Vikings-Lions Storylines: Can Brian Flores Fluster Jared Goff Again?
When the Lions' prolific offense takes the field on Sunday against the Vikings' stout defense, the game within the game will be the fourth career matchup between quarterback Jared Goff and defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Flores has won each of the first three meetings decisively. This weekend, he'll try to go to 4-0 against Goff, who is having a great season for the 10-4 Lions but has a history of being impacted by the blitz — something no team does more than Flores and the Vikings.
Ahead of Sunday's big NFC North showdown, here's a quick look back at the three previous battles between Goff and Flores.
12/4/16: Rookie Goff struggles against Patriots in third career start
Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, came up against a dominant Patriots team (they went on to beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl) in the third start of his career. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he struggled: 14 of 32 for 161 yards, a touchdown, two picks, and four sacks. At the time, Flores was the linebackers coach under Bill Belichick and a big part of their defensive success, but he wasn't calling plays, so this was less of a true Goff-vs-Flores game than the next two.
2/3/19: Flores shuts down Goff and McVay in the Super Bowl
Jared Goff is 0-3 against Brian Flores teams in his career.
By 2018, the Rams were one of the most dominant offenses in the NFL, with Goff making his second consecutive Pro Bowl that season. He averaged nearly 300 passing yards per game and threw for 32 touchdowns on a Rams team that went 13-3 under the leadership of Sean McVay. In the postseason, they handled the Cowboys and Saints (the latter game involving an infamous DPI no-call) to advance to Super Bowl LIII.
That's when Flores cooked up an all-time defensive masterclass. He was the Patriots' play-caller that season, and he and Belichick devised a plan that completely stymied the Rams' high-flying offense in a 13-3 New England victory. Goff was just 19 of 38 for 229 yards, a pick, and four sacks. He was blitzed on 20 of his 42 dropbacks in that game.
11/1/20: Flores' Dolphins fluster Goff, O'Connell
In 2020, Flores was in his second season as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Goff was in his fifth season with the Rams — which would turn out to be his last. Working with a new offensive coordinator named Kevin O'Connell, Goff went to Miami in Week 8 and turned the ball over four times in a 28-17 defeat. He threw for 355 yards but needed 61 attempts to do it, tossing two interceptions and losing two fumbles, one of which was returned 78 yards for a touchdown.
Guess what? Flores blitzed Goff on a whopping 40 of 63 dropbacks in that game.
After that 2020 season, the Rams traded Goff and two first-round picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford, then went on to win the Super Bowl the following year — which led to O'Connell being hired as the Vikings' head coach. Meanwhile, Goff has carved out a strong second act in Detroit. He's 0-3 as a starter at U.S. Bank Stadium, but he's 3-0 in games against the Vikings away from Minnesota. Goff's 0-10-1 Lions team beating the Vikings in 2021 probably sealed Mike Zimmer's fate, and his huge game last December might have contributed to Ed Donatell being fired after the season.
Now one win away from clinching the Lions' first division title in 30 years, Goff will have to go through Flores to do it. Get ready for lots of blitzes.
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