Brian Flores is Confronting a Curse
Brian Flores has struggled to overcome Ben Johnson. Does it matter that Johnson is now in a different position while getting paid by a different team?
Being a head coach is much different from being a coordinator. Many coaches are wonderful strategists who thrive leading a single unit while then flopping when given the reins to a complete team. We are yet to learn if that ends up occurring for Johnson, someone who earned the Bears gig after proving to be one of the NFL’s most creative, formidable offensive minds. Is now the time for Flores to defeat his nemesis?
Brian Flores vs. Ben Johnson: A Battle of Creative Aggression
Describing these coaches in the most bland terms possible would mean obfuscating their brilliance. Flores is a DC with a fondness for Tampa-2; Johnson was (is?) an OC who liked to run a lot.
Hiding behind those descriptions is the manner in which the coaches approach these seemingly basic strategies. Sure, Flores likes having a two-high shell, but he asks his players to get to their responsibilities in a variety of ways while leading the NFL in blitzing. Meanwhile, Johnson runs at an elite level while somehow coaxing borderline elite play out of Jared Goff.
On a head-to-head basis, the battle leans toward Johnson in a decisive manner. Brian Flores became the defensive coordinator in 2023 and has since gone 0-4 when battling the Lions (while otherwise being mostly excellent). Consider the scores:
- Week 16, 2023: 30-24, Lions
- Week 18, 2023: 30-20, Lions
- Week 6, 2024: 31-29, Lions
- Week 18, 2024: 31-9, Lions
Crunch the numbers. On average, the Lions drop 30.5 points against the Flores-led Vikings. Not all of that falls on the DC, of course, but there have been enough games to see a trend. Flores has yet to find a way of limiting Johnson to less than 30 points. Being unable to do so has come from within seasons when his defense has allowed an average of 21.3 points against per game (2023, 13th in the NFL) and an average of 19.5 points against per game (2024, 5th in the NFL).
During the week, Flores got into what makes Johnson a formidable opponent.
Alec Lewis of The Athletic relayed the coach’s words: “What doesn’t make it tough? It’s the run game. It’s the pass game. It’s the play-action game. It’s the screen game. Gun runs. Under runs. Under play-action. Gun play-action. Third down. Red zone. All of it.”
In some ways, Brian Flores isn’t saying a ton. Ben Johnson is difficult to corral because Ben Johnson can do all kinds of things. But then in offering that answer Brian Flores is saying quite a bit, isn’t he? Ben Johnson is difficult corral because Ben Johnson can do all kinds of things.
If, for instance, Johnson could only find a way of moving the ball when his team was operating out of shotgun and in spread formation, then Flores could ensure his team knows how to nullify (or at least slow down) that particular approach.
In other words, the sheer volume of things that Johnson’s group can accomplish makes it tough to overcome. Being responsible for all sorts of possibilities from basically any look or any personnel grouping makes the defense’s life more difficult, unable to make educated guesses based on pre-snap clues.
Brian Flores is carrying a heavy burden in 2025. Reinforced with pricey free-agent additions, Flores’ defense doesn’t just need to maintain high-level play. The real goal is to become elite, proving capable of taking over games by completely stifling the other team’s offense. Think back to the 2024 Week 1 effort when Daniel Jones and the Giants had no hope since they were so hapless against the Vikings’ defense. That’s the goal for 2025.
The quest for that level of dominance begins tomorrow night when Brian Flores looks to improve his record against Ben Johnson to 1-4.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
