'It'll certainly be a challenge for us' – Vikings' coach explains the difference he sees in Bears' offense under Thomas Brown
The Minnesota Vikings are preparing for a different Chicago Bears offense on Sunday and won't have much film to go off of heading into the Week 12 matchup.Last week, the Bears made an expected change to the coaching staff by moving on from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoting Thomas Brown into the vacant role. […]
The Minnesota Vikings are preparing for a different Chicago Bears offense on Sunday and won't have much film to go off of heading into the Week 12 matchup.
Last week, the Bears made an expected change to the coaching staff by moving on from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoting Thomas Brown into the vacant role. The change proved to be effective, despite the loss, with the Bears' unit finally finding some momentum.
Going into Sunday's game, the lack of certainty on what the Vikings should be prepared for has admittedly been a challenge for the team's coaching staff this week.
"I think they're starting to put some things together and it'll certainly be a challenge for us," Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said this week.
That's because the Bears' offense under Brown looked a lot more polished, even though the unit kept a lot of the same terminology and designs. Fortunately for the Bears, Brown didn't fully show his hand in his first game as the primary play-caller.
During Sunday's game, the Bears did implement a lot more outside runs and quick passes to help play to the strengths of their play-makers. As a result, the unit nearly totaled 400 yards of offense while finding ways to keep drives moving down the field.
"I thought they did a nice job the other day," Flores added. "I thought they ran the ball well, they did a good job on third-down. We watched it as a staff trying to see some of the differences there. It's not all totally different, there's some carry over from what they've done the previous nine games. Certainly some differences formationally, and just a different play-caller. There's no way to get tendencies from one game."
The Bears can use that to their advantage on Sunday by building off all the things that worked well last week to catch another defense by surprise.
That of course starts with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Against the Packers, Williams had his quickest time to throw of the season and used his legs more consistently as a weapon to make up for his struggling offensive line.
"Obviously he's super talented, but it's the mobility that stands out to me," Flores said about Williams. "The off-script plays and when you have a quarterback like that, you can be in perfect position, you can have the perfect call, and he spins out and next thing you know it's a ball down the field to really good receivers who can go up and get it, who were covered and then uncovered."
The key to attacking Flores' defense on Sunday will be by getting the ball out quickly once again. No defenses love to blitz and create pressure more than the Vikings since Flores was named defensive coordinator. But the Bears will have to get more creative with the downfield shots as the game goes on.
Offensive creativity was something head coach Matt Eberflus wanted to see out of Brown's play-calling. Let's see how creative Brown can be during his second game in control of the offense.
Insights on how Caleb Williams and Thomas Brown can effectively attack Brian Flores’ defensive scheme in Week 12
It’ll be a tough challenge on Sunday.
