Packers Knew Vikings Would Blitz, Though It Might Not Have Seemed That Way

MINNEAPOLIS – It was no mystery that Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores would blitz Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love from the first quarter to the fourth quarter.

The Packers seemingly were unprepared and Love took a beating because of it.

“I feel like we just played a game, and that’s usually how you feel,” Love said following a painful 39-22 loss in the season-opening game. “And it just sucks the way we ended that game right there to lose. So, it sucks.”

According to Pro Football Focus’ early stats, Love dropped back to pass 46 times. He was pressured on 25 and blitzed on 40.

Forty!

Individually, the Vikings piled up 32 pressures. Dallas Turner, according to the official stats, had one sack and seven of their 15 quarterback hits.

It’s as if the Packers hadn’t prepared for a single moment for the onslaught that was to come. And the more the Vikings hit Love, the more Flores attacked. Finally, like a heavyweight fighter that had been staggered a few times, the Packers faltered.

The Vikings outscored the Packers 22-0 in the fourth quarter and scored the final 29 points. When the Packers needed Love to answer, he was getting hit.

“You look at that fourth quarter, they got the momentum and they started rolling, and that’s where we kind of fell apart,” Love said. “I think, obviously, being in this away environment, the noise, the everything, everybody, the communication has got to be 100 percent.

“And that’s where the momentum gets going, and we got to be able to be at our best still and overcome that stuff. And I don’t think we did. We got to keep finding answers. We did some good things in the first half to be able to beat the pressure, and then we didn’t in the second half.”

That’s true.

Love in the first half was 9-of-19 passing for 199 yards with two touchdowns, zero interceptions and 120.3 passer rating. Love got hit, yes, but he wasn’t sacked and had enough time on enough occasions to make something happen.

And then the momentum turned.

Overall in the second half, Love was 12-of-23 passing for 188 yards. He fumbled twice and threw one interception.

“You’re playing this defense, you know it’s going to be pressure,” Love said. “You know, that’s part of it. We’ll look back at the film, but there’s a lot of just missed opportunities, (with) a couple plays I wish we could get back, and that’s part of the game. You got to find ways to overcome those and continue to handle the pressure, find answers. But that’s what it is when you play this defense.”

After coach Matt LaFleur’s dubious decision changed the game and the Vikings scored the go-ahead touchdown, Flores’ defense delivered the technical knockout. First, MarShawn Lloyd didn’t have a snowball’s chance on a first-down handoff that lost 3 yards. Next, Love was sacked and stripped by Turner, which right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele recovered to avoid catastrophe. But only momentarily, because untouched linebacker Blake Cashman and standout edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel sacked Love again and knocked the ball free again.

Van Ginkel recovered at the 2 to essentially hand the Vikings the clinching touchdown.

“You never know where it’s coming from, when it's coming, because they make it all look the same,” Bako-Bewele said. “That’s their whole MO.”

The knockout punch came a moment later. Cashman – again – came untouched on a blitz. Love’s pass was deflected and intercepted. The Packers called it quits, gave up another touchdown and their fate was sealed.

For all the talk about how well Love has become handling blitz adjustments, it didn’t show up against the Vikings. Maybe it was a byproduct of having a right guard with one career start (Jacob Monk), a center with eight career starts at the position (Sean Rhyan) and a left guard with six snaps of regular-season experience (Donovan Jennings).

Maybe it was bad coaching by offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and offensive line coach Luke Butkus. Maybe it was a game plan to give the offense a chance to succeed.

Maybe it was all of the above. But one thing is certain: Flores crushed LaFleur, Love and everyone else in his way.

“I just think it comes down to execution, at the end of the day,” Love said. “We did some good things in the first half to be able to beat some of the looks. It’s not like they changed the looks a crazy amount. They were running the same stuff. We’ve just got to find ways to execute.”

The Vikings, playing without their starting quarterback, wound up trouncing the Packers – who had weeks to prepare for this game but were blitzed into oblivion.

“It’s really hard,” LaFleur said of the momentum switch. “But that’s what they want. They want you to play 11 personnel. They get you behind the sticks, and now it just opens Pandora’s box, they’re just lining everybody up on the line of scrimmage, and that’s tough to deal with.

“I thought we had some good answers early – obviously, the big one to Christian Watson – but, ultimately, I think coaching, playing, it’s all of us. We’ve got to do a better job of trying to put our players in position, and when we are in position, we’ve got to execute. We’ve got to play cleaner football. Far too many penalties tonight.”

From @JacobWestendorf, here are the winners and losers - bet you can't guess the losers - from the Packers' embarassing loss to the Vikings today. ⬇️https://t.co/wLcbvgBBs5
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 14, 2026

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