Is this Vikings' Defense really this Legit?

[Montana Tom]

Is the Vikings’ Defense Really This Legit?

Ted Schwerzler
Sep 18, 2024

Flores was hired in February 2023 to take over for Ed Donatell after Minnesota finished 30th in points allowed.

The Minnesota Vikings have played two games this season, and the defense looks incredible. Sure, the New York Giants aren’t any sort of juggernaut, but the San Francisco 49ers played for a Super Bowl last season. Brian Flores has his unit looking like something we haven’t seen in years.

Is the Vikings’ Defense Really This Legit?
Brian Flores has gotten a reputation for bringing the house on a consistent basis against opposing offenses. He didn’t need to dial up any serious pressure against the New York Giants, yet Minnesota got to Daniel Jones on multiple occasions. On Sunday, his unit added six more sacks against the 49ers and Brock Purdy. Their 11 total sacks are the best in the NFL through two weeks.

The Vikings’ secondary was considered questionable all offseason. They addressed that fear at the last minute by signing aging superstar Stephon Gilmore. They have allowed just a single passing touchdown while picking off opposing quarterbacks on three separate occasions. Minnesota has given up the fifth most passing yards in the league thus far, but their opponents have been in comeback situations for most of the games.

Jordan Mason rushed for 100 yards against the Vikings, including a 22-yard gain. Flores’s defense has still given up the 8th fewest yards on the ground through the first two weeks. They made Devin Singletary look mediocre in Week 1, and Daniel Jones didn’t exactly burn them with his legs, either.

Ivan Pace Jr. returned for his sophomore season, looking to break out even further. He is paired with Minnesota native Blake Cashman this time around, and the tandem has done well in complementing one another. The secondary has held up just fine, and Harrison Smith looks like he has found the fountain of youth.

After turning over the edge position from last season, everyone has contributed. Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel have each taken turns standing out. Jonathan Greenard recorded a QB hit on Saturday, and Pat Jones came out of nowhere to pick up a pair of sacks.

Brian Flores’s impact was felt last season, but he would still need time to coach up the talent he had. After working with a majority of that group for a year and bringing in reinforcements, it seems as though the Vikings could truthfully have an impressive defensive unit.

[StickierBuns]

Its legit because its unpredictable. That's so important either offensively or defensively in the NFL for success. Or you just run something people can't stop, which can happen but its way more rare and hard to do.

[badgervike]

[purplefaithful]

I dont know if the D is legit?
Is Darnold legit?

Its just two weeks in and they're looking at Texans, at GB and then Rogers/Jets b4 the bye. Not a murders row but no cake-walk either.

I wish the media would just hold their horses and let this play out some.

[badgervike]

What I have liked so far is the lesser dependence on the blitz so far this season. The Defense has been able to dial up the pressure without a blitz or with only one blitzing defender instead of all the jail breaks last year. Part of that is likely finally having personnel that can rush the passer or fall back into coverage.

[MaroonBells]

I think this defense under any other coordinator would be middle of the pack. What makes it special is probably Flo's unpredictable play-calling combined with having players who were hand-picked to run it. We heard so much about how his scheme requires players to be versatile enough to line up damn near anywhere. I think that's what makes it so hard to read.

But I do think offenses eventually start catching on. At that point do the Vikings have the kind of athletes who will continue to stop good offenses on talent alone? I don't know, that's a good question. But I do think they're better this year than they were last year.

For example, our CB1 last year is now our CB3. Our ILB1 last year is now our ILB2. And with all due respect to Wonnum, I think we now have four OLBs who are better than our OLB2 last year.

[comet52]

They upgraded the talent and it shows. Flores is very good at scheming and using that talent.

[MAD GAINZ]

They upgraded the talent and it shows.  Flores is very good at scheming and using that talent.

Exactly.  It's all about upgrading talent.  Hicks was a solid ILB for us, but Cashman is younger and more athletic.  Pace is another year experienced and a beast.  We turned Hunter, Wonnum, and Patrick Jones into Greenard, Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Patrick Jones, and Jihad Ward.  Instead of going with young inexperienced CBs to hold up on the backend, we brought in experienced CBs and kicked our young guys down the depth chart.

The defense had made a significant leap from Donatell's scheme to Year 1 of Flores.  I think we went from like 30th in yards given up to 17th, but we saw bigger improvements in other defensive metrics.  We just didn't have the CBs to hold up with Flores scheme, but now we do. It's a big reason we've seen this defense make another significant jump.  They have been playing like a top 5 defense.  It's legit.

[StickierBuns]

Orlovsky: Flo got Purdy seeing ghosts:

https://twitter.com/danorlovsky7/status/...3216543180

Alec Lewis
@alec_lewis
This is great, per usual. But it’s also funny watch this, then to think about recent convos with Vikings defenders and them saying: “We don’t even feel like we’ve gotten to a lot of stuff yet.”

Judd Zulgad
@jzulgad
·
9h
This is a fantastic breakdown. It's also why I said Brian Flores is the best defensive coordinator the Vikings have had in the past 40 years. That includes Mike Zimmer. The complexity of what Flores is doing and the intelligence of his players is off the charts.