What Ben Johnson thinks of a defense he's beaten four straight times

"He's an outstanding coach," Johnson said. "All kinds of issues. There's not a team  that pressures more than Minnesota has over the last two years. I go back to what I admired most about New England when I was a young coach in this business, and they had the ability to morph week in and week out. He does that.

"He does that as a coordinator. You  don't really know what you're going to get. You have to adjust in the middle of the game. Our guys have to be open-minded and be willing to understand that we're going to get hit in the teeth a couple times. It's the nature of doing business with this crew. They have some really good players. They're really well-coached. They're really ball-conscious, they're going after the ball all the time."

Johnson kept reeling off the stats about the Vikings defense.

"I think they were No. 1 in (takeaways) last year (tied with Steelers, 33), and that's a credit to how they practice, because it shows up on game tape," Johnson said. "You can go on the stat sheet, and it's points per game, I think they're top five (fifth), they're really good on critical downs, so third and fourth down, they're excellent.

"It was a phenomenal rushing defense last year, as well (No. 1). We're going to have our work cut out in front of us."

Those things were all true last year and yet the Lions tore up the Vikings defense.

"There’s no question, we’re looking at the entire season last year and knowing full well that Flores has had an offseason to change as well," Johnson said. "Year 1 of his defense was one thing. It had some major changes there going into Year 2, and I expect the same thing here Year 3.

"You just don’t know what it is until you get into the game. I think that’s whatmakes them so dangerous."

It's a Vikings defense built on two new dominant veteran free agent defensive tackle acquisitions trying to regain past form, Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen after seasons shortened by injuries.

Beyond that, this obviously isn't Johnson's 2024 Lions offense he's working with, and in particular he has a different QB.

"We're a completely different team," Johnson said. "I've been saying that all along. It'd be easy just to copy-and-paste a plan from the past, but that's just not the case. It's not who we are. That's not what we're going to do. We have some things that we feel really good about, getting our guys in space, potentially, and letting them go to work.

"But, I always go back, first game of the season, regardless of who you're playing, it comes down to the fundamentals, the techniques and who can do the little things right. Communication needs to be on the same page I think that's where this defense, in particular, stresses (your) offense; they try to create a lot of one-on-ones, and all it takes is one guy to lose his one-on-one, and a negative play happens. We're going to focus on our details and playing sound football."

If there is something Johnson can take from last year against the Vikings, it's Caleb Williams' success. He had a 96.73 passer rating against them in two games, his best against any NFC North opponent. He completed 64.1% (50 of 78) and threw for three TDs without an interception.

"Yeah, there's no question," Johnson said. "We're looking at the entire season last year and knowing full well that (Brian) Flores has had a whole offseason to change, as well.

"Year 1 of his defense was one thing, and it had some major changes there going into Year 2, and I expect the same thing here in Year 3. You just don't know what it is, until you get into the game. I think that's what makes them so dangerous."