Grab an Aspirin: Vikings’ Defense Causes ‘Lot of Headaches’

If the Green Bay Packers are going to knock off the undefeated Minnesota Vikings on defense, it will be up to Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love to solve Brian Flores’ “crazy” scheme.

Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers must solve the Minnesota Vikings' attacking defense on Sunday. / Wm. Glasheen-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Whether it was last year’s hot streak with Jordan Love or cobbling together a winning plan for Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is one of the best schemers and play-callers in the NFL.

On Sunday, he will face one of the best schemers and play-callers on the other side of the ball, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Their individual matchup, which will start long before the noon kickoff, will go a long way toward determining which team will win this critical early-season NFC North showdown.

“I think he’s the only one doing it like this,” LaFleur said. “I think his defenses are very aggressive and it causes you a lot of headaches. He’s one of the most challenging guys to go against in this league. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s been able to accomplish. They are off to a fast start.”

The Vikings are 3-0 behind a defense that ranks second in points allowed per game. In back-to-back home wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans – two of the top offenses in the NFL and led by two of the league’s most productive quarterbacks – the Vikings gave up 17 points against the 49ers and seven against the Texans.

“They give you a lot of different looks,” LaFleur said. “Much like we talk about the illusion of complexity where we like to give looks that are difficult on the defense but simple for us, I feel like that’s what they do. They have a system in place that makes it easy for their players, or easier for their players to go out there and execute. But it makes it extremely difficult on the offenses they are going against.”

That was driven home after the Vikings-Niners game. As players and coaches from both teams exchanged pleasantries, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy told Flores, “Your scheme is crazy.”

It presumably will be up to Love – who clearly is trending toward starting on Sunday – to bring some offensive sanity.

“Like Brock said, it’s a challenging defense,” Love said. “They do a lot of different things and they mix it up a good amount on every play. Flores does a really good job of coaching those guys up and mixing things up. It’s a tough defense. Not going to sugarcoat it, but you’ve got to be able to go out there and play the game and find those completions and get the ball rolling and take advantage of what they do.”

Flores made life a living hell for Love in last year’s game at Lambeau Field, a 24-10 Vikings victory in which Love averaged 4.4 yards per passing play with one interception and four sacks. In the rematch, Love torched the Vikings for 256 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-10 romp.

Usually, when a defender lines up at the line of scrimmage, he’s coming to get the quarterback. Not necessarily under Flores. According to Next Gen Stats, those players drop into coverage about 45 percent of the time

“It just comes down to being able to decipher what they’re doing,” Love said, “and then at the snap of the ball, trying to figure out, ‘Are they bluffing? Are they coming?’ Things like that. They do so much stuff that it is hard to have an idea what they’re doing pre-snap, so a lot of that stuff you’ve just got to feel it out.”

The Vikings made a series of shrewd moves in free agency by signing outside linebackers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard and linebacker Blake Cashman. None of the four are household names but they’re all starters, with Greenard the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Van Ginkel contributing a sack in all three games, Bullard a tackle for loss vs. the run in all three games and Cashman leading in tackles.

Minnesota ranks fifth in interception percentage and fifth in sack percentage, the only team in the top five in both.

“They play fast, they play physical,” LaFleur said. “They’re doing a great job of getting after the quarterback. The run game is a challenge to go against.”

The Vikings’ defenders are talented; the Packers’ offense is talented, too.

That’s why the game could be decided by the coaches. There is mutual respect between them, with Flores raving this week about what LaFleur had accomplished in essentially creating a new offense to fit around the talents of Willis.

It will be up to LaFleur to get his players ready for Flores’ ever-changing defense.

“There’s not many teams that look like this, that are doing it, just some of these personnel groupings, the amount of pressure,” LaFleur said. “I think it’s the only system out there.

“He’s not afraid to zero (blitz) you, so you better have a plan for that. He just causes you a lot of headaches. It can be problematic in the run game; you’re not always going to run it into some great looks. There’s going to be some dirty looks and you’ve got to do your best to gain as many yards as you can. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for how he’s able to create a whole lot of conflict for opposing offenses.”

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