There has been a lot of talk about how well the Chicago Bears offense performed in the season opener, but there were also concerns with how the defense allowed the Carolina Panthers to score 37 points. That is the most the Bears have allowed in an opener since 2023.
Despite the struggles from Chicago’s defense in the season opener, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is looking ahead to the Bears’ Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, which will also serve as their first NFC North game of the season.
“I mean, line up again. Let’s go. Week 2,” Allen said. “Like, we have to be man enough to admit and see where we fell short, all right? What can we do to improve our performance? What can we do to maybe improve our preparation, those types
of things? And then let’s focus on playing outstanding this week, because that one’s done. Let’s move on to this one and let’s play better as a group.”
Minnesota is coming off a strong opener of their own. They were the only NFC North team to hold their opponent to under 30 points after shutting the Green Bay Packers out in the fourth quarter and putting up 29 unanswered points to win 39-22 after being down 22-10 late in the third quarter. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson also had quite the opener with 92 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Chicago has not done well against the Vikings in the past few years, only winning two of their last 10 matchups against Minnesota. However, one of those wins was last year in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season, and he has turned the Bears into a much more competitive team in the division.
Furthermore, in the 130 times Chicago has played against the Vikings, the Bears have won 18 out of 19 games where they scored at least 30 points. With Johnson’s offense, Chicago is certainly capable of putting up that many points.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Dennis Allen's message to Bears defense before Week 2 vs. Vikings
