It took Jordan Mason one game to convince the Vikings he’s their new RB1

The Minnesota Vikings did not get much of anything going offensively for a large part of Monday's win over the Chicago Bears. Despite injuries rendering Chicago's top two cornerbacks (Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon) inactive for the game, star wide receiver Justin Jefferson had just one catch heading into the fourth quarter.

Ideally, the Vikings would have had something going on the ground to take some pressure off quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the first start of his career. But a reconstructed interior offensive line was not up to the task for the first three quarters against a Bears defensive front that came to play.

Take away McCarthy's 11-yard run and a four-yard run from Jefferson, and running backs Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason combined for 23 yards on 11 carries entering the fourth quarter.

What was offered up as a likely equal split of the backfield work came to fruition during the first half on Monday night. Jones got all three snaps on the Vikings' first drive of the game, but things evened out from there.

Mason was also a more effective runner than Jones in the opening half, with 17 yards on his first three carries to six yards for Jones on his first three totes.

Jordan Mason asserted himself as the Minneaota Vikings RB1 in Week 1

After a missed field goal by Bears kicker Cairo Santos, the Vikings finally mounted a sustained drive to open the fourth quarter, culminating in a touchdown pass from McCarthy to Jefferson.

The difference in that drive from the entire game before it was some notable juice in the run game, as Mason had runs of seven, 18, and five yards in a span of four plays.

The Vikings had another touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, plus a two-point conversion, to take a 20-17 lead they would not surrender. Jones had a nine-yard run during that series before catching the touchdown to give Minnesota the lead on a nice downfield route.

Later in the fourth quarter, Mason ripped off a 19-yard run to increase how much more effective he was as a runner than Jones was. Both backs played a role in a late drive that killed a lot of clock and finished with a touchdown run from McCarthy that made it a two-score game.

Jones is not going away as an important piece of the Vikings offense. But Mason was acquired to take over a good share of the work in the run game, and on Monday, he quickly proved he's up to that task.