Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Bears' offense is aiming to use 'dirty yards' as an advantage against the Vikings' defensive front in Week 1

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 4:35 PM ET

The Chicago Bears are well aware of the challenge coming to Solider Field on Monday night when the new offense led by head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams takes on Brian Flores' defensive unit with the Minnesota Vikings.

Flores' unpredictable nature makes it hard to gameplan against and the strength of his unit is easily on the defensive front, that got even better this offseason.

Minnesota has multiple game-wreckers up-front that can make for a tough first game for this new Bears' offense and because of that, the unit plays to have some advantages integrated into the game plan when it comes to using cadence and motions to make the Vikings jump or get out of alignment.

"It's a weapon we're going to use. The cadence, the motions, the shifts," Johnson explained on Wednesday. "I think, this day and age football, I think it's a huge advantage for the offense when you can use that to attack a defense."

Over the course of training camp, Williams has been trying to master all the various cadences and motions. The team's young quarterback shared members of the Bears' defense even complimented his improvement in that specific area and the confusion it created defensively.

"Being able to use it is important for us and our team," Williams added. "Getting those dirty yards in something as small as a cadence, which is huge and important for us. From a defensive side, something as small as a cadence is getting us positive yards to be able to help us either stay on the field or put us in advantageous positions."

The main thing is creating hesitation for the Vikings' front, which will be looking to fire off the ball and get after the quarterback. Getting a free offsides penalty would be an added bonus. But, it needs to be used effectively.

Bears can let pre-snap advantages turn into disadvantages

Using pre-snap motions and cadences to try and trick or confuse the defense is a great strategy for a modern offense in the NFL, but it's a double-edged sword. Motions and cadences can easily lead to offensive penalties that set the unit back, as we've seen from the Bears unit all throughout camp.

While Johnson and the offensive staff have shortened the play-calling and condensed the playbook for what the team is looking to run in Week 1, there's still some added pressure from using that.

"Certainly you know what the plays are and what the cadence is going to be, you've practiced it that way over the course of the week, but at the same time, now the real bullets are flying," Johnson said on Tuesday. "There's also that degree of pressure that some guys feel, not all, but some guys do feel that. We've tried to put a lot of pressure on our guys over the course of camp to find out who those guys are that can handle that extra noise. I'm confident that we're going to be just fine moving forward."

If that's indeed the case, and all the pre-snap issues are behind this unit, using the motions and cadence will be a big advantage for this offense in combatting Flores' aggressive defensive front.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: