The Minnesota Vikings’ defense will bid to shut down Caleb Williams in a battle of unbeaten teams on Sunday after the Chicago Bears quarterback fueled a record-breaking start to the NFL season.
Williams threw two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Bears pummeled the Carolina Panthers 59-37 last weekend in the highest-scoring opener in NFL history.
This week, however, the Bears will be tested by the visiting Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ noted attacking schemes, with a unit that led the NFL last year in blitzing quarterbacks.
“Coach calls this ‘mental war’ when you him, and that’s what it is,” Williams said of facing a Flores-coach defense. “Bad things are going to happen. You’ve got to be able to fight back and stay steady.
“That’s one of the biggest things is not allowing his defense to fluster you and get in your mind. You stay steady and now it’s time to go make plays, get completions and when the big ones show up, take them and find them.”
Williams has thrown for 934 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in four previous starts against the Vikings.
“They’ve got great players over there, but also that scheme is one of a kind, and so as a competitor, it does get you going a little bit early in the week and so it’s exciting,” Williams said.
“We’ve got a really big challenge ahead of us.”
Bears coach Ben Johnson said he will try to have answers for all of the Flores blitz schemes but realizes he hasn’t seen everything in Minnesota’s playbook.
“It will be something new. There always is with him and that’s what makes him such a good coordinator. It’s a great challenge,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of back and forth that goes into it.”
The Bears scored two touchdowns in each quarter against Carolina and bring an attacking mindset to each possession.
“Scoring every drive is our mindset,” Williams said. “That’s the potential of us. That’s an internal feeling just of what we have up front, out wide and in the backfield. It’s an expectation from ourselves to be able to go out there and score every time.”
Sunday’s only other matchup of 1-0 clubs sends reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle to Arizona, with Seahawks starting quarterback Sam Darnold out due to a muscle injury.
– ‘Least of my worries’ –
Seattle edged New England 13-10 in a Super Bowl rematch last week while the Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14. Drew Lock will replace Darnold in the Seattle lineup against Arizona.
“Drew’s a proven, really good player in this league,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said. “When he has started, he has played really good football. All the things we want from our players, he’s that at the quarterback position.”
Three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, who turned 31 on Thursday, threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City’s season-opening victory over Denver only nine months after suffering a severe knee injury.
He will try to continue his solid comeback when the Chiefs play host to Indianapolis on Sunday.
“The leg is the least of my worries right now,” Mahomes said. “I’m just excited to be out there. At the end of the day, you don’t know until you get out there and play and I was able to. I feel good.”
In other highlights in week two, the Dallas Cowboys will attempt to bounce back from an opening loss to the New York Giants when they host arch-rivals Washington.
The Los Angeles Rams meanwhile are aiming to kickstart their campaign after disastrous opener against San Francisco in Melbourne when they host the Giants on Monday.
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