Brian Flores honing in on what's hurting Vikings' defense

Too many guys lining up incorrectly, committing a bad penalty and ending a play with "my bad."

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 / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Why has the Minnesota Vikings defense been torched in back-to-back losses to the Lions and Rams? Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has pointed to a number of reasons for the letdown.

"What a small margin for error there is in this league. For instance, in the Rams game there were several penalties that showed up that extended drives," Flores said Tuesday. "More opportunities gives them more chances to capitalize and that's what they did. That's what good teams do."

He also said there have been too many plays where one or two players are saying "my bad."

"We have to limit the penalties. I talked to our guys about the 'my bad' plays," Flores explained. "You end up with seven to 10 'my bad' plays... I'm not saying people have to play perfect — but we gotta play good."

What are the "my bad" moments he's talking about?

"An alignment here or a basic communication and we just gotta clean those things up," Flores said. "When you win, the mistakes are minimized and when you lose they're magnified. But the mistakes are always there. Right now they're magnified, and they should be. Because of that small margin for error we've gotta continue to improve these little details and once we do those things we'll play the type of football we want to play."

Flores admitted that playing without inside linebacker Blake Cashman the past two games has been a "big loss," but equally as harmful has been a pass rush that was non-existent against the Rams.

Minnesota pressured Matthew Stafford only 12 times. It was a shockingly low total compared to how many times they pressured Jared Goff (21), Aaron Rodgers (20), Jordan Love (25), C.J. Stroud (20), Brock Purdy (23) and Daniel Jones (26) in the first six games of the season.

Hurries are one thing, but hits and sacks are a level up in terms of impact on a quarterback. The Vikings had 13 combined hits and sacks on Jones, eight on Purdy, eight on Stroud, nine on Love, 11 on Rodgers, eight on Goff and then only two on Stafford.

The combination of playing without Cashman and not getting to Stafford appear to be key reasons why Minnesota's defense has been gashed in the passing game the past two weeks. With Cashman possibly back Sunday night against the Colts, the Vikings might look a more like the team that wowed the NFL for the first one-third of the season.

If not, there could be trouble in paradise.