The Minnesota Vikings’ 16-13 win over the New York Giants was an eyesore, albeit in front of a limited set of eyes, in the Meadowlands. J.J. McCarthy left late in the second quarter with a hand injury, Ryan Kelly suffered another concussion, and Aaron Jones played through evident pain. Still, Brian Flores kept one streak alive.
Minnesota’s defensive coordinator is 11-1 against rookie quarterbacks.
The Vikings held Jaxson Dart to seven receptions on 13 attempts for 33 yards. Giants interim coach and former Vikings backup quarterback Mike Kafka ran the ball 16 times to start the game. Dart completed his first pass with 1:40 left in the first half. In 2017, the Indianapolis Colts were the last team to go an entire half without a pass attempt in a game in Buffalo with lake-effect snow.
“Thought there were some really good individual performances, but the defense as a whole, that’s their game ball right there for what they were able to do,” Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “Two of 10 on third down, zero of three in the red zone for those guys, and then the five sacks and [33 yards passing]. So really, really impressive performance by them.”
Flores’ defense has dominated all year. They’ve held the Vikings in games that could have become blowouts, and other teams have taken notice. The Dallas Cowboys entered Week 15’s game with the league’s best offense, and Minnesota held them under 30 points in a 34-26 win.
Unsurprisingly, longtime Dallas Cowboys insider Ed Werder reported that Flores, who’s on an expiring contract, “certainly impressed” America’s Team.
Brian Flores coached the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021 and would probably be a head coach if he weren’t actively suing the Miami Dolphins and the league for discrimination. His suit claims that some teams conduct sham interviews with minority coaches to fulfill the Rooney Rule, and that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him to lose games in 2019.
After Ed Donatell’s defense fell apart in 2021, the Vikings hired Flores at a time when other teams may have been hesitant. However, Flores has consistently produced top-10 defenses in Minnesota, making defense the Vikings’ identity as they transition from Kirk Cousins to J.J. McCarthy under center.
In this year alone, the defense held them in the London game long enough that backup Carson Wentz could pull off a comeback. They kept the Baltimore Ravens game within one score, and McCarthy would have come back to beat the Chicago Bears had it not been for a special teams blunder. The Seattle Seahawks didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter in a game in which Minnesota’s offense never scored.
The Giants may be a two-win team, but Dart has shown promise since taking over for Russell Wilson in Week 4. He had 246 yards passing against the Washington Commanders in Week 15, 242 in Chicago two weeks before that, and 283 in their Week 7 game in Denver.
New York has gone through a coaching change and had another lousy season, but there’s a shell of a team there. Dart could become a franchise quarterback, and Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers are legitimate weapons. Still, the Vikings had success against him just like they have against every other quarterback they’ve faced this year. Minnesota hasn’t given up a passing touchdown since Lamar Jackson threw one in Week 9.
Trevor Lawrence is the only rookie quarterback to beat Brian Flores. The first-overall pick in 2021 led the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 23-20 win over Miami in Flores’ final season as head coach. It was Jacksonville’s only win under former coach Urban Meyer.
Flores’ exotic blitzes have flummoxed young quarterbacks and veterans alike. The Vikings have the fifth-best defense by yardage this season, despite their offensive instability. It’s hard to imagine what this team will look like if Flores leaves after this season, mainly because J.J. McCarthy remains an uncertainty.
It would be challenging to replace Flores, who rose through the ranks as a scout and coach under Bill Belichick in New England. The Vikings are fortunate that the 9-6 Pittsburgh Steelers started winning late in the season. Mike Tomlin hired Flores as an assistant in between his stints in Miami and Minnesota, and Flores would be a natural replacement for him. Jerry Jones would probably match Minnesota’s number to make Flores his defensive coordinator, but is that really a better job than the one he has with the Vikings?
Still, the bigger issue at hand is that the Vikings had a natural succession plan in place for Flores. Instead of trying to find another defensive coordinator with Flores’ skillset, which likely doesn’t exist, they could eventually flip from a defense-first team to one led by the offense.
However, McCarthy would have to become a franchise quarterback for that to happen. McCarthy is in the second season of his four-year rookie contract. The Vikings have a fifth-year option, but after that, he becomes expensive if he plays well. That’s when Minnesota would naturally transition from a defense-first to an offense-first team.
It’s a great plan in theory. The defense would carry the Vikings as McCarthy acclimates to the NFL. Then, he and Justin Jefferson would buoy the defense once McCarthy’s contract becomes expensive. However, that only works if McCarthy plays like a franchise quarterback and Flores stays in town until 2028. Right now, there’s no certainty that either of those things will happen.
