With each passing day, we get just a little bit closer to the start of the NFL season. Anticipation is running high for fans of the Chicago Bears, as they're eager to show off new coach Ben Johnson and a vastly improved roster. The schedule-makers didn't do the Monsters of the Midway any favors though, neither with how many quality opponents they'll face, nor with a brutal Week 1 test on the biggest stage possible.
We all knew each team's full list of opponents before the schedule was released yesterday, we just didn't know when each game would take place. Given all of the turnover the Bears have experienced this offseason, and a cautious optimism despite being burned so many times before when hopes were high, a Week 1 home date against the dysfunctional Cleveland Browns would have been the perfect way to kick off the Ben Johnson era. Instead, that game won't take place until Week 15, and the Bears also won't get a chance to open with the New Orleans Saints, who look on paper to be one of the worst teams in the NFC. That game is saved until Week 4.
On the plus side, the Bears do open the season at home, but that's about the only concession the NFL made to one of its oldest and most storied franchises. The Minnesota Vikings are coming to town for an NFC North showdown, and it's happening on Monday Night Football in front of a captive worldwide audience. No pressure, right?
The Vikings shocked the league by finishing 14-3 last year, but they were no fluke. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison formed the best young receiving tandem in the league, Sam Darnold put up the best season of his career, and Brian Flores' defense flummoxed opponents all year despite having a noticeable lack of stars.
The Vikings are a nightmare matchup in Ben Johnson's first game
The Bears hired Ben Johnson because he's thought to be one of the brightest offensive minds in the game. The work he did with the Lions speaks for itself, but there's still a big difference between being an offensive coordinator and being the guy responsible for every aspect of a team's success and failure.
No matter how much of a whiz Johnson is, it will likely take time for his system to run at peak efficiency. Caleb Williams is learning a new playbook in his second year. Three or four new starters need to be integrated into the offensive line. Rome Odunze has been elevated to the team's No. 2 receiver now that Keenan Allen is gone, while Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay are all new to the league, new to the team or both.
Chemistry takes time. Execution takes time. But that's one thing that Brian Flores won't be so generous with. He's one of the most blitz-happy coordinators in the league, and he does it with a variety of exotic looks. The Vikings were fourth in the league in points allowed and tied for first in takeaways last year for that very reason.
This is a defense that punishes any offense that doesn't have a firm grasp on what it's doing. The Bears offense actually played well in the teams' first meeting last year, but that game occurred in Week 12. Shane Waldron had been fired by then, but at least the Bears had gotten three months' worth of game reps in. Caleb Williams threw for 340 yards in what ended up being a 30-27 overtime loss.
When the Bears and Vikings met again three weeks later, the team was in an even bigger state of flux. Matt Eberflus had been fired on Black Friday, and interim coach Thomas Brown was running not just the offense, but the entire team. The Bears were scoreless in the first half and finished with just 12 points and less than 300 total yards in that one.
Whereas during the season teams have one week to devote to gameplanning for specific matchups, in Week 1, they have the entire offseason. Brian Flores is at home right at this very instant cooking up some kind of harebrained blitz package to get to Caleb Williams, and that should scare Bears fans.
If there's one edge the Bears have, it's that Flores doesn't know what this offense will look like with Johnson calling the shots. Johnson is no doubt in the lab as well, and it's going to be a hell of a way to kick off the season to watch these two mad scientists going at it on Monday Night Football. Gather up all your rowdy friends and get your popcorn ready.