The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 9-3 at Soldier Field on Sunday and, in doing so, became the first team in NFL history to win four consecutive games with four different starting quarterbacks, per Clawson's research. It was Minnesota's seventh straight win in Chicago and its seventh consecutive victory overall, a streak that runs back into last season.
The record hangs on a scoring convention rather than a performance: in the NFL, the quarterback credited with a win is whoever takes the game's first snap, regardless of who is standing there at the finish. That rule is what turns Minnesota's churn under centre into a piece of league history.
Brosmer, McCarthy, Murray, Wentz
The sequence begins in Week 17 of 2025, with Max Brosmer starting against Detroit in a 23-10 win. J.J. McCarthy took the next one, a 16-3 result against Green Bay in Week 18. Kyler Murray opened the 2026 season against the Packers in a 39-22 win. Carson Wentz started at Chicago on Sunday.
| Game | Starter | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 17, 2025 | Max Brosmer | vs Detroit | W 23-10 |
| Week 18, 2025 | J.J. McCarthy | vs Green Bay | W 16-3 |
| Week 1, 2026 | Kyler Murray | vs Green Bay | W 39-22 |
| Week 2, 2026 | Carson Wentz | at Chicago | W 9-3 |
Starting-quarterback credit in the NFL follows the first snap of the game, not the finish.
Every one of the four came against a division opponent — Detroit once, Green Bay twice, Chicago once. That detail matters more than the novelty. Records built on quarterback churn usually come with a soft schedule attached; this one was assembled entirely inside the NFC North, against teams that see Minnesota twice a year and know exactly which pieces have been swapped out.
Minnesota now sits 2-0 in the division to start 2026.
The first-snap rule handed Murray a win that Wentz finished
The Week 1 entry in that table is the one that shows how thin the line between "starter" and "winner" has become for this team. Murray opened against Green Bay, left injured early, and Wentz took over with the Packers in front.
Minnesota trailed 22-10 before closing the game on 29 unanswered points. Wentz threw three touchdown passes in that stretch — 39 yards to Justin Jefferson, 16 yards to T.J. Hockenson, then nine yards to Jefferson again — and added a two-point conversion to Jefferson. Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason scored on short runs in between.
Murray got the official win. Wentz got the game ball, by any reasonable reading of the box score.
Context from the Associated Press, via ESPN, sharpens it further: Wentz arrived late last season, had limited practice time with Minnesota's playbook, and came back in 2026 in more of a mentoring role while Murray and McCarthy competed for the starting job. He has now been the decisive quarterback in consecutive wins — one of which is officially someone else's.
Murray was listed as inactive for Week 2 at Chicago with a concussion. McCarthy, the other half of that summer competition, did not start either.
56 points erased in seven days
The Bears' side of Sunday produced its own piece of history. Chicago reached the end zone eight times in Week 1, then managed a single field goal against Minnesota — a 56-point week-to-week scoring drop, the second largest by one team in NFL history. Only the 1973 Atlanta Falcons, who scored 62 in Week 1 and were shut out the following week, have fallen further.
The underlying numbers make the result stranger still. Minnesota lost most of the box score:
- Total yards: Chicago 297, Minnesota 246
- First downs: Chicago 17, Minnesota 11
- Time of possession: Chicago 32:41, Minnesota 27:19
- Third down: Minnesota 3-of-13, Chicago 5-of-15
- Turnovers: Chicago 2, Minnesota 0
- Penalties: Chicago 8 for 58 yards, Minnesota 3 for 25
A to Z Sports credited the shutout of Chicago's end zone to defensive coordinator Brian Flores' scheme design, pointing to Dallas Turner's game-sealing sack as the clearest example of it. On a rainy afternoon in which neither offence found rhythm, the defensive plan was the difference — and it is the more durable explanation for the seven-game winning run than any of the four names in the quarterback column.
Four different starting quarterbacks, and a churn that long predates these four
Minnesota's quarterback instability is not a 2026 development. Per Pro Football Reference's franchise records, the Vikings have fielded more than one starting quarterback in every season since they entered the league in 1961 — a run that covers Fran Tarkenton, Tommy Kramer, Warren Moon, Daunte Culpepper and Kirk Cousins alike.
The most recent attempt at continuity ended when Sam Darnold, the team's starter in 2024, signed with Seattle in 2025. What followed was Brosmer, then McCarthy, then a Murray acquisition, then Wentz returning as insurance. Four starters, four wins, one record.
The rest of the roster has churned in step. Mason, who scored in Week 1, is on injured reserve with a thumb injury and is not expected back until around Week 7. Linebacker Jamal Adams (quadriceps) and Tyler Batty (ACL) are also on IR, and receiver Jauan Jennings was inactive at Chicago for personal reasons.
Minnesota travels to Tampa Bay on Sept 27. Barring another change under centre, the streak of four wins with four starters stops where it is — which, for a team trying to convert a 2-0 division start into something more durable, would be the better outcome. Records like this one are collected by accident, not built on purpose.
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