CHICAGO — It’s a stressful week for Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson. Same for Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Johnson is 5-1 when calling the plays against a Flores-coached defense, averaging 27.5 points per game. The Vikings trailed 22-10 in the third quarter, but they sacked Jordan Love four times in the second half. Turner was credited with a career-high seven QB hits, the most in an NFL game since Chris Jones had eight for Kansas City in Week 15 of the 2018 season. Johnson, 40, also presents quite the challenge for Flores and Minnesota’s defense. Chicago totaled 291 yards rushing and 552 yards overall in its 59-37 victory at Carolina on Sunday. The 24-year-old quarterback definitely has the Vikings’ attention.
“So that’s where it’s a lot. Love also lost a fumble and threw an interception in the fourth quarter.
“When you go against a guy like this, you’ve got everything,” Johnson said. “You’d like to think he’s put everything he could possibly do on tape until you play him next and you realize he hasn’t yet,” Johnson said. It’s hard to know,” Flores said.
For our players, they have to really dedicate themselves over the course of the week to have success on game day and fortunately I do think our guys, the way we train them is very demanding and very detailed with teams like this in mind. “So it’ll be something new. There always is with him and that’s what makes him such a good coordinator. It’s a great challenge. It really is. It was the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history. “What are we getting week to week? “So a lot of the game is adjustments. If they do this, we want to do that. And we’re going to have our own game plan to start things off. It’s the same thing on his end: What are they doing? And how are we going to counteract what they’re doing? So it’s certainly a chess match. Williams passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more TDs in the first game of his second season in Johnson’s offense.
Johnson and Flores match wits once again on Sunday when Caleb Williams and Chicago host Dallas Turner and Minnesota for their home opener.
Vikings Make History with Comeback Win in Week 1
In an unprecedented feat, the Minnesota Vikings achieved a historic victory in Week 1 of the NFL season. They became the first team to win by 17 or more points after trailing by 12 or more points with less than 20 minutes remaining in regulation, as reported by Stats Perform. This remarkable comeback underscores the Vikings’ resilience and sets a new benchmark in NFL history.
