Johnson has a long way to go as a first-time head coach, and his counterpart reminded him of that. It’s easy to forget that Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has the third-best winning percentage among active coaches, but it’s also easy to see how he has done it.
Almost any coach would’ve been an upgrade for the Bears after Matt Eberflus’ stint imploded under the weight of every variety of mismanagement imaginable. Ben Johnson already has made some necessary changes at Halas Hall to sharpen virtually every aspect of how the Bears operate.
But he is betting his tenure on quarterback Caleb Williams, and there’s no way he’ll win without getting him on track. That reality undermined Johnson’s debut Monday as the Vikings rallied to beat the Bears 27-24.
It ended with fans at Soldier Field booing as time ran out on the Bears’ last-ditch scramble to get downfield with laterals.
Johnson has a long way to go as a first-time head coach, and his counterpart reminded him of that. It’s easy to forget that Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has the third-best winning percentage among active coaches, but it’s also easy to see how he has done it.
It seems like no matter who lines up at quarterback for the Vikings, he gets them rolling.
He kept the Vikings viable with late-career Kirk Cousins in 2022, made them a tough out for any opponent in ‘23 with a carousel of quarterbacks and last season got them to 14-3 with Sam Darnold.
