ESPN.com: Minnesota Vikings

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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Minnesota Vikings' defense is a "one of a kind" scheme that comes with its own set of challenges for�Chicago Bears�quarterback Caleb Williams.

Chicago's home opener Sunday will be Williams' fifth time going against a Brian Flores-run defense.

As a rookie, Williams dubbed Flores the "King of the Cover-0 blitz," but that's not always the strategy the Vikings' defensive coordinator deploys. That makes the week of preparation for the Bears' first NFC North opponent especially difficult and "not fun" for the quarterback.

"Coach [Ben Johnson] calls this 'mental war' when you go against versus him, and that's what it is," Williams said. "You've got to be able to go out there and 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 and all of that to fluster you and get in your mind. You stay steady and now it's time to go make plays and get completions and when the big ones show up, take them and find them."

Flores' blitz-heavy tendencies are difficult to predict. Williams was blitzed on 37.2% of his dropbacks (6-of-13, 36 yards, TD) during Chicago's season-opening loss to the Vikings in 2025. When the division opponents played again in Week 11, Flores sent a blitz 66.7% of the time, which resulted in Williams completing 11 of his 21 passes for 126 yards (6.0 yards per attempt).

Trying to predict which strategy Flores will deploy can be a fruitless exercise.

"You don't," Johnson said with a laugh. "You try to have answers for everything. He's been in this division three years now, and yeah, I mean you'd like to think he's put everything he could possibly do on tape until you play him next and you realize he hasn't yet. So it'll be something new. There always is with him and that's what makes him such a good coordinator.

"It's a great challenge. It really is. You have a lot of fun on game day. Now the week of preparation is not so much fun, but you know, there's a lot of back and forth that goes into it."

	Youve got to be able to go out there and bad things are going to happen. Youve got to be able to fight back and stay steady, Caleb Williams said of facing DC Brian Flores. "One of the biggest things is not allowing his defense ... to fluster you."

The Bears enter Week 2 coming off a 59-point performance in a win at�Carolina. Chicago scored on nine of its 14 drives, which consisted of eight touchdowns, a field goal, two punts, one fumble and one turnover on downs.

When asked about the full potential of the Bears' offense, Williams pointed to Sunday's result falling short of expectations.

"Scoring every drive is our mindset," Williams said. "That's the potential of us. That's an internal expectation, 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 and figure out ways to help the defense. That's our part to help this team, help special teams, is scoring points, as many as we can, on as many drives that we have. That's our challenge."