Ben Johnson Expects the Unexpected Against Brian Flores and the Vikings

· Yahoo Sports

With Week 1 in the rearview, the Chicago Bears have turned the page to their home opener, with the Minnesota Vikings coming to Soldier Field for a divisional matchup Sunday.

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Bears head coach Ben Johnson has faced Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores numerous times throughout his coaching career, but that familiarity doesn’t make Flores any easier to game plan for.

“You’d like to think he’s put everything he could possibly do on tape until you play him next and you realize he hasn’t yet,” Johnson told the media on Wednesday. “So it’ll be something new. There always is with him, and that’s what makes him such a good coordinator. It’s a great challenge. It really is.”

That challenge is evident in Flores’ approach, particularly when it comes to his use of pressure. 

“It comes from all over the place,” Johnson said, describing Flores’ blitz packages. “He’ll hit you in the A gap, he’ll hit you from outside the tackles. He likes to bring zero more than any other coordinator in this league. In any situation, normal downs, second-and-long, third-downs, redzone, it really doesn’t matter. He keeps you on your toes.”

Last week, Flores blitzed the Green Bay Packers on 55 of 67 plays (82.1%).

Despite Flores’ heavy use of the blitz in Week 1, Johnson knows each gameplan is specific to the week and the opponent. Last season, Flores’ blitz rate differed significantly between his two games against Johnson and the Bears.

That unpredictability is part of what makes the Vikings such a challenge, and it means the Bears will have to prepare for a variety of possibilities heading into Sunday. However, Johnson believes the team’s approach to its weekly preparation, regardless of the opponent, helps set them up for success.

“For our players, they have to dedicate themselves over the course of the week to have success on game day. Fortunately I do think that our guys, the way we train them, is very demanding and very detailed, with teams like this in mind,” Johnson said.

The Bears will put that preparation to the test Sunday at Soldier Field for Week 2.

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