Dennis Allen: Bears defense must adjust quickly vs. J.J. McCarthy, Vikings

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 5 hours ago

CHICAGO - Last season, the Bears lost both of their matchups against the Minnesota Vikings. However, with all the changes in Chicago during the offseason, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and the Bears are hoping to shut down Minnesota’s offense and secure their first win against the Vikings since November 2023.

A key to this will be making Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy uncomfortable in his first regular-season game.

Allen does not have much film to work with since McCarthy has only played in preseason games to this point. Nonetheless, he is preparing his defense to face him and believes mid-game adjustments will be paramount in this game.

“As you do every season when you go into an opening season game, you have to prepare for the unexpected. You have to prepare for unscouted looks. We’re going to see something that we haven’t seen yet and so, we really got to be able to prepare for the system and then we’ve got to be ready to adjust. I think what my experience would tell me (is) that teams that are able to adjust the best within the game, those are the teams that usually have the most success. So, in particular with (J.J. McCarthy), we obviously studied him coming out,” Allen said. “We got a chance to see him in a couple of preseason games and yet, we don’t have a lot of film on him. So, we’ll have to be ready to adjust and see how they’re trying to call the game with him.”

The NFC North may be the most competitive division in the league. Every team except Chicago made the playoffs last year. Minnesota ended up with the No. 5 seed despite its 14-win season. They will be without wide receiver Jordan Addison in this game due to his suspension. To add depth to their receiver room, the Vikings traded for receiver Adam Thielen, who spent the first nine years of his career with Minnesota.

They also have a good run game with two solid running backs - Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason.

“I think (Jones is) a big part of their offense. I think he’s a really explosive player and so, obviously, we got to do a good job of protecting the edges on the defense and we’ve got to do a good job being able to get off blocks inside and we need 11 hats to the ball. I think this team that we’re playing, offensively, I think is a really good offense. I got a lot of respect for (Vikings head coach) Kevin O’Connell and their offensive staff and how they call a game and the schemes that they run,” Allen said. “They did some things in the offseason to try to help improve their team. Obviously, they went out and they just traded for Adam Thielen who’s a savvy veteran wide receiver, good player for them. (Tight end T.J.) Hockenson, I think (he) is an exceptional tight end in terms of his route-running ability. I think they’ve got kind of a two-headed monster at the running back position with Jones and (Mason). Physical, tough runner inside and then they did some things up front to help themselves up front with an improved interior of the offensive line. So, got a lot of respect for what they do and this will be a tough challenge for us.”

During the preseason, Chicago’s defense was a bit of a mixed bag. Against the Buffalo Bills, they pitched a shutout. But when they faced the starters for the Kansas City Chiefs, the starters struggled.

Allen acknowledged the defense needs to improve, but also said he feels confident about the Bears’ preparation going into their Monday night matchup against the Vikings (7:15 p.m. / ABC).

“Do we still need to improve? Absolutely. I don’t think there’s any team out there that’s a finished product in week one and so, we feel good about the preparation that we’ve had to this point,” Allen said. “We feel good about the work that we got in training camp and now it’s a great opportunity for us to go out in a Monday night game against a division opponent and go play and so, the work’s never done. So, regardless of outcomes, we’re going to continue to work to improve and we’re not going to focus too much about what the results are. We’re going to focus on the process of getting better and I think if you take care of that, I think the results end up taking care of themselves.”