The Chicago Bears host the Minnesota Vikings for the finale of the Week 1 NFL slate on Monday Night Football. This is a big season for each of these NFC North opponents as the Ben Johnson era begins in Chicago, while J.J. McCarthy steps in at quarterback for the Vikings. Halfback Jordan Mason was brought in to help the Minnesota run game and will make his debut in the rivalry matchup tonight.
The Vikings enter as narrow 1.5-point favorites and -118 on the Moneyline. The Bears hold -102 odds of getting the outright victory on DraftKings Sportsbook with the game total set at 43.5.
But there are plenty of ways to get involved in the action on DraftKings Sportsbook outside of backing a side or total. This article will look at my top Jordan Mason prop bet ahead of the first Monday Night Football matchup.
Best Jordan Mason Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jordan Mason Over 39.5 Rushing Yards (-114)
Aaron Jones is coming off a season in which he recorded a career-high in carries and rushing yards at the age of 30. While Jones is still expected to serve as the primary running back, there is room for Jordan Mason to play a role in the offense.
Mason is coming off a career-best season as well. Last year with the 49ers, he tallied 153 carries for 789 yards and three touchdowns across 12 games. He has been a bit limited in opportunity to this point, with just 83 carries across the two seasons before this.
With J.J. McCarthy set to make his NFL debut, count on the Vikings leaning on a rush-oriented attack. They had a somewhat similar plan of action last year with Sam Darnold at quarterback, and this will especially be the case with McCarthy’s inexperience in mind. Across the opening seven games last year, Darnold averaged 27.0 pass attempts and 230.0 passing yards per contest. Across the final 10 games, he averaged 35.6 pass attempts and 270.9 passing yards per game.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell has an incredibly quarterback-friendly system. But the primary focus of tonight will be to get McCarthy in rhythm and build up his confidence. Expect the team to lean on the running game heavily as he settles in. Chicago also greatly struggled to stop the run last year, ranking 28th in rushing yards allowed, 29th in net yards per rushing attempt, and 24th in rushing touchdowns conceded. In contrast, they allowed the fewest passing touchdowns and ranked 16th in passing yards allowed.
Mason averaged 65.8 rushing yards per game last season across the 12 games he suited up. He tallied 100+ yards in three of the opening four games and rushed for over 39.5 yards in eight of the 10 games he was active for. In every game that Mason had nine or more carries, he had 58+ rushing yards on the ground.
It will still be interesting to see how the Vikings split up the backfield workload, but expect both Jones and Mason to be involved in the offense and make their impact felt. Count on Minnesota leaning on a run-oriented attack and for Mason to clear this low rushing total in his Vikings debut. I like both running backs to have a solid Week 1 debut and am backing Mason to record over 39.5 yards on the ground.
