Vikings Thrive ‘World of Chaos.’ Here’s How Packers Can Survive.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Brian Flores has tipped decades of defensive philosophies upside down.

Flores’ blitz-happy defense will take center stage when Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Asked if there was any rhyme or reason to how Flores will attack, Packers coach Matt LaFleur offered a simple response.

“Yeah, it’s called pressure,” he said.

That’s for sure. It’s pressure at an unprecedented and unthinkable level.

The Vikings hired Flores to run their defense in 2023. In 2022, they blitzed 24 percent of the time, according to Stats Perform’s Opta Data. That means they did not blitz 76 percent of the time. This season, their blitz rate is 75.3 percent.

Incredibly, since 2000, the second-highest blitz rate during that span was the 2009 Jets at 56.4 percent. So, the Vikings’ blitz percentage is almost 20 points higher.

“We see those conversations about the blitz rates, and everybody thinks it’s wild – and rightfully so. It is wild,” safety Harrison Smith said on former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman’s podcast. “We talk about it sometimes inside. Who decides that four was the baseline amount you’re supposed to send?”

Certainly not Flores.

Not long ago, defensive coordinators saved their blitz packages for third downs or other need-to-pass situations. Flores will blitz anytime, anywhere, any situation.

According to Sumer Sports, Flores blitzes a staggering 80 percent of the time on first-and-10 passing plays. On third-and-long (third-and-7-plus) it’s “only” 70.6 percent.

“They’re going to pressure the crap out of us, and we’re going to have to either take advantage of it or prepare to play against it,” tight end Tucker Kraft said.

How can the Packers take advantage?

First Thing’s First, And That’s First Down

Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson (55) attempts to tackle Green Bay Packers running back Chris Brooks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Minnesota’s defense is one of the best in the era. Maybe one of the best of all-time. It ranks first in points allowed, first in total defense, first in sack percentage and first in the red zone.

With the Vikings’ defense taking the offensive, opponents are averaging 4.5 yards per play on first down. That’s the second-best mark in the league.

Teams have a fighting chance on the ground, with the Vikings ranked 14th with 4.04 yards allowed per first-down carry. The Packers, of course, have struggled to run the ball for most of the season.

There’s a lot more risk-reward through the air, where the old-school mantra of three things can happen when you throw the ball and only one is good. The Vikings are first with 5.1 yards allowed per first-down passing play. They have a league-high 11 sacks.

“Just look at what they’ve done consistently week in and week out,” LaFleur said. “It’s a struggle for every offense to go out there and score points on them. Not even score points but move the ball consistently.

“I think they do a great job of getting people behind the sticks. There’s more third-and-longs than I feel like I’ve ever seen at this point of the year, in many cases, throughout the entire course of a year, and we’re halfway through. I think they do a great job of just applying pressure and you make mistakes. That’s why it’s so important for us to play a clean game.”

Yes, because it’s going to be hard enough to get 4 yards on first down as it is, let alone with false starts leading to 5-yard penalties or missed assignments setting up sacks.

First-down success is a big reason why the Vikings rank third on third down. The average third down against Minnesota requires 8.3 yards, tied for the longest in the league. The Vikings are allowing a league-low 4.2 yards on those plays with a league-high four interceptions.

Flores has such a diverse bag of tricks that even experienced quarterbacks have looked completely unprepared.

“You’re guessing a lot of the time out there,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “I think that’s why you’ve got to be great as a quarterback trusting your reads. I think your eyes are really critical against this defense. They’re very vision-based, kind of just melting and flowing with the quarterback, where they’re looking, and I think guys got to be great in their routes and recognizing what coverages they’re getting, what we’ve got, pressure, things like that.”

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores leads the best defense in the NFL. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Three Solutions for Packers

While Love destroyed the Patriots with a series of bombs last week, that can’t be the plan this week. That doesn’t mean dinking and dunking the ball down the field, but it does mean trying to take advantage of the voids in the secondary created by the extra rushers before those extra rushers clobber the quarterback.

Last week, Buffalo won at Minnesota 23-6. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was 15-of-16 on passes thrown within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The quick passes got them going in a game that was 3-3 until late in the first half.

“We’ve to be able to take advantage, get the ball out quick,” Love said. “There was a couple opps in that first game where we missed just being able to get the ball out to guys in space, and we just couldn’t convert on some of those. You’re guessing a lot of times and, when you know they’re coming, you’ve got to find ways to get the ball out because they’re bringing extra guys every time and you know that.

“So, we’ve got to have a great plan, and I think we do have that. It comes down to just seeing it, not panicking when you get those pressures and just getting the ball out quick.”

The second key is running the football. That, of course, is a dicey proposition for the Packers.

However, the last three games, the Vikings allowed 154 rushing yards against the Colts, 230 rushing yards against the Lions and 134 rushing yards against the Bills.

Last week’s game against Buffalo is noteworthy. The Vikings allowed only 3.0 yards per carry, but the Bills kept giving it to James Cook, who thundered away for 2, 3 and 4 yards at a crack. It was ugly football at times but it kept the Bills in manageable situations. He averaged 2.2 yards per carry in the first half but 4.0 yards in the second half.

“Eventually, you end up making it a game that they weren’t willing to play,” Bills coach Joe Brady told reporters in Buffalo. “That’s a good football team and that’s a great defense. …

“The runs that go for 2 yards, you hope as the game continues on that that 2-yard run can go to 7. You have to stick with it, and it’s really hard with Josh Allen. I’ve got Josh Allen, and you’re running the football. But we felt like that was the way to win this football game, be able to wear the team down and not make it a dropback fest.”

The Packers don’t have James Cook, obviously, though they finally had a bit of a breakthrough last week against the Patriots. Still, they entered Week 10 ranked 32nd in rushing yards per game and 31st in yards per carry. But do they do have Love, which maybe will give Kaleb Johnson and Chris Brooks room to grind out 3 and 4 yards a pop.

Third, the Packers must continue to live in shotgun. While the league is migrating a bit more toward under-center offense, that’s not the way to attack the Vikings. In shotgun, the quarterback has vision on the defense throughout the play. Under center, he has to turn his back for a moment.

When the opposing quarterback is under center, the Vikings blitz 87.5 percent of the time, according to Stats. The Vikings allow almost 1.0 yard less per passing attempt when quarterbacks are under center.

Attack, Attack, Attack

Flores’ plan of attack when facing the Packers has been to blitz even more than usual. In Week 1, Love was blitzed on an astounding 87.0 percent of his dropbacks. (Blitzing used to be about the element of surprise. It was the opposite in this game; Love was not blitzed on six dropbacks and didn’t complete a single pass in those situations.) At Lambeau Field last season, Love was blitzed 83.3 percent of the time, so the communication factor might not matter.

Love knows the Packers must make the Vikings pay. More blitzers, obviously, means fewer players in coverage.

“You got to hit explosives, you got to get a run game going, and you got to protect. Those are the key things to playing this defense and taking care of the ball,” he said. “I think all of those things are huge. They live in the world of chaos and trying to make you confused and get you in some third-and-long situations, where I think that’s where they’re at their best.

“You got to stay ahead of the sticks, and definitely you see that Bills game they were able to get a lead and just kind of lean on that run game a little bit. But we always talk about as an offense, we love explosives. That generally leads to points and puts you in a good position. We definitely want to live in that world of trying to find those explosives. Any time you can get off the field quickly and put up points it’s going to be great, especially against this defense.”

It will be a big game this week for the Packers. It also will be a big draft for the Packers. Here's a look at their potential draft selections after what might be a comp-pick double whammy. ⬇️https://t.co/LC1VmKbcv2
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 12, 2026

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