Caleb Williams pinpoints 3 Vikings’ defenders he thinks could give the Bears offense the most trouble in Week 1 matchup
He remembers who to watch out for in this matchup.
In just a few days time, the Chicago Bears will face off in the regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
Monday night’s game will be the third matchup for Bears’ quarterback Caleb Williams going up against the Vikings’ defense. In the previous two matchups, the Vikings came out on top with a victory, but the play of Williams provided some confidence against defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ unit that usually torments opposing quarterbacks.
In those two matchups, Williams threw for 531 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and took five sacks. But, that was last season and a lot has changed for both sides going into the third matchup.
Williams has a new head coach and offensive play-caller in Ben Johnson along with some new weapons added to the offense. But, Flores has added some new toys to his unit as well and has a better idea on how to game plan against the Bears young quarterback.
Caleb Williams recognizes three Vikings’ defenders as potential threats
When reflecting back to the two matchups last season, Williams pinpointed three returning players on the Vikings defense who could make life challenging for him and the offense on Monday night.
“They got a very savvy vet back there in 22 (Harrison Smith),” Williams said. “Playing versus him, it’s been fun but also a learning experience for me. Last year, when I checked the play, he checked, I ended up checking back and forth, so it’s playing that game of cat and mouse. And he’s been doing it for so many years…”
“They got a bunch of good guys over there. [Byron Murphy], they obviously got the new guys on the D-line, and also 58 (Jonathan Greenard), he’s a beast. Being able to maintain those guys and go out there and execute our game plan and be efficient with the ball is really important for us.”
In the secondary, the duo of Smith at safety and Murphy in the slot presents a tough challenge for any quarterback because both players are constantly moving around the field, before and after the snap. Smith is obviously the experienced leader of the group, but Murphy has established himself as one of the top defensive backs in the game right now coming off his first Pro Bowl nod in 2024.
As for the front, Greenard is a major threat off the edge who totaled three sacks against Williams in the two games last season, but he’s far from the only threat on that defensive line.
“Shoot, yeah, I think there’s more than that too,” Ben Johnson said when asked about Greenard and fellow pass rusher Andrew Van Ginkel. “They have Dallas Turner, who’s a first-rounder a year ago that he’s going to be coming into his own Year 2, and I think they really upgraded their interior defensive line as well. I think that gets overlooked a bit between Jonathan Allen and [Javon] Hargrave.”
Overall, it’s a talented unit from top to bottom and the Bears are going to have their hands full on offense going up against this crew. Being on the details will be even more important for this entire offense on Monday night.
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