Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center on October 16th, 2024. Flores was hired in February 2023 to take over for Ed Donatell after Minnesota finished 30th in points allowed.
The Minnesota Vikings are understandable favorites on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There’s no such thing as an easy win in the NFL, but this would be as close to that as it gets. Doug Pederson’s team is not good, and their quarterbacking has been worse. Enter the Brian Flores experience.
It is fair to suggest that the Minnesota Vikings defense struggled in two of their past three games. While that is true, they also faced stout offenses with both Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford under center. That was not the case for the Indianapolis Colts, and they made veteran Joe Flacco look certifiably mediocre.
Trevor Lawrence is pretty beat up, which gives way to backup Mac Jones. The reality for both, though, is that neither has proven to be a good quarterback in this league. Lawrence was supposed to be a generational talent. Then, he went to Jacksonville and struggled with circumstances.
After two years of records near the .500 mark, Lawrence and the Jaguars have fallen off a cliff. They are trending towards another top pick at just 2-7 this season. Lawrence has just an 11/6 TD/INT ratio, completing just 61% of his passes. To say things have trended in the wrong direction would be underselling it.
Jones is a castoff starter following an early rise for the New England Patriots. He couldn’t consistently hold off Bailey Zappe and now finds himself holding a clipboard. If Pederson is forced into starting the former New England signal caller, then Minnesota should be licking their lips even more.
Flores figured out a way to keep Flacco in bad spots even without his defense getting home. Ultimately the Vikings ended their sack drought by the end of the contest, but the bulk of the game was about mixing looks. The Minnesota defense should get Blake Cashman back this week and they experienced what more consistent usage for Dallas Turner can look like.
This is a soft landing spot for the defense after a couple of stout offensive matchups. The Vikings should have another chance to build off the momentum generated against the Colts, and that’s a great reality for Flores.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.