Vikings Defensive Gameplan Will Take Major Step Up In 2o23

Brian Flores has a huge responsibility. He has to take a defense that has been among the worst in the league the last 3 seasons and bring it up to a championship level.

Impossible, you say? Don’t tell that to Flores, who believes in himself and knows he has the ability to improve any defensive unit. Flores learned from his time with Bill Belichick, and he earned a position as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

After he was let go by the Dolphins – the subject of a legal dispute between Flores and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross – he was hired as the defensive coordinator by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Flores goes about his business in a much different and more precise manner than former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

The key to Flores’ defensive schemes is his detailed study of the opponent’s offense and devising a specific gameplan to blunt each attack. His primary formation is a 3-4, and that’s what Donatell employed a year ago. But Flores will switch out of it depending on each opponent’s strengths.

The first thing that the Flores defense will stop is the interior run. That makes the best kind of sense, because any opponent that can rip through the middle of the defense with the running game has every option open to it. Stop that part of the running game from the start, and most offenses will eliminate that part of the gameplan going forward.

The next aspect of the Flores defense is making sure that quarterbacks know they are looking at a unit that will deliver significant pressure on nearly every passing play. But that’s not enough, as the defense must disguise where the pressure is coming from. This means there is regularly going to be one more attacking player than the offense has protecting the quarterback.

This does not mean that the new Vikings defense is always going to send an extra pass rusher after the quarterback, but the look will be there. That means the opposing quarterback and offensive coordinator have to be concerned with its blocking scheme on every snap.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell does not have anywhere near the defensive expertise that Flores does. However, he is likely to have far more influence on the defense than he did under Donatell. O’Connell was both a trusting soul with the previous defensive coordinator and also greatly concerned about installing his offensive scheme.

In Year 2 of the O’Connell regime, the offense is already in place. Trusting the defensive coordinator did not work out for the Vikings, as they finished 31^st in yards allowed and 30^th in points allowed last year. He has to know what Flores is doing and he has to know how those plans will impact the team as a whole.

As a former assistant under Belichick, this has to make perfect sense to Flores. During the interview and hiring process, Flores was as much sold on the Vikings as the Vikings were sold on him. These two appear to have the chemistry to work well together, as each man understands the other’s strengths and responsibilities.

Will Flores be successful with the Vikings? The biggest single factor will be how well the secondary covers opposing receivers. This has been an issue for multiple seasons, and much will depend on the health and skill of cornerbacks Andrew Booth Jr., Joejuan Williams, Akayleb Evans and rookie Mekhi Blackmon. Flores will give them more support than they received under Donatell, but the performance level is going to have to improve.

The X-factor for the pass defense will be the play of the safeties. The Vikings are still fully dependent on strong safety Harrison Smith, and he should thrive under Flores. However, the health of free safety Lewis Cine is the biggest issue. Cine was the team’s first-round draft pick out of Georgia a year ago, but he suffered a broken leg against the New Orleans Saints when the Vikings played in London.

His rehab has gone extremely well and there’s every reason to think he will be able to contribute from the start of the season. A healthy Cine raises the level of the secondary quite a bit.

Flores understands how to take away what the opponent does best and make them try to beat you with their secondary strengths. He will back that up by providing the versatility that allows them to adjust successfully as the game progresses.

There’s no guarantee of success, but they are in a much better position to improve on defense than they have been in years.