The Minnesota Vikings have a second straight NFC North rival to start the 2026 NFL season, as they’ll face the Chicago Bears in Week 2. This could also be a heavyweight battle between the Bears’ offense and the Vikings’ defense.
In Week 1, the Chicago offense put up 59 points in the win over the Carolina Panthers. Meanwhile, after a shaky start and 19 first-half points allowed, the Minnesota defense allowed only three points in the second half in its win over the Green Bay Packers.
Should the Bears carry the offense from Week 1 and the Vikings carry that second-half defensive performance, it should make for an exciting matchup.
Ahead of Week 2, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores spoke with the media about the Bears’ offense under head coach Ben Johnson, whom Flores has faced often since Johnson served as the Detroit Lions‘ offensive coordinator.
“I think the first thing is that all 11 guys are involved,” Flores told reporters on Sept. 15. “The receivers are blocking, the tight ends, obviously the offensive line, the quarterback’s part of it as far as getting the run going in the right direction wherever that happens to be, based on front, shell coverage versus post-safety coverage.
“There’s a lot of different variables, and in some systems, it’s, ‘Hey, we always do this, or we always do that.’ In this particular one – it can go, it seems like, based on my interpretation of it and watching it – this could go a few different ways and based on a few different things. So, I think that’s part of it.”
Brian Flores Gets More In-Depth on Ben Johnson’s Offense
Moreover, Flores didn’t stop there, spotlighting Johnson’s offense as a major challenge for any defensive playcaller.
“There’s obviously detail and great techniques and fundamentals, and they got good backs,” Flores added. “That always helps. They do a great job. There’s shifts, there’s motions, a lot of eye candy.
“It’s everything that could potentially give a defense problems. They do. And when you couple that with good backs, and then you’ve got good receivers, and if you play one high, you may have one-on-ones on the perimeter.”
Vikings DC Expects Better Execution From Bears Offense
Flores also notes that because the Bears’ offensive players are now entering Year 2 in Johnson’s offense, execution is better than last season, as shown by their Week 1 win. As a result, the Vikings defense will likely need to ensure that the Chicago offense isn’t running like a well-oiled machine.
“There’s a game you’re playing the entire game with the play caller and really with their team,” Flores said. “I think, being in Year 2, they understand exactly what they’re trying to get done, what they’re trying to accomplish, and so there’s better execution, at least through one game. So again, great, big challenge for us.
“We’re going to have to do a great job really across the board, starting with a great week of preparation, and try to put ourselves in a position to handle the run game, handle the pass game, handle the quarterback, who is a superstar in our league. We talk about the run game, but there are a lot of issues in the pass game as well. So again, big, big challenge.”
Vikings’ Brian Flores Gives True Thoughts on Bears’ Offense Before Week 2