The Chicago Bears sit alone in first place in the NFC North after the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

At 7-3, the Bears are ahead of the Green Bay Packers (6-3-1) and the Lions (6-4), but Ben Johnson isn’t ready to start talking about the playoffs yet. That’s not how the first-year coach operates.

Week 11 photos: Chicago Bears 19, Minnesota Vikings 17

Johnson spoke with the media Monday, one day after his team came from behind for a dramatic 19-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Here are four takeaways from Johnson’s session.

1. Ben Johnson isn’t talking about the playoffs yet.

After Sunday’s game, Johnson said his team and coaching staff are “not even looking at that” when asked about the standings.

The Bears have a much tougher slate of opponents coming up, but they’ve positioned themselves well to remain in the playoff hunt down the stretch. The Bears currently would own the No. 3 seed in the NFC, behind only the Eagles and Los Angeles Rams (both 8-2).

But seven games is a long time in an NFL season. A lot can change between now and January. Asked again Monday about where his team stands, Johnson reiterated his point.

“We’re way far away from that,” he said. “I haven’t even been thinking about that. We’re still in the third quarter of the season. That’s really where we’re focused on. We set goals once we hit the halfway mark and once we make it through the three-quarter mark, then we’ll start shifting our focus.

“We’re in a good spot right now for where we want to be this quarter of the season.”

Johnson breaks the season into four quarters and sets goals for each quarter. His team hit its 3-1 mark in the second quarter. The Bears aren’t ready to start thinking about the fourth quarter yet.

2. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed at a crazy rate.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is sacked by Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner in the second half Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Flores is the NFL’s unquestioned king of the blitz. His Vikings defense leads the NFL in blitz rate this season (37.6%) and led the league in each of his previous two seasons in Minnesota.

Any quarterback knows he’s going to face a healthy number of blitzes from a Flores-led defense.

That said, Flores kicked it up to another level Sunday. The Vikings sent an extra rusher at quarterback Caleb Williams on 66.7% of the plays, by far the highest rate Williams has seen this season. Per Next Gen Stats, it was the second-highest blitz rate by any team in a game this season.

When the Bears and Vikings squared off in Week 1, Flores blitzed on what now looks like a relatively modest 37.2% of plays.

“The interesting thing was not just the percentage, because it was completely different than Week 1 … but also the type of pressures that he was bringing,” Johnson said. “(It) was a lot of (cornerback blitzes), which he hadn’t shown a ton of. So I thought we recognized it fairly early, and we did the best we could as a staff and as players to make our adjustments to it.”

3. Caleb Williams missed two early deep shots.

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze, defended by Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, can’t catch an overthrown ball by quarterback Caleb Williams in the first quarter Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

On each of the Bears’ first two offensive possessions, Johnson called deep shots on third down. Both times Williams missed his target and the Bears were forced to punt.

The first was to Rome Odunze, while the second targeted DJ Moore. Both were overthrows. The deep pass to Odunze on the first possession was just out of reach.

“Sometimes that happens early in the game when you take a deep shot,” Johnson said. “You’re not quite in a rhythm yet and that can get away from you. I wasn’t too terribly disappointed by it.”

On the second one, Moore had his man beat by a step or two and Williams sailed the throw by about 4 or 5 yards. Johnson said he thinks Williams would like to have that one back.

“It’s something we’re going to continue to work on,” Johnson said. “That stuff doesn’t just happen overnight. That’s a work in progress. And that’s been the case everywhere I’ve been, so I’m not concerned about that at all.”

Per NFL Pro, Williams is 12-for-41 on throws that travel 20 or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He’s throwing it deep on 12.6% of his pass attempts this season.

4. The Bears have 3 of the NFL’s top 4 interception leaders.

Bears safety Kevin Byard III intercepts the ball in the second quarter against the Vikings on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

The takeaways just keep coming for the Bears defense. As a team, they lead the NFL with 22 takeaways, including a league-leading 15 interceptions. Their plus-16 turnover margin is tops in the league too.

In Sunday’s win, it was safety Kevin Byard III and cornerback Nahshon Wright who came down with interceptions thrown by Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Entering “Monday Night Football,” the Bears had three of the league’s top four in interceptions playing for their defense.

Byard stands alone atop the NFL with five interceptions through Week 11. Wright and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds both have four, tied with Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.

“They do a great job with their ball skills, being able to make those into interceptions,” Johnson said. “The length of those guys certainly helps, between (Wright) and Tremaine in particular. They’re really long-limbed and that gives them a natural advantage there. And (Byard’s) got some of the best instincts I’ve been around at that safety position.”

For Byard, this is the fourth time in 10 NFL seasons that he has totaled at least five interceptions. He has two other seasons with four, although this is the first time since 2022 that he has multiple interceptions. Last year, his first with the Bears, he had only one. Byard has 34 career interceptions.

Wright, who wasn’t even supposed to be a starter for this team, had only one career interception before this season. Sunday’s pick came just days after his college coach was shot and killed in California.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/ben-johnson-chicago-bears-playoffs/