As the Minnesota Vikings defensive rank rises by the week, so too does Brian Flores’ potential to land a head coaching job.
Local fans are already flashing back to the one-and-done Mike Tomlin, who arrived in 2006 and left in 2007 to start a Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty. If he’d showed up in 2005, Tomlin could’ve been the successor to Mike Tice and spared the Vikings of the Brad Childress Era.
Likewise, it’s fair to rue that Flores didn’t show up a year earlier and spare the Vikings their one-and-done playoff fate. Instead, the 2022 Vikings could’ve been a superteam with any semblance of the defense Flores is currently engineering.
Many NFL franchises win Super Bowls because they have a generationally great quarterback who gets them close every single year. For the rest of the league’s champions, the stars simply have to align, as they did for the likes of Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles, and Joe Flacco. Those quarterbacks got hot enough to win a series of playoff games while they were supported by good, if not elite, defenses.
In 2022, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings offense had the once-in-a-blue-moon year required to steal a Super Bowl. They had impeccable offensive health, plenty of good luck, and the clutchest run of fourth-quarter wins in NFL history. All while Ed Donatell’s 31st-ranked defense made Mac Jones, Mike White, and Daniel Jones look like Montana, Marino, and Elway. In a home playoff game, Donatell’s group let the New York Giants score on four consecutive non-kneeldown drives before forcing a punt. New York scored its second-most points all season and sent the Vikings packing.
There’s no telling how far the Vikings could’ve gone with Flores running the show, but it’s safe to say things probably wouldn’t have ended that feebly.
That’s not to say O’Connell whiffed by not hiring Flores during his initial coaching staff search. At the time, Flores was weeks removed from a messy breakup with the Miami Dolphins that led to him filing a lawsuit against the league. As a young, unestablished coach, O’Connell’s move to hire the well-traveled Donatell made sense. Meanwhile, Flores found a soft landing as a Pittsburgh assistant with a head coach in Tomlin who carried a mountain of credibility.
To O’Connell’s credit, he cut ties with Donatell after one year and landed Flores when he did.
What Flores is doing this year is historic. Minnesota’s jump from 28th to fifth in defensive points allowed in the greatest leap in franchise history, besting Mike Zimmer’s first year in 2014. However, the Vikings may not be equipped to take full advantage as they prepare to start their fourth different quarterback of the season. They have averaged just 10 points in the last three games.
Naturally, the dreaded QB carousel is poised to spoil Minnesota’s best defense of the Kirk Cousins Era in the year he and Justin Jefferson suffered their first-ever major injuries. If the Vikings have a Super Bowl run in them, they’ll need Nick Mullens to do his best Nick Foles impression.
Oh, but think of the possibilities in 2022.
Flores could’ve had Za’Darius Smith to add to his pass-rushing arsenal instead of giving over 700 snaps to D.J. Wonnum like he is in 2023. Dalvin Tomlinson would have been around instead of Dean Lowry, the 112th-ranked interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. Jordan Hicks wouldn’t have needed to look like a shell of himself in Donatell’s zone coverages, and Harrison Smith could’ve been buzzing around the box instead of being a glorified center fielder. Sure, Flores wouldn’t have had Ivan Pace Jr. yet. But he would have employed Eric Kendricks, who may still be in Minnesota if he’d proven to be of great value to a burgeoning Flores scheme.
Josh Metellus and Camryn Bynum would have still been around the flourish, and maybe the safety-whisperer Flores would have steered the Vikings toward Kyle Hamilton and away from Lewis Cine in the 2022 draft.
Flores’ greatest feat in 2023 has been squeezing every ounce of juice from a supposedly undermanned defense. Give him a handful of last year’s horses, and a deep playoff run could’ve been possible or even probable in 2022.
There is certainly a scenario where Cousins returns from his Achilles injury and stabilizes the offense in 2024. But even if Flores returns to the Vikings, he may be unable to duplicate his defensive magic as the league grows wise to it and players leave in free agency.
These types of seasons only come around so often. It’s a shame the Vikings may squander it.
