Inside The Vikings

'Next level': J.J. Watt reacts to viral rep from Brian Flores' defense

Watt and Darius Butler gushed over the coaching and execution on display in one play from the Vikings' defense.
Will Ragatz|
Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores watches from the sidelines against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium.
Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores watches from the sidelines against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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An All-22 clip of one play from the Vikings' dominant defensive performance against the Bengals went viral on social media this week and became a talking point among a couple former players on The Pat McAfee Show.

It wasn't one of the many highlights from Isaiah Rodgers' historic day. This was an Andrew Van Ginkel sack that was set up by a nasty spin move from Jonathan Greenard. But the pass rush isn't why the rep got so much attention — it's what happened before the snap.

On the play, which happened in the first quarter, the Vikings initially moved into an all-out blitz look with eight defenders at the line of scrimmage. Then they showed a man coverage look with a single high safety. Then a two-deep shell. Then Harrison Smith sprinted back off of the line to create what looks like man match Cover 6. Bengals QB Jake Browning had a ton of visual information to try to decipher in a matter of seconds, which would've been the case even if Greenard hadn't quickly been in his face.

The post on X/Twitter from Alec Lewis of The Athletic has over 10,000 likes and close to 2 million views.

Multiple former players took note of the clip. Former Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore quote tweeted it and said "Flores (is) elite at exposing young QBs." Three-time defensive player of the year and current NFL analyst J.J. Watt called it "a thing of beauty." Former NFL DB Darius Butler said "Brian Flores is a MADMAN!"

On Wednesday, Watt and Butler discussed the play in more depth on The Pat McAfee Show.

"To me, this is literally next, next level of NFL defensive coordination," Watt said. "But not only from the coordinator standpoint, from the player standpoint. It's one thing to sit in a meeting room and to be like 'Man, how crazy would it be if we went from an all-out blitz look back to a single-high look, back to...' Like, you can draw that up and that's great. But then you put it into a meeting and your guys are like 'Hang on, hang on, hang on.' And then you go to the practice field and they try to do it and you've got some young guys or you've got a guy who doesn't know what's going on and he can screw the whole thing up.

"So for Brian Flores to install it and for these players to execute it is beyond impressive. And I know that a lot of people are giving a ton of credit to Harrison Smith, rightfully so, because he kind of quarterbacks that whole thing."

"This is like 300-level s***," said Butler, who played in the league for nine years. "I don't think I've ever seen this extensive of a disguise. And like you said, everybody has to be on the same page. So not only Harrison, you've gotta have multiple smart players on every level. ... For everybody on every level to be moving on the same accord, it's unbelievable. I don't think I've ever seen it, to this level, be executed."

Watt and Butler hit on the key takeaway from a play like that one. Flores deserves a lot of credit for being the mastermind and architect of the Vikings' defense, but all of the players — especially those in the secondary — also deserve credit for being able to make the installs come to life on Sundays. Smith is a big part of it, which is why his return from injury was so important in Week 3. But Theo Jackson, Josh Metellus, and the Vikings' cornerbacks should be recognized, too.

Since Flores arrived in Minnesota in 2023, no one has played defense quite like the Vikings. The complexity, aggressiveness, and overall execution of their scheme is unique around the league. It's been a driving force behind their success and remains one of the big reasons why they enter every game feeling like they have a chance to win it.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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