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Although the postseason wasn’t too kind to any of the three teams from the NFC North who qualified for the Playoffs, it wasn’t that long ago that most around the NFL believed that the league’s ‘Black and Blue Division’ was the best in all of football. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers combined for 40 wins in the regular season, and don’t forget, before a devastating loss via Hail Mary and complete coaching collapse, the Chicago Bears were 4-2 and looking like a playoff team.
This is all to say that we could see much of the same from the NFC North in 2025, especially if new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson makes the kind of immediate impact in the Windy City that many expect he will. Johnson is already acclimated with Chicago’s divisional foes, having spent the last three years as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. But that means everyone around the NFC North, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell included, is familiar with Johnson too.
Kevin O’Connell on playing against a Ben Johnson offense:
“You’re going to have to play fundamentalist sound football every snap or the offense will make you look bad.” pic.twitter.com/Fqzf8igXLo
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) February 8, 2025
If you don’t want to take Kevin O’Connell at his word, here’s all the proof you need that Ben Johnson is capable of causing the Vikings, and everyone else for that matter, big problems. Since taking over as the Vikings head coach before the 2022 season, O’Connell is 5-1 against the Bears. Conversely, since 2022, the Vikings are just 1-5 against Ben Johnson and the Lions. And Detroit has scored 30 points or more in all five of their wins over the Vikes.
Admittedly, personnel beyond Ben Johnson plays a big role in this. Top to bottom, Detroit has boasted a more talented roster and a better coaching staff than Chicago. But with Johnson’s arrival, Caleb Williams’ expected rise, and what should be a better Bears roster in 2025 than it was in 2024, the Vikings and the rest of the NFC North could end up having their hands full when facing the Monsters of the Midway next season.
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