Brian Flores’ latest defensive masterpiece helps Vikings set early tone in NFC North

Minnesota held Chicago to just 4.2 yards per play, one week after the Bears had averaged 7.9. Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images

y Alec Lewis

Sept. 20, 2026

CHICAGO — Here came referee Land Clark, moving toward the middle of the field for an announcement. Right then and there, veteran Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones knew.

“They were going to get one more second,” Jones said.

The Chicago Bears did. After all of this, the rain and the slosh and the throwback smashmouth kind of afternoon, Minnesota’s defensive masterpiece — and its tenuous 9-3 lead — hung in the balance. It was up to Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, in for an injured Caleb Williams, to flip the script.

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Minnesota signaled for a timeout to mull its plans for the play. Bagent and the Bears then returned to the field in an empty shotgun set. And before Bagent could proceed through his throwing progression, third-year Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner bench-pressed Bears tight end Colston Loveland into the backfield.

Turner pushed. He lunged. Finally, he hooked his right arm around Bagent’s neck, bringing Chicago’s QB to the ground and ending the latest rendition of early-season NFC North shenanigans.

“It came down to the freaking wire,” said Vikings defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez, “and we needed it, and (Dallas) freaking got it. So, freaking good on him.”

After the game-sealing sack, Turner raced up the field in celebration, with most of his teammates in tow. The Vikings understood the assignment, and they grasped the significance of the result. First and foremost, they snatched the division lead. On an even larger scale, Brian Flores’ Vikings defense added another chapter to its already notorious lore.

That unit didn’t just smother some middling offense inside a soggy Soldier Field. It completely detached the power source of an electrifying Chicago attack that had scored 59 points in its season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

For context, chew on this: Dating to the beginning of the 2022 season, Bears head coach Ben Johnson has called offensive plays for 70 games, first in Detroit and now in Chicago. Sunday was his team’s 69th-worst showing in offensive success rate and 66th-worst in EPA per play, according to TruMedia.

Johnson did not hide his respect for Flores’ group afterward.

“There’s some things that, looking back at it, I’d love to do a little bit differently,” Johnson said. “And yet, that’s what makes it so challenging to go against (Flores). I think he did a great job.”

During the week, several NFL executives and coaches shared their excitement for another Johnson-Flores showdown. Even though Vikings players and staff constantly reiterate that each week carries the same importance, it would be foolish not to think the difficulty of the test increases some aspect of the collective awareness.

Chicago entered this year with continuity, in Williams’ second season quarterbacking Johnson’s system. The Vikings arrived with a remade defensive line. Each team’s respective Week 1 win heightened the stakes. In the lead-up, Flores raved about Johnson’s multiplicity, and Johnson singled out particular Vikings players (such as Turner) that he believed were on the ascent.

Steady rain and sneaky wind threw a wild variable into Sunday’s clash. As each quarter passed, though, it felt more and more like Minnesota’s defense found a way to wield the elements to its advantage.

“I really loved the game plan from the time that (Flores) and I sat down on Tuesday to go through it,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “(He) and the staff wanted to attack. They wanted to make sure we were playing really good, sound defense, working some of our movement.”

How, it seems fair to ask, did a defense that costs a minuscule $95 million in salary cap space find ways to limit an ascending juggernaut? What details can make this make sense?

Unlike the Packers’ collapse in Week 1, the Vikings did not need a lead to crank up the heat. Quarterback Carson Wentz, starting because Kyler Murray is still working his way through the concussion protocol, struggled to establish a rhythm. His 11-for-20 passing, 143-yard outing speaks to the load the defense shouldered.

Ask any member of that defense how it didn’t crumble beneath the responsibility, and the response sounds almost impossibly simple.

“I think we were able to stop the run,” safety Josh Metellus said. “Not Caleb running, but the running backs running. That was nice.”

Fresh off a 291-yard rushing output in Week 1, the Bears accumulated only 134 yards on the ground Sunday. Minnesota asked its defensive linemen to slant into distinct gaps, and its linebackers knew their responsibilities and where those movements up front might leave the defense vulnerable.

That strategy requires an advanced level of aptitude, which is partially what makes the development of interior defenders Jalen Redmond and Rodriguez so impressive.

Those two, both overlooked and underdiscussed, sent Bears running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai into the backs of blockers throughout the afternoon. Linebacker Blake Cashman watched them grapple, anchor and toss themselves into collisions from his vantage point at the second level.

Between plays in the second half, he approached Redmond and hollered: “You’re kicking ass, dude!”

“I felt his presence,” Cashman said. “He was a warrior. He’s one of our best players. He’s a tone-setter.”

It is not hyperbole to think that Redmond single-handedly kept the victory on track on the first drive after halftime. In that moment, the Bears were puncturing the Vikings’ defense with ease, especially on the ground. They reached the 1-yard line — a touchdown seemed imminent. But then, from multiple gaps away, Redmond flowed to the football and punched the ball loose from Swift after a handoff.

The forced fumble zapped any potential Bears momentum. It also gave the Vikings time to make sideline adjustments for a run defense involving rookie DT Caleb Banks, who was a force in just the second game of his young career.

By limiting the Bears to a rushing success rate of 25.9 percent — the second-worst for the Bears under Johnson behind a Week 1 matchup against Minnesota last season — the Vikings forced them into longer downs and distances. Those circumstances, in turn, allowed the Vikings’ pressure packages (and questioned secondary) to shine.

Linebacker Eric Wilson blasted Swift on a blitz pickup, affecting Williams’ comfort in the pocket. Cornerback Byron Murphy snagged an interception. Isaiah Rodgers popped as much as any of the other defenders playing from depth. Most importantly, he swooped around the edge to block a potential game-tying, 23-yard field goal on the penultimate Bears drive.

Rodgers had studied Bears kicker Cairo Santos’ timing and believed leaping after Santos’ fourth step would offer a chance at that block. The splish-splashing on the grass didn’t slow him down. Rodgers saved Minnesota’s lead — and set up the defense for its final stand.

The Vikings’ offense first extended a late drive to squeeze extra seconds from the clock, ultimately securing a field goal that stretched Minnesota’s lead to its final margin.

Then, appropriately, the Vikings’ defense received the pen to dot the finishing touches on its latest and greatest signature performance.

Sep 22, 2026