Oct 6, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores watches from the sidelines against the New York Jets in the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on a difficult journey through the NFL playoffs.
The Vikings could have clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC last Sunday with a win over the Detroit Lions, but now that they have lost, the Vikings will instead hold the No. 5 seed in the conference despite winning 14 games during the regular season and will not play another home game without some major help from other teams.
That journey through the playoffs begins on Monday night for Minnesota when they head to SoFi Stadium and take on the Los Angeles Rams.
This game against the Rams will be a rematch of Minnesota’s Week 8 loss to Los Angeles on Thursday Night Football by a score of 30-20.
On Tuesday, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores revealed a key detail regarding that matchup, which hopefully gives Vikings fans hope that the result can end differently this time around.
Flores talked about that Thursday Night Football matchup during his press conference on Tuesday, and he specifically mentioned that star receiver Puka Nacua’s presence in the lineup left the Vikings “scrambling.”
Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune tweeted, “Brian Flores said the Vikings found out about four hours before the first Rams game that Puka Nacua was going to play, adding they were ‘a little bit surprised that he was out there” and saying there was ‘a little bit of scrambling’ to prepare for the fact he’d play. The Rams, Flores said, are ‘very different’ with Nacua. The Vikings will obviously have a plan for him this time.”
Remember, ahead of that game, Nacua had been on injured reserve due to a knee injury that he aggravated in the season opener against Detroit.
There was some question as to whether Nacua would return to the lineup, and the same question revolved around Cooper Kupp, who had also missed four games early in the season.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, both players did end up returning to the lineup for that Thursday night game. Kupp finished the night with five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown while Nacua shredded the secondary for seven catches, 106 yards, and a touchdown of his own.
It is obviously the job of an NFL defensive coordinator to be prepared for all scenarios when getting ready for an opponent, but this particular spot left Flores and the Vikings in a pretty precarious spot.
Firstly, the Vikings had just come off of an emotional Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions at home, in which they narrowly lost by a score of 31-29. It was a hard fought game, and there were plenty of tired legs on the defense by the end of it, especially considering they were playing without LB Blake Cashman.
Then, we also have to consider that Minnesota needed to come off short rest for this game. While it was also the case for the Rams, Kupp and Nacua were very well rested after sitting out for multiple weeks before this game.
Finally, this was also the game in which Christian Darrisaw was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Instead of their stalwart left tackle, the Vikings finished the game with David Quessenberry in the lineup. T.J. Hockenson had not yet returned to the lineup either, putting extra onus on the defense to put together a big game.
This time around, the Vikings and Rams will have their stars on equal playing fields regarding rest. Hockenson is in the lineup as is Cashman. While Darrisaw obviously still remains on the shelf, Cam Robinson has at the very least been a serviceable player at the left tackle spot.
Flores and Minnesota’s defense will be looking to get revenge on Monday night, and they have a very good chance to flip the results.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.