It was never in doubt, Minnesota Vikings fans.
Who questioned this team’s ability to win that game? Who stopped believing in Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores’ game plan? And who doubted the winning culture on this roster versus the lowly Chicago Bears? Certainly not me! (Do me a favor, don’t look at my Twitter and see all the doubts.)
It was a wild ride on Monday night as the Vikings pulled off the comeback, and many of the storylines coming out of that game have surrounded the spunk and resilience of young J.J. McCarthy growing up before our eyes. Rightfully so! But lost in all the excitement on offense, we can’t overlook the tremendous step forward taken on the other side of the ball.
Brian Flores did it. He slayed his dragon! After going 0-4 vs. Ben Johnson in his career, Flores finally out-dueled the lauded offensive mastermind. And he didn’t just win; his unit dominated most of that game.
The Bears scored on the opening drive and had a good script for doing so. Johnson didn’t spend his offseason sitting on his hands, and he had his guys ready to come out of the gates with points on the board. Even that wasn’t perfect; Chicago had to rely on Caleb Williams’ volatility (both positively and negatively) as an improviser to keep the drive alive. But outside of that opening drive and the hurry-up drive at the very end, Flores’ unit gave Johnson fits all night.
For the majority of the game, the Bears were unable to move the ball consistently in structure. Remove Williams from the rushing statistics, and they averaged 3.05 yards per carry. Even with a revamped offensive line that had been touted all offseason, that’s a far cry from the ground game Johnson used to gash Flores with in Detroit.
The Vikings finished the game with only two sacks, both credited to Javon Hargrave, who was a disruptive force all night. Still, the pressure numbers tell a different story. Williams was pressured 15 times (34.9% of his dropbacks), and it made them scramble and fight for every yard for most of the evening. In the first half, Williams’ scrambling proved to be quite the headache, but things improved dramatically in the second half.
Chicago’s drive chart in the second half looks rather bleak. From the start of the third quarter, it goes as follows: punt, punt, missed field goal, punt, punt. They then finish things off with the quick TD in hurry-up, followed by the failed desperation lateral at the end. During that stretch of nothingness, they had 27 plays for 66 yards. That deflated 2.4 yards per play is a result of Flores cracking the code of how to stymie Chicago’s attack.
So, what was the shift? What changed from the bend-don’t-break defense that kept them hanging on for dear life in the first half that suddenly transformed into near-total domination for most of the second?
My personal theory is that Flores specifically felt the need to gauge his adversary before starting this game. These teams entered this contest with so many unknowns, one of which was how Johnson was going to adapt his success in Detroit into this new personnel and dramatically different style of quarterback in Chicago. Flores had been burned blitzing in the face of Johnson’s scheme in the past and decided to sit back and gather data.
Then, in the second half, he saw his opportunities. It became apparent that even with whatever strides Williams had made early on under Johnson’s tutelage, he had not become a blitz-beating savant like Jared Goff. Flores’ defense went on the offensive and came to life as a result.
The revamped defensive interior found its stride, and the defense began playing with the nastiness and physicality we’ve grown accustomed to. Jalen Redmond ragdolling D’Andre Swift. Andrew Van Ginkel perfectly reading the screen for the PBU (and almost “Gink-Six”). Ivan Pace screaming through the A Gap at Caleb Williams, which, penalty or not, completely changed the tone of the game.
The confusing post-snap looks and pressure packages did exactly what they were designed to: make Caleb Williams overthink things. Williams couldn’t trust his eyes or his arm, causing him to be late on balls and for his accuracy to deteriorate. Suddenly, amidst all the mess Flores was throwing at them, Williams seemingly absorbed all the nervous energy McCarthy had shown in the first half.
Felt like it watching the game live. Definitely confirmed watching back on film. Shown really well by the passing chart…
Just didn't take nearly enough shots 10+ yards over the middle of the field.
But…it's only Week 1 against a defense that makes those plays particularly… pic.twitter.com/BpRwqER0hl
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) September 9, 2025
Make no mistake that from the moment Cairo Santos missed that kick, only one quarterback was playing rattled at Soldier Field. And it wasn’t J.J. McCarthy.
It’ll be fascinating to see how the Ben Johnson experience in Chicago develops over time. Whether or not he and Williams can eventually develop the mind meld between the detail-oriented play caller and schoolyard playmaker at QB is going to be fascinating. The dream for Bears fans is that it’s their own Kirkland brand version of Andy Reid–Patrick Mahomes. But in their debut together, they fell far short of that mark.
On the other hand, it’s a big win for Flores to finally outwit Johnson. Flores has evolved every year in Minnesota, and that evolution has only made this defense better. He proved, at the very least, that he can dominate the game against an elite play caller, but with the caveat that the quarterback still has a ways to go.
He still needs to prove that his scheme can stand up to the elite play-caller/quarterback combinations in this league, a la McVay-Stafford or Taylor-Burrow, and should keep a chip on his shoulder heading into those types of matchups as the season goes on.
But he won today. Brian Flores slayed the Ben Johnson dragon. And if he’s finding the formula to not only decimate overmatched foes, but also stand up against these high-end play callers, the sky is the limit for this defense.