Ben Johnson could've told the Carolina Panthers coaches exactly what they were going to do, and these Chicago Bears would've still put up nearly 60 points in Week 1 -- in fact, that's almost how this all went down.
For those who are old enough to remember watching Peyton Manning play in his prime -- which wasn't that long ago -- you might remember feeling similarly. At his best, Manning was so locked in and so precise with his decision-making and accuracy that he could walk up to the line of scrimmage and tell the defense exactly what was going to happen.
And he'd still complete the pass in the exact manner it was drawn up.
He was that good. It almost wasn't even fair to opposing defenses. Against just about every team in the NFL, and on every single Sunday, Manning could drop the majority of his passes into a bucket -- right where only his receivers could get it.
That's how the Bears had Carolina feeling on Sunday afternoon during the 59-point eruption that took place.
But don't just take my word for it. Panthers linebacker Bobby Okereke fully admitted as much:
“We knew how they were gonna attack us. We practiced a lot of their concepts, and we got a lot of their concepts on game day."
That's about as bad as it could get if you're a Panthers fan. Hearing a defender come out and say they knew what Chicago was going to do, but still allowing over 550 yards of offense and 59 points?
Yikes.
The Bears had Panthers defenders outright furious after Chicago's Week 1 victory
While head coach Dave Canales was more level-headed, his players told a different story. Of course they were frustrated. Who wouldn't be?
“Fifty-nine is an ugly score to put up as a defense. It’s embarrassing," linebacker Jaelen Phillips said.
To his credit, Phillips did go on to talk about the positive being that this is an opportunity for them to improve. That's a leader. I respect it. But, the frustrations were real.
Nobody was more upset than defensive lineman Derrick Brown, though:
“It sucks, but it’s one f***ing game. We’ve got a whole season. I’m not fixin’ to f***ing sit here and hit the panic button for nobody ... I will f***ing hang it on me for those two touchdowns that they got, for those two stupid-a** penalties on me."
OK, so who wouldn't be upset after enduring that kind of embarrassment on the defensive side of the ball?
The sentiments are right on par with what I would expect, too.
Bears' next opponent will be a completely different beast for Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams
But, this begs the question: did the Panthers really know what the Bears were going to do?
You can only study so much from last season while knowing, good and well, that Johnson would install some brand-new wrinkles into his offense.
At the same time, if the Panthers knew what to expect and still gave up that kind of performance, then this makes Johnson, Williams and the offense that much more frightening for other opponents.
Now, in Week 2, the Bears take on the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores' defense, which had Jordan Love and the Packers' offensive line in absolute shambles late Sunday afternoon. After the Packers went up big, the Vikings' defensive front kept attacking, and eventually the Packers' offensive line folded.
We knew the Packers' offensive line had its issues. It was only a matter of time before Flores' blitzes got through and forced errors on Green Bay's end.
The Bears' offensive line is objectively the best in the division, though, so this matchup will be much more even. Flores is known to be as aggressive as anybody bringing the blitz, as he brought it on over 78 percent of Love's dropbacks in Week 1.
Read that again.
Ben Johnson knows exactly what he'll be focusing on this week with the offense and, specifically, the offensive line.
I would expect a whole lot more 12 and 13 personnel against the Vikings next week. The Bears' offensive line is strong, but with that amount of blitzing, the game plan will need to be tweaked.
Read more: Bears actually left 25 points on the board in their win over the Panthers
We might not see a 59-point output from Chicago's offense, but it'll be fun to see how Johnson combats Flores after what the Bears did to Carolina.
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