Stephon Gilmore has seen it all in the NFL. The Buffalo Bills made him the ninth pick in 2012, and he won Super Bowl LII with the New England Patriots. Gilmore is a four-time All-Pro and has earned Defensive Player of the Year. However, he’s coming off a torn labrum that ended his 2023 season. Despite his accolades, the 33-year-old CB didn’t have a team at the beginning of the preseason this year.
Enter the Minnesota Vikings. Down a corner and needing solid play from the position to execute Brian Flores’ scheme, they signed Gilmore on August 18. A former high school quarterback and track star, Gilmore might be getting on in age. However, his experience and intelligence have shown up for Minnesota’s defense. On Sunday, Gilmore showed that he still has it.
The Vikings faced a true challenge on Sunday: the defending NFC champions and their brilliant head coach and play-caller, Kyle Shanahan. The San Francisco 49ers offense is no joke, even without star Christian McCaffrey.
Players like Gilmore and his multiplicity keep opposing QBs (and coordinators) confused. Brock Purdy and San Francisco’s offense did not have a horrible day. However, the Vikings defense did just enough to keep them off guard, sacking Purdy six times and intercepting him once. Minnesota’s defense also forced a fumble from Purdy.
While San Francisco’s undrafted free-agent RB Jordan Mason proved that he undoubtedly belongs in the NFL, the Vikings defense did enough to get the win. Interestingly, Purdy’s average release time was 3.27 seconds, which ranks as the third-highest of his career. Once again, the Vikings kept an opposing QB confused, and Gilmore gives a great example of why.
Gilmore is a shining example of what Flores desires in his players. His positional versatility is making things challenging for opposing offenses this year. We saw this on display on Sunday against the 49ers.
For a former All-Pro corner to come into Minnesota and embrace the philosophy of being employed in multiple positions — many of which Gilmore probably hadn’t played in quite some time — speaks to Flores’ motivational techniques. In addition to playing great man-to-man defense from the corner position, Gilmore played in the slot, as a jam Cover-2 corner, and as a deep safety in a Cover 2 scheme.
On the second play of the game for the 49ers offense, we see Minnesota’s defense, in their base package, defend San Francisco’s first pass of the game. The Vikings play a one-high look with Cover 3, and Purdy throws another accurate pass to the normally dangerous Brandon Aiyuk. However, Gilmore is there immediately, making a tackle attempt that forces Aiyuk back towards the field, where he knows he has help. Blake Cashman also played a tremendous game, and he’s there to clean up, with more help from Gilmore.
On the next play, the Vikings break out their Bengal package for the first time against the Niners. The multiplicity of the players here really confuses a team. So many players can perform multiple crucial defensive skills. As a result, the quarterback and coordinator don’t know who will be rushing or dropping. There also is no way to tell, until the last second, whether a DB will stay in his tight alignment and play man-to-man or whether he will drop into zone coverage.
In the play below, Gilmore aligns in the slot against San Francisco’s bunch formation. The Vikings rush four and stay in man-to-man, with Gilmore on the 49ers’ go-to guy, Deebo Samuel. Cashman makes a tremendous play once again, but Gilmore would have been all over his man if he hadn’t.
In the following clip, Gilmore steps up in run support. He doesn’t make a crushing tackle. Still, as we saw in the first clip, he “misses correctly.” His miss forces the RB to cut inside and back toward the pursuit.
In the clip below, you’ll see the versatility of the Bengal package, with Gilmore supplying an element of surprise. Gilmore lines up in a position that makes it look like he will play Cover 3 (outside leverage on his man, eyes in the backfield, at eight yards of depth). However, at the snap of the ball, Gilmore bails to play Deep Half in a Cover 2 scheme, with Cashman running out to defend the flats.
Purdy shows he’s confused here because the Niners have built a good route into their concept in the play below. Jauan Jennings runs a skinny post and is open out of his break. However, it’s too late when Purdy’s eyes get there because the pass rush is closing in.
The Vikings can still count on Gilmore to play very good man-to-man defense. Below, he’s matched up against Chris Conley, who runs a hitch. Gilmore reacts and makes a great solo tackle, only allowing the Niners to gain four yards.
Ultimately, Minnesota’s defense had a great day, but they also were the recipients of some uncommon luck. Purdy was not a high draft pick partly due to his lack of measurables, and one of the measurables I’m sure that wasn’t favorable relative to other QBs is hand width. He gifts the Vikings the ball on this play when the ball slips out of his hands:
It was another week where the Vikings confused and challenged San Francisco’s scheme so much that they occasionally had a free runner on pass plays. That rarely happens in today’s NFL, and Flores has dialed this up for two weeks in a row.
NFL sack leader Pat Jones shows that he’ll be coming off the edge in the play below. Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace also comes, but from space. That surprises San Francisco’s protection scheme enough that their RB cannot get over to the left side, and LT Trent Williams has to choose between Jones and Pace. This sack goes to Jones, but give Flores an assist.
Minnesota’s defense has been stellar for two weeks in a row. Being the savvy veteran that he is, Stephon Gilmore must be enjoying this.