Hey, I have a little fact for you that you probably hadn’t heard. It really hasn’t been talked about locally in Chicago media, and I haven’t heard it mentioned at all on the national shows. I would have thought it would have gotten more attention, but it’s mostly flown under the radar. In week one, the Chicago Bears scored 59 points!
The high-powered offensive attack of the Chicago Bears (I can’t believe I just wrote that) returns to Chicago this week and welcomes in the Minnesota Vikings. The head
coach of the Vikings might be Kevin O’Connell, but this matchup is coming down to Ben Johnson vs. Brian Flores.
How will the Vikings’ defensive coordinator try to slow down Ben Johnson’s offense? To get that answer, and answers to many other questions surrounding the Vikings, we sat down with Christopher Gates from SB Nation’s Vikings site, The Daily Norseman, to get those answers. Check out our conversation.
1. Let’s start with a question about last week. The Green Bay Packers’ fans are crying (and crying hard) about the officiating in the game. How much do you think officiating played into the Vikings’ win, and what do you think was the biggest reason for the comeback?
To be perfectly clear, there is nothing more satisfying than listening to Green Bay fans complaining about officiating. It’s hard to adjust after you’ve gotten pretty much every single call for the better part of four decades, I guess. But while there was one drive where the Vikings may have gotten a couple of calls that went their way and caused a couple of third-down stops by the Green Bay defense to get negated, there were some calls that were missed as well. Aaron Jones had a 56-yard run wiped out because someone, apparently, tapped him on the shoulder or something; Carson Wentz got his facemask grabbed on one play, Justin Jefferson got his grabbed on another. On the other hand, the officials didn’t make Matt Lafleur take a field goal off the board that would have put the Packers ahead by eight points late in the third quarter, nor did they cause the Packers’ offensive line to just basically stop blocking for pretty much the entirety of the fourth quarter. As far as why the comeback happened, Brian Flores just kept his foot on the gas and found the right weak spots up front to exploit. That led to a couple of big turnovers and two very short fields that the Vikings were able to cash in on, and a 22-10 deficit turned into a 39-22 victory in relatively short order.
2. I know the starting QB in this game is currently up in the air; I assume it’s going to be Carson Wentz. But beyond that, what do you make of the QB situation in Minnesota? Can Kyler Murray make a positive impact this season? Has JJ McCarthy played his last game in Minnesota?
I’ve never been particularly enamored with Murray, to be honest. I know there was a lot of hype surrounding him from certain outlets online going into the season, but I’ve just never been terribly impressed with him. I understand that he’s a former #1 overall draft pick, but he’s had significant leg injuries in recent years, and that’s never a good thing for someone whose game relies as much on mobility as his does. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong about him if he can make it through more than one quarter of football in a Vikings uniform, but I’m not expecting a Sam Darnold-esque renaissance from him or anything, even if he does. Wentz is reliable enough as long as the Vikings can keep him upright. He’s not going to be spectacular, but he’s not necessarily going to kill you offensively either, I don’t think. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t the starter on Sunday, and with that being the case, the Vikings are going to have to try to lean more on a running game that’s now short-handed with Jordan Mason going on IR on Wednesday. As far as McCarthy… .well, I think I’m close to being the last McCarthy believer on the planet. He’s had injuries and hasn’t been spectacular in his time on the field, but I also don’t know how great the Vikings’ plan for developing him has been. He was expected to step in as, essentially, a rookie and run Kevin O’Connell’s offense like a ten-year vet, but towards the end of the year in 2025, when the Vikings simplified things offensively a bit, he did look significantly better. As of now, McCarthy is the only quarterback on the roster who’s under contract beyond this season, and given the injury history that both Murray and Wentz have, we’re likely going to see him at some point this season, so we may get some more answers on him yet.
3. Bears fans know that a Brian Flores defense is always going to present a challenge, but I know the Vikings had some notable departures this offseason, led by Jonathan Greenard. Will the Vikings defense be as strong as it’s been, or could it take a step back this year?
I think the Vikings’ defense is going to continue to be fine, and that’s a testament to what Flores does as far as adapting his scheme to his players. Greenard is gone, but that’s finally opened the door for Dallas Turner to be a full-time starter. Turner took a step toward that last year with Greenard being hurt a bit, but now he’s officially the guy across from Andrew Van Ginkel on the outside, and he’s showing signs of being the guy the Vikings traded up for in 2024. He’s also getting the most out of guys like Levi Drake Rodriguez and Jalen Redmond, who are giving the Vikings’ linebackers the opportunity to make plays and get after quarterbacks the way Flores wants them to. As long as Flores is the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, this defense is going to be dangerous. Having said that, I know that Ben Johnson’s offenses have been a lot more successful against Flores-led defenses than a lot of others during his time in Minnesota. I don’t know if Johnson has all of the answers, but he seems to have a lot more of the answers than most coaches and offensive coordinators seem to have. There’s a reason that’s the matchup everyone is keeping an eye on this Sunday.
4. The Bears defense is, well, let’s just say it’s not the strength of the team. What would be Dennis Allen’s best strategy to attack this Vikings offense?
The strategy, as hard as it might be to try to pull off, is to try to take away Justin Jefferson and force Wentz (or Murray, if the Vikings decide to run him out there) to find anyone else to beat you. Jefferson had eight catches for 92 yards and two scores against the Packers last Sunday. The Vikings’ #2 and #3 receivers, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings, combined for the same number of catches as you and I combined for. (That would be zero, if you’re scoring at home.) Jefferson is going to get his at some point, in all likelihood, but if you can make the Vikings’ offense look somewhere else first, it will make things a lot more difficult. The Vikings’ offense still relies a lot on longer-developing routes, so if the Bears want to try to bring the heat and try to force Wentz to get rid of the ball more quickly, that could work to their advantage as well.
5. How do you think this one plays out? Want to take a stab at the final score?
Well, I don’t think the Bears are going to put up 59 again in this one. I don’t think the Vikings are going to put up 37, either. While I’d love to pick the Vikings to get a seventh consecutive win at Soldier Field… .and that’s still incredibly strange to write… until this offense shows any sort of ability to move the ball consistently, I can’t, in good conscience, pick them to win this game against a team that looks to be firing on all cylinders the way the Bears are right now. I think it’s going to be a close game, but I’ll take the home team in this one by a final score of 27-23.
