Brian Flores strikes again, another New Orleans Saints comeback and more pressure on Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. Here is our review of NFL Sunday... The Chicago Bears scored 59 points in Week One of the NFL season.
On Sunday, they scored three. Welcome to the Brian Flores experience. It had been billed as the ultimate chess match between two of modern football's smartest and most unhinged minds, Ben Johnson's free-scoring offense against Flores' blitz-heavy Minnesota Vikings defense.
Their collision of controlled chaos would lean in favour of the latter as the Vikings claimed a 9-3 victory, coming with the minor asterisk of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams leaving the game due to a hamstring injury midway through the fourth quarter. Williams was blitzed on 81.8 per cent of his drop backs prior to his departure, according to NextGen Stats. It made for a blitz rate that would have ranked as the third highest in a game since at least 2018.
By the end of the game the Vikings had recorded four sacks, 10 quarterback hits and seven pass breakups, capped by Dallas Turner's game-icing sack of Tyson Bagent on the final play. With the win Flores improved to 2-1 in his duels with Johnson since the latter's appointment as Bears head coach, and 5-2 dating back to Johnson's time as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. It was the latest marquee addition to a brimming resume in the campaign to launch Flores back into head coaching contention.
In fact, that he isn't already an NFL head coach again is an injustice. Few in the league are capable of stifling a Johnson offense with such command, guile and fire-with-fire aggression, Flores further bolstering what has become a glowing reputation during his time alongside Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota. The narrative in Minnesota has long been O'Connell's ability to achieve a lot with little when it comes to accentuating and elevating once-written-off quarterbacks.
But Flores' influence has been equal if not superior when it comes to keeping the Vikings in playoff relevance. From the variation and ludicrousy of his blitz angles, to the way he manipulates the versatility of multi-faceted personnel like Josh Metellus, Flores has forged one of the most dynamic units in football. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player It helps, too, to unlock a star pass rusher, and it appears Flores is the perfect man to raise the curtain on Dallas Turner's breakout campaign.
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