The chatter around the Chicago Bears’ offense has hit a new zenith. The laughter around Ben Johnson’s assertion of being the “highest-scoring offense of all time” has quieted significantly after hanging 59 points on a defense with legitimate talent.
Still, the Bears offense faces a daunting challenge in Week 2 as they face off against the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores.
Flores, as many of you already know, has developed quite the reputation for causing chaos for other teams’ offenses, mixing up
exotic blitz packages that frequently confuse quarterbacks. I expect no different from Flores this Sunday as he aims to stymie the Caleb Williams-led attack.
In fact, Brian Flores blitzed Jordan Love on 78.3% of dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats, resulting in a pressure rate above 50% and 4 sacks. An absolute manic. Still, Flores has an emerging weapon who may let him drop more into coverage — Dallas Turner.
Turner, in his third season, had nine pressures, seven QB hits, one sack, and one forced fumble in the first game of the season. For those keeping track at home, seven is a lot of QB hits to have in one game. This would suggest that Turner is continuing to build on the improvements he made last season, jumping from three sacks as a rookie in 2024 to eight, and with the departure of Jonathan Greenard, Turner is now the feature EDGE on a defense that relies on having good DEs.
Turner primarily lines up on the right side of the line, across from the LT, which means that he will likely lock horns with Braxton Jones. This matchup will be crucial for both sides.
It is well documented that Jones relies primarily on his athleticism to stay with quicker DEs, while he struggles to anchor against bigger/stronger DEs. Turner is a smaller EDGE at 6’-3” and 247 lbs who relies on his speed and bend to beat opposing OLs. This is a strength-against-strength matchup, as the Bears will rely heavily on Jones’ quick feet to neutralize Turner.
While struggling on a handful of pass sets against Trevis Gipson, Jones looked relatively sharp against a deep DL in Carolina, only surrendering 2 pressures on the day. While Caleb Williams has a tendency to bail out his OL at times, especially on the blindside, Jones will still need to keep the speedy Turner in front of him to keep Williams clean.
Love showed that it is possible to beat the Brian Flores blitz in the first three quarters of the game, with a 60% completion, 227 yards passing, and 2 TD passes against it. The blitz eventually overwhelmed him and the Packers’ OL in the 4th quarter, leading to 1 INT, 2 FFs, and 3 sacks. With that said, if Flores is concerned about Ben Johnson’s ability to scheme pass catchers open quickly, he could rely on Turner to beat Jones outright.
If this is the case, Braxton Jones’ ability to withstand the pressure will be critical to a Bears win.
