night against a division opponent right out of the gate does not make me overly confident. Add the fact that Brian Flores is a big 0-fer against Ben Johnson — he clearly has B Flo's number, and I don't see us winning this game. 24-21 Bears, and I hope I'm wrong and eating crow come Tuesday morning. SKOL!

— J.B. Brunet in Texas

McCarthy will be wearing white and purple, but I don't expect to see a shrinking violet when facing challenges. He sounded last week like he was in a good place to acknowledge emotions, manage them and move on to have a keen focus on each play.

I love the fact that the first Bears game attended by the La Grange Park, Illinois, native was in 2007 against the Vikings when rookie Adrian Peterson rumbled for 224 and three scores on the ground and returned the game's final kickoff 53 yards. The return reversed momentum from an 81-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester that tied the game at 31 with under two minutes remaining. Peterson's fourth kickoff return of the day set up a 55-yard game-winner by Ryan Longwell as time expired.

Fast forward, and McCarthy has put in extensive prep work that has included facing challenges all camp from a top five scoring defense of a year ago that's added to its arsenal.

"I think he's been encouraged to have a game plan," O'Connell said. "And I think he's been encouraged to not have that game plan necessarily tied to Brian Flores' defense. There's a method to practicing against that defense, and it goes a great way.

"I like the stress of it. I like the feeling of, you've got to solve some problems on a daily basis, some we can kind of preemptively do, and others are things you're doing in real time, on the fly, and seeing how guys react to that, because that is what real football is.

"When Monday night happens, there are no rules to say they can't do things they haven't shown, or we can't do things that we haven't shown," O'Connell continued. "So there's going to be some unscouted looks. You've got to trust your rules. You've got to have answers, and you don't get to wait until Monday morning to have those things. So I'm encouraged across the board by the work J.J. has put in. He's had a really good week of practice.

"As I've told him many times, 'Do everything you can leading into that ball getting kicked off,' and then he and I are going to be in this thing together," O'Connell added. "He has a bunch of really talented teammates, a great defense on the other side, a special teams group that is going to compete in their one-play phase every opportunity they get."

Johnson as Detroit's offensive coordinator and Lions players were able to consistently generate success against Flores better than any other foe so far.

That matchup is one of the interesting storylines for this week's game. We should also note that Flores and his defense did well against the Bears last season, even if Chicago did rally late to force OT at Soldier Field.

As in any organization, most success is realized when the right combination of the wisdom of the aged and the vitality of the youth exists for the players and the coaches.

— Larry Kukowski

Without doing a formal breakdown of rosters for teams who have experienced the most success, it does seem to generally happen where there's a good breadth of experience across the locker room.

Minnesota is admittedly young in some parts of the roster (starting QB, for instance, but recent addition Carson Wentz is there to help McCarthy). I'd be remiss also if I didn't point out the Vikings addition of four-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly.

It's almost impossible to not love what the Vikings have taking shape at defensive line with longtime game impactors Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave leading a group of up and comers. I truly expect the interior defensive line to be a major strength of this year's team.

O'Connell on Saturday was asked specifically about Kelly's addition helping McCarthy. He pointed out Kelly, Brian O'Neill, Christian Darrisaw and Will Fries offer ample experience on the offensive line to go along with rookie left guard Donovan Jackson. Although it also will be his first start, O'Connell noted the national champ has played big-time games in big-time locales.

"Donovan's played in some of the meccas of college football, including his home stadium," O'Connell said. "I don't think it was as loud as when he was playing as it's going to be at Soldier Field when we're out there on offense, but certainly, when you when you talk to him, and you realize just the experience he does have, and then the fact that he does get to play next to Ryan Kelly, making the calls, making sure we're all on the same page.

"Ryan's dynamic with J.J. being a young quarterback and then my dialog with Ryan, of really understanding — I feel like many times, I'm at the line of scrimmage with the group," O'Connell continued. "Because of Ryan's ability, not only in the present, to communicate, but then after those things, I think that's going to be huge for our whole team. One of the huge reasons why we were so adamant about getting Ryan here — it was not just to make sure Will wanted join his friend — he was a huge part of our plan offensively, and that's exactly how it's played out."

O'Connell was also asked about second-year defensive lineman Levi Drake Rodriguez making a jump this offseason after flashing as a rookie.

"He's a big, strong guy with some real twitchiness that translates to pass rush. But what he's done a really good job of is he's really starting to figure out how to apply that skill to all rounds: be a tough guy to block, whether you're trying to double him, whether you're trying to single block him, whether trying to confuse him within different run schemes and angles and things like that," O'Connell said. "He's now applying a lot of those things to different aspects of his game. Jalen Redmond had a phenomenal camp, Ty Ingram-Dawkins.

"When you have guys like J.A. (Allen) and 'Grave, your hope is good, talented young players absorb some of one of those traits, and it's happened, and we feel like we've got a really deep group playing D-line on Monday night, and we're going to need them," O'Connell added. "Hopefully, the goal is we can keep our group as a whole fresh and keep the pressure and intensity on that other side by having real depth."

Minnesota has a good blend. Time for the first sip.

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