The 2025-26 NFL season kicks off with an NFC East clash on Thursday, September 4, between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. And, the opening Week of action closes with an NFC North battle as the Chicago Bears host the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, September 8.

Currently, both teams are further down the list of favorites to win the NFC Championship. However, as of this writing, both franchises remain hopeful that they can win a Super Bowl.

Last year, the Vikings took the league by storm as they narrowly missed winning the division. This year, the Bears have a buzz about them that is eerily similar to Minnesota last season.

With that said, continue reading as we discuss the first Monday Night Football game of the season.

However, since there’s a long way to go between now and kickoff, consider this as your Monday Night Football primer for the season as we share some upcoming features for this weekly MNF betting preview, along with keeping you updated on the latest Monday Night Football odds, schedule and more.

What Channel Is Monday Night Football On?

• Monday Night Football Channel: ESPN
• Monday Night Football Time: 8:15pm ET
• Monday Night Football Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman

ESPN’s coverage of MNF will feature 11 games in the first seven weeks of the 2025-26 NFL season. Additionally, there will be ABC simulcasts of key MNF matchups, and the Manning Brothers will bring their popular coverage back for a fifth season as they cover 12 MNF games this year.

Monday Night Football Song

Monday Night Football’s theme “Heavy Action” has become a pop-culture staple as generations of fans will instantly recognize the theme song within the first few notes.

Yet, over time, broadcast networks have tried to retool the MNF song to add an extra layer of entertainment, importance, and relevance. For over two-decades, Monday Night Football belonged to Hank Williams Jr. and his hit “All My Rowdy Fans Are Coming Over Tonight.”

In 2023, ESPN debuted a new opening song. They took one of the 80’s biggest hits “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and modernized it with an all-star collaboration from Christ Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana. As of now, this rendition is expected to remain the Monday Night Football song for the 2025-26 season.

Monday Night Football Odds

The following Monday Night Football odds are courtesy of ScoresandStats:

Keep an eye on the latest NFL odds for MNF and monitor how the lines change up until kickoff.

The opening odds for Monday Night Football indicate that it should be a close game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.

Despite being the home team, Chicago is just a slight favorite of -1.5 points as of this writing. Additionally, the Total hints at a decent offensive output for both teams. Let’s hope that’s the case for Chicago as we can’t forget their three-point clunker on Thursday Night Football last year.

Last season, including the Wild Card Round’s MNF matchup, we went 18-5 SU on the year. In fact, we closed out the regular season with eight wins in a row.

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Monday Night Football Betting Trends

Since a game has yet to be played, we’ll take a quick look at the betting trends for each team as they head into the new season:

Minnesota Vikings Betting Trends

• 9-2 SU in last 11 games
• 6-2 SU in last eight NFC games
• 4-1 ATS in last five September games
• Over is 7-2 in last nine NFC North games

Chicago Bears Betting Trends

• 1-10 SU in last 11 games
• 0-5 SU in last five home games
• 5-1 ATS in last six games as the Favorite
• Under is 6-3 in last nine NFC North games
• Under is 8-3 in last 11 Monday games

Monday Night Football Matchup

Although we haven’t seen how good either NFL Team is, as of yet, we can explore the history between these “black and blue” divisional rivals.

The Vikings and Bears have played against each other 128 times dating back to 1961. Despite the proud history of the Bears, Minnesota holds the all-time advantage with a 68-58-2 series record.

Additionally, the Vikings are 8-2 SU in the last 10 meetings. Minnesota swept both games last year. However, the first game between the two teams last season ended in OT with the Vikings kicking a game-winning field goal.

Chicago is 0-5 SU in last five home games versus the Vikings and 3-6-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings versus Minnesota. The Under is 6-4 in the last 10 head-to-head contests.

Monday Night Football Predictions

Let’s take a look at the participants in this week’s Monday Night Football game, and make our winning NFL picks: 

Minnesota Vikings Monday Night Football

Last year, Minnesota finished the regular season going 14-3, which was the best record ever for a Wild Card team. Although they dropped their first game in the Playoffs, this team exceeded all expectations and seemed to be trending towards annually competing for the NFC North crown.

Well, you can throw all of that out the window heading into the 2025-26 NFL season. The Vikings allowed QB Sam Darnold to depart for Seattle and will now turn to JJ McCarthy who missed all of last season with a knee injury. The former Michigan QB has not taken a regular season NFL snap as of yet.

The Vikings have added more playmakers to the offense with the additions of Rondale Moore, Jordan Mason and rookie Tai Felton. However, McCarthy is a big question mark despite showing promise in his preseason action last year.

Defensively, it appears that Minnesota has improved by adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave to the d-line. They also retained key defenders like Harrison Smith.

Last year, Minnesota’s defense was elite in rushing the passer and limiting the run. However, their pass defense left a lot to be desired. We’ll see if they can improve in that area this year.

Chicago Bears Monday Night Football

The two biggest question marks surrounding the Bears this season are the development of franchise QB Caleb Williams and how rookie head coach Ben Johnson can get the most out of this offense.

Make no mistake about it, hiring Johnson was the biggest move for this franchise in the last decade. Not only did it give the team a young, talented coach but it also weakened a divisional rival as well.

Johnson was an offensive savant with the Detroit Lions over the last few years and it appears he’s laid the foundation for duplicating that success in Chicago this year.

For starters, Chicago made a committed effort to improve their offensive line by adding Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Drew Dalman. Additionally, they also drafted two highly talented playmakers in tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden.

Loveland is a pass catching tight end that will help open up the field and give Williams that security blanket. Yet, trading for Joe Thuney will be what changes the mentality on this offensive line and allow Williams time to throw. Thuney is a future HOF guard.

Dalman and Jackson will join Thuney in a revamped interior o-line, which will go a long way to help the QB stay upright. Last year, Williams was sacked 68 times which led the league. It was also the third most sacks in NFL history. He lost 466 yards on those sacks, which was the fourth most all-time.

Who Is Winning Monday Night Football?

Regardless of which team you choose to win, there’s plenty of betting value on the spread and moneylines. I would skip the Total until we get a feel for each offense in the preseason.

As for the winner, I am leaning towards the Bears. That home crowd is going to be hungry like a bear waking up from hibernation. This fanbase has waited for the team to turn things around and I see that taking place this season.

I am a big believe in Ben Johnson. I loved how he helped to transform the Detroit offense into one of the league’s best.

Additionally, I loved what Chicago did in the offseason. Adding three distinct and clear upgrades on the offensive line was a sign that this organization is heading in the right direction. Also, Loveland could be a massive steal for the Bears with Johnson as the offensive architect. Think Sam LaPorta in Detroit.

Bet: Chicago Bears (-120), Bears -1.5 (-110), Total (pass) 

Monday Night Football Prop Bets

As we get closer to the start of the season, this section will feature our favorite Game and Player Prop Bets for the upcoming MNF matchup. Additionally, we’ll continue to provide our favorite NFL player prop bets for each week of the season.

Best Bets for Monday Night Football

Check out our best bets for Monday Night Football:

• Chicago Bears (-120),

As of this writing, the Bears’ moneyline is the best bet for Week 1’s Monday Night Football game. You can throw out most of last year’s data when it comes to this team due to the addition of Ben Johnson as coach and offensive architect.

Furthermore, the rebuilt offensive line will definitely be a big boost to Williams’ growth this season as he takes less sacks. This also means he will have more time to throw the ball.

Despite Chicago’s ineptness last year, they almost beat the Vikings in their first clash. An OT loss via FG stung, but it showed that a wounded Bears team was capable of beating Minnesota.

I see Williams outplaying McCarthy in this MNF opener. Johnson will get his first win as head coach and this city will be buzzing.

Monday Night Football Schedule